AMERICAblog: If the stimulus hasn't worked, then doesn't that mean the GOP tax cuts are to blame?
mf_roe
· 7 months ago
Everyone tries to frame Obama as the modern FDR. I see him as Herbert Hoover. Hoover was a good manager and someone who was a true humanitarian. But Hoover was blind to some serious faults in the system, he tried to salvage the arrangement that created the disaster. Hoover refused to change course even as the results showed that things were getting worse. Obama is just as sure of his understanding of what is needed and how to achieve it,and he too believes the system can be fixed with minor adjustment. And Obama is just as immune to correcting failure. Hoover only got one term, Obama will have a better chance at a second term since the repugs have nothing to counter with in 2012. But if Obama fails to deliver the change he preached he will have failed worst than Hoover ever did.
MsJoanne
· 7 months ago
Well, there's a big IF, considering we are six months into his presidency and how many months into the stimulus? You make it sound as if government can turn on a dime.
dula
· 7 months ago
Why isn't there more discussion about why only 10% of the Stimulus money has been dispersed? It is being held up by mostly Republican Governors who want to use it to balance their budgets instead of creating jobs (some are even holding back the Stim. money earmarked for unemployment benefits extensions because they don't agree with helping the unemployed get benefits)
KerrynowCampau
· 7 months ago
GOPers need to ask themselves why, after 8 years of Bush tax cuts, we are in the mess we are in. If they solve all ills and trickle down to the little people this country should be in a hell of a lot better shape. Oh I know, it's because of Obama.....
samiinh
· 7 months ago
NO, it's all Carter's fault. Carter and Clinton. Blame them. That's what I keep reading in our local paper here in NH.
SkippyFlipjack
· 7 months ago
You wouldn't win that argument with a Republican. They always say tax cuts take a while to work, so they can take credit for natural boom cycles years down the road.
KerrynowCampau
· 7 months ago
According to a poster below in the Krugman thread, when I asked what jobs the bush tax cuts created, I was informed the tax cuts shorted the recession and created FULL employment!! And that job losses started under Obama!
It was pointless of me to ask.... Edit: I suppose defense/military contractors started hiring more people under bush
RP
· 7 months ago
Right on man !!!
Butch1
· 7 months ago
Jason has a point. Of course, the republicans will not see it that way. They don't even see themselves as being the problem after eight years of tax cuts which mainly filled the rich's pockets.
mf_roe
· 7 months ago
Bush tax cuts were just one part of the corrupt system that steals the fruits of labor from the vast majority of Americans and bestows the loot on the super rich. Tax rates are the least of our problems when our system allows profit to be hidden from taxation.
Marshall Y.
· 7 months ago
Democrats' messaging on this issue has been woefully bad. It's almost like they don't care if the stimulus fails or succeeds. Someone in the spineless Dem punditry needs to go on the offense and start forcefully confronting these ridiculous arguments that are being forwarded on TV.
mikatuva
· 7 months ago
Its not an issue of messaging. The stimulus won't fail or succeed because of what the Democrats say. The economic situation is to dire and too close to home to claim success like we did with the surge by timing the surge to coincide with the summer violence dip that happens every year. People will notice if it works or not. You can't forget that a lot of people on the left said it won't be enough, and if you don't do so much in January, you will have to spend a lot more. Now people are wondering whats up because things are getting better. Retirements are collapsing, people are losing their jobs, foreclosures are up. The messaging won't change that.
mf_roe
· 7 months ago
The Dems know that they will never be able to honor all the wishes of their voters, they know that what they will deliver will come out of the hide of the greedy and powerful--who will retaliate viciously, and they also know that they can no longer plead lack of political power. Knowing all that I can understand their lack of interest in informing the voters as to what they are up to. The repugs did enough damage to sink us, but the Dems have the wheel now and their failure to control the damage and make repairs are what will sink us.
SkippyFlipjack
· 7 months ago
Were the tax cuts retroactive? Did they apply to FY 2008 earnings?
libertydan
· 7 months ago
End inflation tax, that would help Im sure, yes inflation is a tax
Nylund
· 7 months ago
Yes inflation is a tax, but its a good tax for those in debt. If your debt is a set dollar amount, if the dollar becomes worth less over time, so does the real value of your debt. We call this "inflating your way out of debt".
Now, if you have savings, its not so good, but theoretically that is part of the reason you get paid interest on your savings - to make up for this.
But yes, inflation is a tax. We in economics call it seigniorage. But, inflation is quite low right now and there is even a risk of deflation (which is bad for people with debt as the value of their debt increases). Overall, a touch of inflation is considered a good thing by a majority of economists (the reasoning is a bit too lengthy to list here).
But one problem we're having right now is that we are basically on our way to ending the inflation tax (ie, we're up against the zero bound of monetary policy) and this is not a good thing. The fact that a dollar loses value over time is a damn good motivator to get people to spend it now, which is something you'd like to see during a recession. If we had deflation and a dollar just got more valuable over time, people would horde dollars which would cause an even bigger plunge in consumption, and if no one buys, no one produces, and if no one produces, then no one hires workers, and if no one hires workers, then workers have no money. And if workers have no money, then they don't buy things and the cycle starts all over again. Its a vicious negative feedback loop and one I'd hate to see America enter. Its basically the reason Japan's economy has been in a rut for the last decade.
bob_h
· 7 months ago
The next big piece of economic news is that the GDP contraction has slowed markedly; some Wall St. firms are even forecasting growth in Q2. Though GDP growth does not mean jobs right away, the turnaround is undoubtedly dramatic. What are GOP jackasses then going to say about the stimulus?
All Comments
Oh I know, it's because of Obama.....
It was pointless of me to ask....
Edit: I suppose defense/military contractors started hiring more people under bush
Now, if you have savings, its not so good, but theoretically that is part of the reason you get paid interest on your savings - to make up for this.
But yes, inflation is a tax. We in economics call it seigniorage. But, inflation is quite low right now and there is even a risk of deflation (which is bad for people with debt as the value of their debt increases). Overall, a touch of inflation is considered a good thing by a majority of economists (the reasoning is a bit too lengthy to list here).
But one problem we're having right now is that we are basically on our way to ending the inflation tax (ie, we're up against the zero bound of monetary policy) and this is not a good thing. The fact that a dollar loses value over time is a damn good motivator to get people to spend it now, which is something you'd like to see during a recession. If we had deflation and a dollar just got more valuable over time, people would horde dollars which would cause an even bigger plunge in consumption, and if no one buys, no one produces, and if no one produces, then no one hires workers, and if no one hires workers, then workers have no money. And if workers have no money, then they don't buy things and the cycle starts all over again. Its a vicious negative feedback loop and one I'd hate to see America enter. Its basically the reason Japan's economy has been in a rut for the last decade.