Tag Archives: Republicans

Memo to Democrats: No Guts, No Glory

05 Monday Jan 2009

Posted by in Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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The details of President-elect Barack Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package are starting to emerge, and to be frank, I am less than impressed by what I have seen so far. From the New York Times:

“President-elect Barack Obama plans to include about $300 billion in tax cuts for workers and businesses in his economic recovery program, advisers said Sunday, as his team seeks to win over Congressional skeptics worried that he was too focused on government spending.

The legislation Mr. Obama is developing with Congressional Democrats will devote about 40 percent of the cost to tax cuts, including his centerpiece campaign promise to provide credits up to $500 for most workers, costing roughly $150 billion. The package will also include more than $100 billion in tax incentives for businesses to create jobs and invest in equipment or factories.”

I understand the need to fulfill the campaign promise of a middle-class tax cut, and giving businesses incentives for creating jobs, but it seems to me that devoting 40% of the stimulus package to tax cuts is too much.

Here’s a chart from Moody’s that shows “bang for the buck” when it comes to tax cuts vs. government spending. The figures are dollars added to the GDP in relation to dollars spent.

bang-for-the-buck

As you can see, the greater boost to the GDP comes from the last four spending increases rather than tax cuts or rebates.

But the thing that bothers me most about the proposed package is the reason for making tax cuts such a large part. From the Wall Street Journal:

“The size of the proposed tax cuts — which would account for about 40% of a stimulus package that could reach $775 billion over two years — is greater than many on both sides of the aisle in Congress had anticipated. It may make it easier to win over Republicans who have stressed that any initiative should rely more heavily on tax cuts rather than spending.”

I respect President-elect Obama’s desire for bi-partisanship, but isn’t it the suddenly fiscally conservative Republicans, whose policies of big tax cuts, un-regulated markets, and laissez-faire capitalism, have put us into the economic ditch in which we now find ourselves?

Also, the President-elect, and virtually every economist worthy of the title has said that our current economic predicament calls for unprecedented, bold actions. I don’t see kowtowing to Republicans as either unprecedented or bold. It reeks of same old, same old to me.

I realize that Democrats passing a stimulus package by a straight party line vote in the House, and by picking off one or two moderate Republicans in the Senate, is a big gamble. If it works, Democrats get all the credit, if it doesn’t they get all the blame.

But to bring it down to simple terms that I can understand, every gym that I have ever walked into in my 52 years has a sign with some variation of the theme, “No guts, no glory.” I think that’s what the majority of us voted for in November, and that’s what we expect, a different way of how business is done in D.C. Isn’t that what “change” is all about?

I Told You So, Republicans

15 Wednesday Oct 2008

Posted by in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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I hate to say I told you so, Republicans (not really) but I told you so. Your attacks on Barack Obama’s associations aren’t working. In fact, the opposite is true. McCain and Palin’s unfavorable ratings are rising and Obama’s favorables are at an all-time high since the attacks began. Thanks, GOP.

Before we go any further, these numbers are taken from a poll done by the New York Times and CBS, so I know some will dismiss it immediately as “liberal media bias.” You are free to leave at this point.

Now back to the polling data. About McCain’s attempts to tie Obama to William Ayers, the Times found this:

“After several weeks in which the McCain campaign sought to tie Mr. Obama to William Ayers, 64 percent of voters said that they had either read or heard something about the subject. But a majority said they were not bothered by Mr. Obama’s background or past associations. Several people said in follow-up interviews that they felt that Mr. McCain’s attacks on Mr. Obama were too rooted in the past, or too unconnected to the nation’s major problems.”

 

On the issue of favorability:

“Mr. McCain was viewed unfavorably by 41 percent of voters, and favorably by 36 percent. Ms. Palin’s favorability rating is now 32 percent, down 8 points from last month, and her unfavorable rating climbed nine percentage points to 41 percent. Mr. Obama’s favorability rating, by contrast, is now at 50 percent, the highest recorded for him thus far by The Times and CBS News.”

To show how poorly this attack strategy has worked, Palin’s favorable rating is now only 8 points ahead of President Bush, who is at an all-time low of 24%. Nice job Republicans, keep it up.

To show you how out of touch Republicans are at this point, take a look at this chart showing voter’s responses when asked which candidate has spent more time explaining his positions or attacking his opponent:

 

 

 

Almost half of the Republicans surveyed actually think that McCain has spent more time explaining his positions, talk about living in an alternate reality.

But then again, these are the same Mensa members that we see in line at McCain/Palin rallies, never mind.

 

 

Meanwhile, Back In The Real World

03 Friday Oct 2008

Posted by in Election 2008, McCain, Obama, Politics, Uncategorized

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I know the partisan Republicans are all a-twitter this morning over what they perceive as a victory by Sarah Palin in last night’s vice-presidential debate, and the McCain campaign would like nothing better than to take the focus off of our economic woes, but unfortunately for them, that’s not going to happen.

The credit freeze is deepening, unemployment is up, and companies large and small are tightening their belts in anticipation of a severe economic slowdown.

From Bloomberg:
“The crisis deepened after the worst month for corporate credit on record. Leveraged loan prices plunged to all-time lows, short-term debt markets seized up and even the safest company debt suffered the worst losses in at least two decades. Credit markets have frozen as financial institutions hoard cash to meet future funding needs amid deepening concern that more banks will collapse.”

The president of Chrysler said, “The credit window is now closed.”

Ford and Toyota reported sales for September were down over 30% from a year ago.

General Motors estimates it is losing 10-12,000 sales a month due to tightening credit.

AT&T is having trouble raising cash. From CNN Money:
“CEO Randall Stephenson said Tuesday that his company was unable to sell any commercial paper last week for terms longer than overnight. Commercial paper, which helps lubricate the flow of business operations, is a short-term IOU available to corporations that banks usually know are good for the money.”

Small businesses are suffering as well. From the New York Times:
“Some small companies say they are no longer able to get loans from newly cautious banks as credit tightens across the country, and even those who do qualify are increasingly reluctant to borrow and expand, fearful of overextending themselves in the midst of the financial crisis.”

Manufacturing is at it’s lowest level since 2001.

According to the Wall Street Journal;
“The number of U.S. workers filing new claims for unemployment benefits rose 1,000 to a seasonally adjusted 497,000 in the week ended Sept. 27, the Labor Department said. That was the highest since Sept. 29, 2001.”

Unemployment figures for September are due to be released today and are expected to be bleak.

So I ask you, with these facts and figures staring us squarely in the face, does it really matter how well Sarah Palin is able to speak from a prepared text or recite talking points? Not one iota. What matters is electing a president who has the judgement and the vision to tackle these tough problems, not one who admits that he has little knowledge of economics.