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Wide White: This should help

Friday, January 18, 2008

This should help

I'm still anxious to see details, but hopefully this "shot in the arm" helps give the nation a swift kick in the...
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush called on Congress on Friday to give the U.S. economy a "shot in the arm" with an election-year package of temporary tax cuts and other measures worth up to $150 billion.
...
He said he wanted Congress to move quickly on a stimulus package that would focus on tax rebates for families and incentives to encourage business investment. The White House said the package could create about 500,000 new jobs.
...
Under discussion are proposals to trim the lowest income tax rate and give the money back in a rebate. Lawmakers are also considering allowing businesses to immediately write off 50 percent of their new investments.
Even the Democrats are joining in on the fun.
"I am encouraged and share the president's view that we need prompt bipartisan action to strengthen our economy," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Of course, massive spending could still be the downfall of the economy.
Sen. Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, said after Bush's remarks on Friday that the president needed to accept some spending as part of the package.
I guess I'll believe it when I see it, but hey, seeing politicians talk about it is still encouraging.

4 Comments:

Blogger -V- declared,

Hey, Joey. We've only met a couple times, but have mutual friends. I'm glad you're courageous enough to talk politics on your blog; I'll be tuning in for more discussion throughout the year - you're on my list! :-)

1/18/2008 7:28 PM  
Blogger watchman146 declared,

Joey,

glad you brought this up. Hopefully we can discuss this on Poliforum some time.

I'm having trouble figuring this thing out. It seems to me that the problems with the economy revolve around two major issues:

1. Mortgage crisis
2. Credit problems (loads of bad credit for companies and individuals)

A big part of the stimulus package is giving out tax rebates to stimulate spending.

So, how does giving a hundred bucks to everybody help? If I take my c-note out and buy an IPod (which would be sweet), how does that alleviate the two problems?

I'm all for free money, but how does it solve anything?

1/18/2008 8:37 PM  
Blogger kristi noser declared,

I agree with the Watchman. Remember the rebates a few years ago?
And how, if the war is costing so much, is the government able to give back our tax money? I guess I just don't understand all this junk.
Don't get me wrong, I'll take the free money too. I'm not that stupid.

1/19/2008 1:15 PM  
Blogger Joey declared,

Vonda, good to see you! I know of you through those mutual friends and I know my wife knows you and reads your blog. I need to check it out!

Corey, I haven't done an economic study of the effects of rebates like this, but tend to agree with you. The problem is, if we don't give those small checks to the middle- and low-income Americans but only give the big rebates to the corporations and the wealthy (people and companies who will actually use that money to create jobs and will invest it), the president will be accused of pandering to the wealthy Americans.

So, I don't think any policy is possible in which the middle and lower classes don't get some cut of the pie.

(And I agree with your analysis of the problems. The credit bubble had to burst at some point, as did the housing market.)

1/20/2008 3:46 PM  

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