Monday, December 6, 2010
Bang for the Buck – Economic Policy Institute versus DC Politicians
Even the Senate Republicans would tell you that they want to reduce unemployment in the short-run and the deficit in the long-run. High bang for the buck fiscal stimulus is something we should all support. A great is example is this proposal from Lawrence Mishel, which has gathered the signatures of 33 prominent economists. Senate Republicans, however, don’t like this idea preferring to lobby hard for a budget busting extension of tax cuts for the well to do. Our President is on board with Mishel’s call for extending unemployment compensation but the Senate Republicans will not agree to this unless they get a concession on their hope for tax cuts from the well to do. Well, it seems our President is willing to bargain by letting there be a two-year extension of the Bush tax cuts. So let’s see – a temporary tax break for households who are not borrowing constrained. In other words – no bang for a lot of bucks! This is leadership?
Depressing, isn't it? And this from a President who is described as a liberalo Democrat, but then a rose by any other name would still be a centrist Republican disguised as a conciliatory, bi-partisan ideologist.
ReplyDeleteI made this point over at AB, but I think it warrants repeating here.
What is there in Obama's Senatorial behavior, aside from his nice words, that implies that he would be other than what he has turned out to be. He's a Chicago politician at heart, which is to say that any ideal can be compromised for the sake of expedient legislation, if not quality legislation.
I wonder who will be running for the position of president in 2012. I assume that the next president will be a Republican because this president has turned out to be a Republican anyway. I can't actually see any reasonable candidate in either of the two political parties.
ReplyDeleteHaving done with the tax situation, it is time to return to health care. Democrats must insist on improvements to current health care law. Obama must seize the initiative on this. There are several things that need to be done which had better be Democratic initiatives as opposed to Republican. The tax problem will rear its head again in 2012. The president and the Democrats must be on the correct side of all the other arguments or they will lose any hope of maintaining a United States government with any vigor. A government that cannot tax is not a government.