Just send out the checks!
So it looks like the “stimulus” bill is going to be $935 Billion. Divide by 133.9 million American taxpayers, and you get $6,983 per U.S. taxpayer. In my opinion, most all of this is throwing good money after bad. Not only will it not create any immediate economic stimulus, but a lot of it is simply growing the government way beyond it’s already enormous size and complexity.
Truth is, we don’t need all these new laws and all these new programs. The consumer is 70 percent of the U.S. economy. If you want to stimulate the economy quickly, just have the Treasury Department send out the checks to all U.S. Taxpayers. More will get spent – and faster – than any other way. And it won’t grow government by one bit.
I am not suggesting “send out the checks” is “the answer” to the problem. But it does shed light on part of the reason why we have the problem in the first place.
Unfortunately in the real world, we know this would not work Peter. You really think in these times, consumers would spend this money? They'd hoard it and that wouldn't solve anything. You're basically leaving the fate of the economy in the hands of us untrained blockheads (well, mostly), without a clue as to where the money will be spent - no control.
ReplyDeleteA situmulus bill at least targets what most lofty economists think are worthy pursuits. I trust them (people trained to deal with these situations) more than jughead down the street who (if not banking it) goes and blows it on strippers, an enterainment system, alchohol, drugs! Dispodable income is not the way out of times like this - that's just Econ 101 (well, maybe 201, sorry, after that stupid supplu-demand double curve lecture).
Handing out money to people doesn't stimulate manufacturing, rebuild the infrastructure, get banks lending again (the real problem) - nothing that we need done is accomplished. Even if they didn't pocket it, it basically would amount to Americans blowing their paychecks with "0" to show for it!
Banks got us in this mess and banks can get us out. We're a econom that thrives on credit - nothing wrong with that (has never been yet!), responsibly. And the only way to act responsibly seems to be oversight. The government's hands off policy is precisely what got us into this mess in the qst place. Banks, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies, Wall Street bigwigs will run amuck and try to get away with whaever they can unless checked - how much more proof to people need?! They're (collectively) like teenagers with their parents looking the other way!
If banks would lend money - and with no more credit leniency than they showed prior to the sub-prome greed phase - payrolls break free, so jobs increase, which increases disposable spending. Auto industry can sell cars and we don't have to bail them out. Houses get sod, so those values go up and people aren't upside down (real estate market reinvigorates). They (and lack of gov't oversight) andRepublican policies in general got us into this mess, and reversing that gets (and KEEPS) us out!
"Big gov" is just a GOP scare tactic, and wew see what the result of lack of oversight brings. no-one wa ever talking about "Big Brother in your living room!" It's fearmongering to keep the little people busy/placated so they can go off and do StarWars, and Iran/Contra, and give away 60% of us to foreign governments, and let their fat cat friends wreak havoc over our economy. Well we see where thay got us!
And while offering the "feeble" middle and lower class their requisite short-term placations like "we'll lower your taxes", they're deficit spending like crazy, not admitting that the money has to come from some place! What a joke! and this is the result.
Americans - now armed with more/better info sources allowing them to "peek behind the curtain to all this nonsense, have thankfully gotten smarter and spoke loud and clar in the last election - "We know what you're doing, we get it now, can't fool us any more, and ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"!
Obama and his ilk don't have a fuc*in clue - he is beyond stupid and naive. This isn't a stimulus bill, it's all about growing government and political pay backs. I really fault the American people for not being more engaged in what's going on. All you have to do is read what's in this bill and you'll quickly understand that it is NOT about the American people, who HE WORKS FOR BTW, but it's a "grow government quickly" bill. How could anyone, democrat or republican, be for this bill?
ReplyDeleteA quick review of economic growth figures after tax cuts in the 60's, 80's, 90's (Clinton Capital Gain Cut), and early 2001 Bush tax cut seem to indicate that not taking as much money from tax payers does have a positive affect each and every time it is tried.
ReplyDeletePutting ideology aside, the numbers are just to consistant to be coincidence. Cause and effect 101...
Tax cuts do get spent - estimates are that about 1/3 actually goes back into the economy. However, tax cuts don't become fungible right away, and this economy has been run into the ground and needs resuscitation like right away.
ReplyDeleteWow, those open doors in the first comment... I would have posted as Anonymous too if I were that demented.
ReplyDeleteAs a conservative, I will admit that congressional Republicans were a financial embarassment the first 6 years of Bush's presidency. However, the Democrats have been running Congress the last 2 before and since they've been in charge everything has S-U-C-K-E-D. Now that they control the White House, the House, and the Senate and can pretty much do what they want because of majorities things will continue to get worse. As shown by the contemptable wasteful spending in the porkulus bill.
While studying the money system, federal reserve, etc... it really looks like there isn't any real way out of this - at least not a way out via Government spending.
ReplyDeleteJust looking at the lower level for expenditures here in Portland, OR, and we're going to have almost ZERO net job growth.
The local Government is also looking at blowing a wad of cash, that they technically DO NOT have. Not sure where they'll get it, but they're hell bent on getting it.
I try not to think about it too much, but it seems that the bailout/stimulus is just digging us in for a longer long haul.
Eventually, the only thing that will save us is normal economic activity.
If the Government REALLY wanted to fix the situation one thing they could do is toss the Fed, push competing currencies & have everyone trade in what they have - peg it to something... and let savings again become commonplace.
But I know they won't do that. If anything they'll try to push up inflation to blow out the debts... which of course means retirees are gonna be screwed in about 1-3 years.
oh well... it's about time it hit the fan. :| hmpf.