Jesus, Three Wise Men and the stimulus

I wonder how much Jesus would spend on the Iraq war? Funny....when Bush and the republicans spent over a "trillion" on tax cuts for the rich, I didn't hear one word from Jesus.

Jesus would say "it's not big enough". He would also tell people to look to economists in matters of the economy and not politicians, who are out for their own gain.

Then Jesus would say, "Thank my father Obama won".

billyboy - Bush didn't spend a trillion on tax cuts. How do you spend tax cuts anyway billy?

I could understand if you had said the government missed out on collecting a trillion dollars in taxes but then you'd be as wrong and silly with that statement as well.

Billy, until you get off the kool-aid and start thiinking for yourself, your constant blather just makes you a rediculous shill. So, when president Obama realizes that he can't continue to blame Bush for everything he's doing wrong, will you then follow the Obama instructions and start blaming someone other than Bush?

This is an idiotic question. Render unto Caesar

Jesus wouldn't spend a dime on the Iraq war! He'd simply strike down those infidels with lightning from his hands, then flood the region to get anyone he missed. God did it before!

First he'd say, "what the hell is a dollar?"

Jesus would say "Obama, you're going to hell and you can use the peoples money who worked hard for it as toilet paper because it's going down the toilet anyway"

who cares Id have a hell of a good time

What an apt illustration of the enormity of the trainwreck that is the Porkzilla bill.

Wow, did Republicans baulk at Bush spending more than a trillion on the Iraq war? No, but when Obama is trying to help the little people, they come out of the wood work and invoke Jesus? Jesus would tell us to rely on God the Father for our financial security. Do they mention that, no. We aren't stupid, you can't invoke our Savior and expect us to turn on the new President. Get over yourselves!

For a media constantly bashing the Church, why are they so obsessed with Jesus all of the sudden?

What a bunch of cr_p. Jesus would say before the W years we were without a deficit... and there was a whole lot more people working.

Jesus would say that his kingdom is heaven - not Earth. He would say render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.

Republicans spend = good.
Democrats spend = bad.
What bias?

He would also say, stop being greedy and help those that really can't help themselves (seniors, handicap, etc.). Stop sending your jobs that are needed in the USA somewhere else. He would say learn how to love each other with compassion and understanding. Stop being divisive and learn how to come together and fix your problems.

The media is always bashing the Church? And, you are sure Jesus wouldn't when he didn't even know about Church?

Jesus would go back to mexico and start a new drug cartel

Since he would be an unemployed carpenter, I'm betting he'd pocket a few bucks.

Jesus would go through more blow and whores than one could imagine. Given the rare ability of reincarnation, ODs simply are not a reason to stop doing drugs. I project that had he been given such a fortune, the entire foundation of Christianity would be based on a coked-out state of mind. So, pretty much what we have now.

He would say, "Don't ask me, I never existed."

Springfield....stupid me.....how do you spend tax cuts anyway....silly me. I just thought if you spend 1 trillion...or lose revenue of 1 trillion...you are still out 1 trillion. What a fool I am.

Making permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and AMT relief would have a direct cost of $3.7 trillion over the next ten years.

The interest payments needed to service this higher level of debt would amount to about $700 billion over the next ten years.

He might take a bit of the money and hire newspaper reporters and create newspapers that actually report on something meaningful instead of trivia.

Remember my Republican friends;
Jesus rode a donkey, never an elephant.

Be rational, it doesn't matter what a mythical supernatural being would do anyway. What should a rational actual living person today do? That's the question.

Golly, if you take a big number and give it to one person, it sure looks like it's really excessive!

So look at it this way.

If 787 billion dollars was distributed equally to the 305,857,653 Americans (census.gov this morning), we'd each get $2,573.09.

How long would it take you to spend that?

Jesus has absolutlely nothing to do with this. It's a non-argument. They are linking Jesus to the stimulus to push a conservative hot button. You could say there a more grains of sand on a beach than there are in this stimulus. OK, but it doesn't mean anything.
You could even go back and revalue the stimulus to 1973 dollars before we went of the gold standard and created an acceleration of inflation in the last 35 years. So what? It doesn't mean anything.
Do you want to make the counter agrument then that the American economy creates more than $1million per day if you went back and measured it to the time of Moses? It's a stupid statistical analogy.
If this is the Republican argument then Steele has to get going rebranding the party.

