Alternative Stimulus Better Way to START?

The DC Examiner has an op-ed piece on a fiscally more conservative alternative to the current bloated economic stimulus package, offered by Blue Dog Democrat, Rep. Walt Minnick (D-Idaho), called the Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START).

I have been carping recently on the stimulus bill and on other stupid ideas thought up by our elected representatives; my mantra has been: I hate omnibus bills. They are just too full of pork and it is too easy to slip in riders that would never otherwise see the light of day. I cannot speak to any of the particulars, but my idea of a responsible stimulus package is more in line with what is being reported here about Rep. Minnick's proposal; specifically that it be "targeted, timely and temporary".

While President Barack Obama goes on the road to shore up slipping popular support for the $1 trillion stimulus porkfest that he ordered up from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Rep. Walt Minnick, a freshman Democrat from Idaho, is pushing a better idea: The Strategic Targeted American Recovery and Transition Act (START).

Minnick is a member of the Blue Dog caucus of occasionally conservative Democrats. His START plan is a $170 billion “bare bones” pure stimulus approach that would put $100 billion immediately into the pockets of low- and middle-income Americans, then use the other $70 billion for basic infrastructure projects that create jobs. START requires that all funds not spent by 2010 be returned to the Treasury. START also stops stimulus spending when the nation’s Gross Domestic Product increases in two of three previous quarters, and all START payments are required to be posted on a public website.