|
Edited on Thu Jan-29-09 04:36 PM by Kurt_and_Hunter
Democrats: Strip all tax cuts out of the bill except earned income tax credit increases and the annual AMT reduction. Make it a BIG sending bill. Fund everything.
Republicans: Propose 800 billion or a trillion in short-term tax cuts... say a one-time 2009 25-30% across the board reduction in personal income taxes, corporate taxes, capital gains taxes, estate taxes and payroll taxes... whatever it works out to. Republican wet dream.
Then pass them BOTH
That would be a lot better than anything anyone has proposed so far. This either-or mentality misses the key point that the stimulus is too small, and the costs of falling short are immense compared to the costs of doing too much.
So do whatever it takes to get the thing bigger than big, rather than arguing about the efficiency of various measures. Spending, tax cuts and dropping money from helicopters all offer stimulus. We can argue about the biggest bang for the buck, but it's all sort of beside the point. Even the smartest people don't really know exactly what will happen so throw everything against the wall that we can possibly get through congress.
Political will is the only limit we face right now. We have no shortage of money. At this point in time (unlike when Stockman said it in the 1980s) the deficit truly... does... not... matter. The dollar is, if anything, too strong and getting stronger. We are in a deflationary environment. We can print all the money we want until we see some inflation or big rate increases in treasuries or some other sign we are printing too much money, but those seem a distant pipe-dream right now.
|
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