"Making permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and AMT relief would have a direct cost of $3.7 trillion over the next ten years...."

Posted by: bill r. | February 20, 2009 11:44 AM

bill R...

A direct cost to whom, exactly?

The question is rhetorical- the delusion your living under is that tax cuts are somehow given to us from our benevolent leaders. Taxes are not benefits that can be given or taken away from us ( remember that whole WE the people thing?), they are a means to supply government with capital to do the things that government should do- the SHOULD part is what has been defined in our constitution.

Example- Health care is not a right, (as it is not defined in our constitution) therefore, taxing us more for the purpose of providing free health care to others is unconstitutional- pretty simple concept.

This is kinda funny from the party that is against 'sharing the wealth', because that's exactly what Christ would do.

Jesus wouldn't be so stupid or irresponsible enough to demand money that wasn't his to blow away.

Before you start whining about Bush------ Just because he was a fiscal socialist dosen't mean that the badness must continue.

AND, if you didn't whine about the actions and lack of actions of the liberal hero Clinton that got us into this situation you don't deserve to whine about Bush. Clinton got no credit for his badness so Bush is history.

BHO owns it all, make him live up to his promises. Put him under the magnifing glass.

billr is right. If Jesus needed any help in finding ways to spend that $$$, he would just call up Don Rumsfeld.

(Bet Don would be stunned to be getting a call from Jesus.)

Where do people keep getting the number 1 trillion spent on the war? I haven't seen or heard that, beside, even if it is true, it would be 1 trillion over 6 years, not 1 trillion over 6 days, like Obama just spent!

I imagine the Romans would use some of their stimulus money to invest in a better quality of Cross and perhaps a better security system for the Tomb! Since the Republican Party claims Jesus as their own, I guess they think Jesus was an ignorant, hypocritical, war mongering, deficit spender who would have spent the entire 787 billion in 6 short years. I am quite certain Jesus would not appreciate being used for their political purposes.

My guess -- and this IS just a guess -- is that Jesus would find it far more justifiable to spend nearly $1 trillion on helping people than killing people in Iraq.

Then again, I was taught that Jesus was a promoter of benevolence over conflict, which obviously does not comport with the teachings of other faiths claiming to be based on the teachings of Jesus.

That's just my guess. But since the corporate media (and "conservatives" who don't think about anything not directly brought to their attention) does not apply ANY scrutiny to the near TRILLION dollars spent on our war (which was based on lies) in Iraq, we'll never see such a far more reasonable comparison by the media.

I'm just wondering where all these fake fiscal "conservatives" were when it came to spending a trillion dollars creating a damaged generation of soldiers and dead humans, all based upon lies intended to merely secure the reelection of our last president. Maybe these people find it more acceptable to spend obscene amounts of money when it is spent on killing foreigners rather than helping Americans. The fact that these people call themselves "Christian" or "conservative" is offensive to both of those terms.

heartburn.....They say 2 things in life are definite...death and taxes. Please tell me the reduced spending that went along with the loss of revenue from the tax cuts.

Since Jesus created the world and everything in it belongs to Him, why would $787 octilion mean anything to Him? He spoke, and the world was created. When He returns to battle against His enemies, He will speak again to conquer them. Couldn't He just speak and have all the money He wanted--if He wanted any? That's what makes Him so great! He doesn't need money to make Him happy or answer His needs. He simply wants to save humanity. God bless the name of Jesus the Christ.

Jesus saves, Moses invests!

Poor Jesus. All he wanted was to make life better for people, and now he's being used as a 2000 year old political football.

heartburn.....They say 2 things in life are definite...death and taxes. Please tell me the reduced spending that went along with the loss of revenue from the tax cuts.

Posted by: bill r. | February 20, 2009 1:08 PM

NONE- thats the problem... now we will enjoy the benefits of both increased spending and increased taxes...I make no apologies or defense of Bush admin - I have pretty consistently been critical of his non- defense spending.

