Examples of the kind of stimulus we can look forward to according to the LA Times are as follows:
 

• Rather than rebuilding highways, a nonprofit group called Reconnecting America wants the government to focus on a "21st century national transportation system" of mass transit and walking and bike paths.
  
  
• The Air Transport Assn. is seeking $1 billion to upgrade airports and $3 billion to modernize avionics.
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• Magellan Midstream Partners, owner of the longest refined-oil pipeline in the nation, wants to develop the first "dedicated ethanol pipeline" from Iowa to New York City. It's seeking a loan guarantee of $3.5 billion through the Department of Energy.
  
  
• The National Assn. of Railroad Passengers is pushing for $10 billion for intercity passenger rail projects.
  
  
• The travel industry wants a "multimillion-dollar marketing and public outreach effort to educate visitors about changing security policies and promote the U.S. as a destination," according to the Travel Industry Assn. The group is seeking a start-up federal loan of $10 million.
  
  
• The business community is seeking a series of tax breaks that it says will foster growth and return money to the federal Treasury. It favors, among other things, a tax rebate to middle-class taxpayers, a sizable reduction in the corporate capital gains tax and a sharp reduction in the tax rate on earnings that firms in the United States get from foreign subsidiaries.
  
  
• The housing industry wants all buyers to receive a tax credit for a home purchase and to have the government subsidize mortgage rates through a "buy-down" program lowering borrowing costs.
  
  
• The National Retail Federation proposes that sales tax holidays be held during March, July and October 2009, each lasting 10 days. The cost of this program would be $20 billion.
  
  
• The National Automobile Dealers Assn. is seeking a tax break encouraging more people to buy cars and a "cash for clunkers" program that helps people trade in older vehicles for new, more fuel-efficient ones.
  
  
• "The catfish industry is on the verge of collapse," said Marty Fuller of the Catfish Farmers of America, citing high feed prices and an increase of imports. About 6,000 jobs are at stake, mostly in economically depressed areas in states such as Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and Louisiana. Officials are talking about seeking $50 million in aid as a stimulus.

Now that I know the catfish industry is safe, I can sleep better knowing the $1 trillion won’t be wasted on anything frivolous. You can be sure that the truly outrageous projects aren’t even being discussed openly and will slide through on page 895 of the coming bill. Every congressman, except Ron Paul, will be bought off with goodies for their district.

Everybody Knows That the Captain Lied

Poet and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen captures the current mood of the country in his song, Everybody Knows.

Everybody knows that the dice are loaded
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed
Everybody knows that the war is over
Everybody knows the good guys lost
Everybody knows the fight was fixed
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich
That’s how it goes
Everybody knows

Everybody knows that the boat is leaking
Everybody knows that the captain lied
Everybody got this broken feeling
Like their father or their dog just died

The analogy is simple: The financial and political game is rigged against the good guys. The poor will stay poor and the rich will get richer. “The captains” are political leaders, fat cat CEOs, and investment professionals. And the American ship of state is leaking.

I’m now convinced that the only qualification necessary to be a CEO of a US company is incredible gall. How else could you explain John Thain’s demand that he receive a $10 million bonus from Merrill Lynch (MER) after leading that prestigious firm to losses of $24.4 billion in the previous 4 quarters?