The full Stimulus bill got posted up tonight, about 10 hours before it goes to the floor of the House. I started skimming through the massive document to see for myself what we're going to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on. Down in Title X - Military Construction and Veteran Affairs, Sec. 1002 caught my eye, "PAYMENTS TO ELIGIBLE PERSONS WHO SERVED IN THE UNITED STATES ARMED FORCES IN THE FAR EAST DURING WORLD WAR II." It establishes a "Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund" in the general fund of the Treasury and as far as I can tell we are going to pay Filipino veterans (or their spouse if they die after applying for the money) if they served under US Forces between 1941 and 1946. Eligible US citizens get $15,000 and $9,000 goes to those who aren't US citizens.
I'm not attacking the idea of paying these veterans and acknowledging their service, but I'm just a little perplexed about the timing and why it is even in this bill that is suppose to create lasting and sustainable growth. In the context of economic stimulus this just seems like something out of left field. Turns out this was a bill in Congress last year, but never got voted on. It probably got pushed into this bill by Sen. Daniel Akaka, D-Hawaii, who sponsored it in the Senate. Hey, we're giving money to NASA so why not Filipino veterans?
I'm thoroughly convinced that the sole purpose of "The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009" is to spend money on anything as quickly as possible. I seriously don't know what else to say, I'm completely flabbergasted.
What?! I think you are right about the strange timing and that it is outside of the purpose of this bill. But couldn’t they have found anything else to blow 200 mill on?