While some things in the Obama stimulus plan are beneficial (particularly the "green jobs" initiatives), and I agree with, the overall approach here remains a case of attacking symptoms .. rather than focusing on the Root causes of our economic meltdown.
Let's face it, neither the likes of Larry Summers, or Federal Reserve insiders: Ben Bernanke and Timothy Geithner, are ever going to actually fix our Economy. Obama has built his "brain trust", and his so-called "experts", from just the people (elites) who seek only to band aide the existing corrupt monetary & financial system, rather than from anyone who wants to confront it.
But lets listen to the people who had their eyes open, and actually predicted the Economic meltdown, long before it happened.
Economics 101
We have no true manufacturering, or Industrial production in this Country anymore. In other words, we have no real wealth today, totally unlike the America of decades ago. We have a phony import-driven, "service-based", consumer-spending based economy built upon borrowing and debt.
Is Larry Summers, Ben Bernanke, Timothy Geithner going to change that?
No.
The problem, of course, is that is all rooted in our corrupt Central-Bank controlled, debt-based Monetary system that systematically creates debt (from nothing), expands the money-supply, destroys the value of our currency, and orchestrates gyrating boom and bust cycles. The phony money that they generate is then used to prop-up International banking monopolies and favored Global Corporations/Wall Street-London investment interests, while non-War-oriented American Industry is just hollowed out.
The Federal Reserve seizure (takeover) and manipulation of our Nation's money, that began way back in 1913 prior to the first World War, has been an abysmal failure for the Country, that has produced one great depression, over 9000 bank failures (just between 1929-1993 alone), Two World Wars, 11 separate recessions, the transformation of our once benevolent Country into a permanent Warfare-State (which they profit by), and today a new great depression and historic bankruptcy.
It's not a good track record, folks.
Past Presidents, of course, predicted and understood this.
"Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence would be more formidable and dangerous than a military power of the enemy."
--President Andrew Jackson
Solving The Problem
"It is absurd to say that our country can issue $30 million in bonds and not $30 million in currency. Both are promises to pay, but one fattens the usurers, and the other helps the people."
--Thomas Edison