Another #&*! Stimulus Plan?

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I understand that many people are feeling the strain of the downturn in economy -- we'll all see tougher times for the next several quarters. But this is not the time for the government to borrow on our behalf to try to stimulate the economy. Nor is it a time for the fear-mongering that will soon come saying that the economy will collapse if we don't bail everyone out of this downturn. That's why it's an economic downturn -- government can't fix economic cycles. The economy will recover. Another stimulus will just delay the inevitable failures that have to happen before the next boom.

The last stimulus was a flop, mainly because people did two things with their checks -- save or pay off debt Very few dollars were spent, and given the latest news in the economy, even fewer will be spent this time.

If the government wants to do some good, they can focus on cutting pork. If they feel compelled to do something else, they can try a different kind of stimulus package.

We all know that the roads and bridges of this country are in horrible shape. Congress can invest in our infrastructure and not waste all of the stimulus. The cost of a full overhaul of our infrastructure has been estimated at $1.6 trillion over five years. That used to sound like a lot of money to me. But given the big money we're spending now on bailing out all sorts of companies, why not the roads and bridges we drive on every day?

Think of the economic boom it would be to the country -- hardworking Americans would be employed and there would be a ton of money pouring into small construction firms and contractors. They would have steady jobs while we fixed a major problem that will soon cripple us.

Of course, we couldn't do every road, but even if it's small portion of the worst ones, we could keep money in the country by paying people who worked for it and would spend the money in America.

Congress needs to stop trying to fix the economy and let capitalism run it's course. But if they insist on trying to stimulate something, why not do something that could actually help our country?

Clint Greenleaf

Clint Greenleaf is the founder and CEO of Greenleaf Book Group (GBG), an Inc. 500 company, and a leading publisher and distributor with several NY Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers. Clint (a CPA) sits on the University of Texas Libraries Board, blogs for Inc.com, is a regular guest host on Fox Business Network and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Inc. magazine, Fox, MSBNC, Money magazine, Men's Health, Forbes and Entrepreneur.