So back to your initial misstating the fundamental role of government and our money- why do you think that that a tax cut = a benefit to the person whose taxes are cut?

Jesus would feed the hungry, heal the sick and throw the corrupt businessmen out of the church.

Since he isn't here, we have to do it for him. Since we aren't miracle workers, we have to use money. Since we don't have enough money indivdually we have to pool our resources. Since there are so many greedy people who refuse to follow His path we have to tax everyone.

Glad the Republicans agree.

He'd probably divide it up among everyone that actually needed it and have at least a couple billion left over.

I think respublicans call that socialism.

"Making permanent the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts and AMT relief would
have a direct cost of $3.7 trillion over the next ten years...."

Posted by: bill r. | February 20, 2009 11:44 AM

bill R...

A direct cost to whom, exactly?
The question is rhetorical- the delusion your living under is that tax cuts are somehow given to us from our benevolent leaders.
Posted by: heartburn | February 20, 2009 12:24 PM

Heartburn, each day and each post you make reminds me how dumb you really are! This is not a rhetorical question. If the government cuts taxes by 3.7 trillion, then the US revenue is short that 3.7 trillion it had before the cuts! Therefore the cost trickles down to all of us! What is so hard to understand with that? Its fact.
Bill R knows more then you will ever understand! I would call you the "R" word but that is so not PC these days!

Jesus was a man for all seasons and ages, HE said if you love me keep my commandments, one especially is "do not covet your neighbors goods" in other words keep your hands out of my pocket,off my land ,and off my maidens. When y'all start living for HIM and not your own personal gain, you will come back to y'all senses.

Wow, that's really a profound comparison. It's like comparing apples to...ah, a monkey's testicles. Reality check please!

Hey everybody! Guess what--when Bush cut taxes, government revenues went up. You can check it for yourself here, on page 31:

http://www.gpoaccess.gov/USbudget/fy09/pdf/hist.pdf

That's right....the 2003 tax cut that supposedly cost $1 trillion made up more than half of that thanks to increased growth. So actually, Bush's tax cut helped keep the good times rolling for another four years.

Now that everyone knows Obama will raise taxes and flood the economy with government money, thereby causing inflation, all that growth has stopped.

Get ready for a lot more of this pain.....

AIP clearly used Jesus as a chronological reference point to put the size of the bailout into perspective, and nothing more.

This post by Mark aggravates me as it merely repeats a widely reported story [Politico, Fark linked Politico] without expressing an opinion, which smacks of the intention to only to generate comments and page views counts for the Tribune.

The comments aggravate me because so few of you have the guts to attach your real name to your comments. I sense many of you are mockingly saying what Jesus would do to get across your own political points, and I'm pretty sure many of you truly don't even believe in, or don’t respect-or care about what Jesus means to 1.1B Christians.or respect the idea of Jesus.

To the posters so far; As a Catholic thus obviously a Christian, I believe, with all else going on in the world, Jesus would not bother to opine on this issue at all.

The level of hatred in this comments thread by implied supporters of either political party is vile enough. But the use of Jesus' name in making a political comment is disgusting beyond redemption.

Since Mark opened this can of worms, I will humbly opine that among the numerous things Jesus might address, the faux religious leaders using their bully pulpits for advancing political agendas and self-gain in the name of religion would be higher up than the economic crisis.

Mr. Silva, you opened up a can of Jesus, Christianity, Bush and Obama bashing by even posting this. Thank you for being so thoughtful, or to paraphrase the Simpsons, that’s some mighty fine police work, Lou.

John Elert
Chicago

Jesus has would nothing to do with money and spending it. His teaching and his coming has to do with pure love, do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Very simple.

Jesus, God: these names have a reputation. God will defend his reputation, no matter what we do with it. People using God's or Jesus' name as their own property will pay for it, one way or another.
But, anyway, even so, why isn't the money sent by Bush's bailout before leaving office, why isn't that figure included?

So back to your initial misstating the fundamental role of government and our money- why do you think that that a tax cut = a benefit to the person whose taxes are cut?

