It struck me the other day in class that the title of this post might be a double entendre. In any case, here are two funny observations on the definition of stimulus. First, our great and infallible leader, Barack Obama (it's time that word press updated their spell check, His name still gets marked wrong):
"[Y]ou get the argument, 'Well, this is not a stimulus bill, this is a spending bill.' What do you think a stimulus is? That's the whole point. No, seriously. That's the point."
And Economist Dean Baker:
"Spending that is not stimulus is like cash that is not money. Spending is stimulus, spending is stimulus. Any spending will generate jobs. It is that simple. … Any reporter who does not understand this fact has no business reporting on the economy."
h/t Media Matters.
The issue is not whether spending is stimulating, but what sorts of spending are more effective. Cutting state support and education funding from the package in favor of tax cuts, as the Republicans have done, is not effective.