It's All in the Marketing

I have long resented certain terms that are designed to manipulate us in an unthinking manner. "For the Children" is one in which if the idea is idiotic and you oppose it, you are accused of wanting to kill children. Another is "Smart Growth." If you opposed their definition, you must of course be for "Dumb Growth." Never mind that the only thing smart about "Smart Growth" is the name. That it really is just an illegal power grab to keep you from actually owning and controlling your own property, while at the same time, artificially inflating costs of land just to keep poor people out.
Now we have the "Stimulus Package." Having declared an emergency, the government has thrown all of the old rules out the window in its purpose of making us all wards of the government. The funny thing is, even the New York Times is starting to realize that there is no, or at the most very little "stimulus" in this package. Some excerpts:

The stimulus bill working its way through Congress is not just a package of spending increases and tax cuts intended to jolt the nation out of recession. For Democrats, it is also a tool for rewriting the social contract with the poor, the uninsured and the unemployed, in ways they have long yearned to do.

How in the world, will $1 Billion for Amtrak, $3335 Million for STD Prevention, $180 Billion for more unemployment insurance and an extension of Medicaid, (Make me wonder if that includes fired Lehman Brothers executives?) to anyone on unemployment regardless of their financial situation be considered a stimulus? This is nothing but a grab bag that is labeled as "stimulus" but has nothing to do with the usual concept of what a stimulus is.
I am beginning to think that the best way to combat this waste of our unearned money is to point out that this kind of debt is going to keep nationalized health care from even having a chance. If Republicans started to point out that the money that is being spent to improve schools, fund the NEA, etc. is just money that they are taking from providing reasonably priced health care to all Americans. Might as well pit the differing constituencies of the Democratic Party against themselves.
If successful, we might be able to stop all of this madness.

UPDATE: Peter Ferrara of the American Spectator has an even broader examination of all the ways that your money for a stimulus is being misused. Read the whole thing.