The Stimulus

The Wall Street Journal has HR1 of '09 in the form of a 647 pg. pdf file. Other than the huge numbers, it appears to be mainly gobbldygook. There can be little doubt that a great deal of money will be wasted without lasting good effect.

An email from Freedom Works asserts that:

This week both the House and Senate will be moving a massive $825 billion economic stimulus package full off wasteful spending, and worse still multi-billion dollar handouts to their liberal allies. Specifically, radical Left-wing groups such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) could have access to billions of dollars should this stimulus plan pass. [Emphasis added.]

This quote comes from pg. 141:

(4) $100,000,000 for carrying out activities
under section 1110 of the Social Security Act, of
which $50,000,000 shall become available on Octo-
ber 1, 2009: Provided, That the Secretary of Health
and Human Services shall distribute such amount
under the Compassion Capital Fund to eligible faith-
based and community organizations: Provided fur-
ther, That the provisions of section 1106 of this Act

Freedom Works wants us to visit this page to send email to our Congressmen telling them to vote against the bill. A search of the bill did not turn up "ACORN", but it did turn up reference to "faith based" and "community organizations". A little ambiguity goes a long way.

What are the chances that your Representative will develop a half-assed understanding of this high tonnage of turgid text in the span of one week? I can assure you that I would not be ready to vote on it within that time span.