Economic Stimulus Checks are in the Mail

Can't you feel the economy revving up?

Of course, some people think there are better ways to revive the economy.

Congress has the ability to address both problems, but not by continuing its current policies. Ending our bloated farm subsidies, specifically the ethanol boondoggle, would not only reduce federal spending significantly, but it would remove the perverse incentives in our agricultural sector, which are driving up the price of bread, milk, meat and vegetables other than corn.

Congress also can help bring energy prices down by scrapping the failed policies that have helped drive them up. We should allow responsible exploration of domestic oil reserves. We should remove the regulatory roadblocks that stand in the way of new oil refineries, the bottleneck in our transportation system that makes gas prices so volatile. And we should permit the construction of new nuclear power plants, which have the potential to provide safe and clean electricity.

The greatest benefit Congress can provide is to finally control federal spending. Our mounting national debt threatens our status as the safest place to invest in the world. Congress' unwillingness to acknowledge the massive unfunded obligations of Medicare and Social Security will leave the next generation with a massive tax bill. These fiscal time bombs will not be defused with a $300 check.