Posted by: heartburn | February 20, 2009 1:37 PM

So you wish me to answer something outside of reality. Even under the "messiah" (to coin a current phrase) Ronnie Raygun...the budget more than doubled.

This ad is repulsive to me.

What Jesus actually taught his followers was that, if they ever needed money for taxes, they were not to worry about it, because God would provide for their needs in ways that they couldn't even fathom. (With Peter, he found the tax money in a fish's mouth.).

What Christians were to do instead of worrying about taxes was to make sure that the homeless were all housed, the hungry were all fed, and the sick were all healed.

It is a sad day in Christianity when the COST of helping those in distress is the first consideration for Christians.

GREED is a very subtle character assassin, and Jesus warned very, very clearly about those dangers. A big part of why this crisis has even come to America is because of GREED.

When Peter fretted about taxes, Jesus commanded him to stop worrying and expect a miracle.

I challenge all Americans (especially Christians and other people of FAITH) to starve their greed and feed the poor.

Saying you have faith without having faith is hypocrisy.

Jesus loves sinners.
Jesus loves unbelievers.
Jesus loves the unfaithful.

But Jesus hates hypocrites.

He lets YOU choose;
So... Greed or Good?

And if it helps any...
I promise you, miracles are more fun than money.

What would Jesus do? He would give it ALL to the poor (…the least of these…). Since conservatives claim to be “moral,” and “Christian,” it would behoove them to crack open their Bibles every once in a while to truly practice what they profess. The closest these elitists ever get to the common man is when they hire them to prune their bushes or serve them in their country clubs. They surely have NO IDEA what these people go through on a daily basis. To tell someone to “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” has no meaning when it comes from conservatives since most of them had their boots & straps handed to them by their ancestors. If we are going to inject Christ into the conversation, let’s get it right! Liberals are not exempt either.

First, to Kelly--

Do you really think Jesus would be thanking God for placing someone in power who approves of abortion?

Bob--We were without a deficit? Really? are you positive on that? From the same administration that stroked Enron and the others
to cook the books?

Guy--dead on. This is really what Jesus would say.

I think everyone is taking the ordeal way out of proportion. Typical distortion. Jesus is still the most widely known historical figure, if not religious figure as well. The majority of people know when he was born. It gives a major common point of reference. They could have used Mohammed, but I don't think as many people are familiar, and with current state of affairs probably not wise to bring him in. This is just another case of people reaching and twisting to pull their own views from a simple mathematical example.

and the posts continued by cowards unable to give their real name.

John Elert

Jesus is not dead!!!!! He is a Mexican living near Cancun! I would be suprised if he had any insiteful words about the US economy. Anyone that believes something else has been lied to.

John Elert.....congratulations on your first 2 posts here. You would be about the 9th john here....pun intended. Your confrontational attitude smacks against what you are supposed to believe. Let me get this straight.....you are pissed because people are not using their names? Where was that rule written? I missed it somewhere. Why don't you keep your ignorant self around here for a bit and then you will know who I am, where I live, where I work, and likewise for MJ, Bill R, John W, and others which is more information than posting a name. Your name means nothing around here. Sorry to burst your little bubble. Oh, and keep believing in your fairy tales.....it gives the educated people out here a source of endless laughter.

The truth is this economy wont recover. Soon the economic superpower will no longer be the US. The dicisions being made by Obama are proving how much longer this economy will last. The US is in trillions of dollars in dept and will continue... The signs are becoming clearer and clearer. Wars and rumors of war, earthquakes, the worldwide dissemination of the Gospel, natural disasters, false Christs and cults, persecution of christians, and so on. These are all signs of the end, when Jesus comes back for his true church. It is too hard to think that the human race could live for another 50 years or 40 or 30 years. Scientist have predicted the ice caps will melt by 2013........ but anyways, what would Jesus do with 787 billion? no body knows.

well John Elert. whether you want to believe in your saviour or not, at the end the bible states says, "so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Phil. 2:10-11. so either you receive free salvation or go to hell.. this might sound foolish to you but God's word says "27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong" 1 corinthians 1:27.. so whether you want to accept it or not, Jesus is coming back.... soon.