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Category: Economy (Page 11 of 14)

Bailout questions

September 22, 2008 /

Democrats aren’t the only ones asking questions about the latest bailout plan. Newt Gingrich has some tough questions, and he offers some suggestions as well.

Watching Washington rush to throw taxpayer money at Wall Street has been sobering and a little frightening.

We are being told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has a plan which will shift $700 billion in obligations from private companies to the taxpayer.

We are being warned that this $700 billion bailout is the only answer to a crisis.

We are being reassured that we can trust Secretary Paulson “because he knows what he is doing”.

Congress had better ask a lot of questions before it shifts this much burden to the taxpayer and shifts this much power to a Washington bureaucracy.

Imagine that the political balance of power in Washington were different.

If this were a Democratic administration the Republicans in the House and Senate would be demanding answers and would be organizing for a “no” vote.

One of Newt’s proposals includes repealing Sarbanes-Oxley. It’s not a bad idea.

The AIG bailout was probably necessary to avert a complete meltdown. The new proposal from Paulson deserves much more scrutiny.

Conservatives, Economy, Policy

Democrats are better for the US economy

September 2, 2008 /

Republicans love to claim that their tax policies lead to better economic growth. The facts, however, do not back up that claim.

I call the first fact the Great Partisan Growth Divide. Simply put, the United States economy has grown faster, on average, under Democratic presidents than under Republicans.

The stark contrast between the whiz-bang Clinton years and the dreary Bush years is familiar because it is so recent. But while it is extreme, it is not atypical. Data for the whole period from 1948 to 2007, during which Republicans occupied the White House for 34 years and Democrats for 26, show average annual growth of real gross national product of 1.64 percent per capita under Republican presidents versus 2.78 percent under Democrats.

That 1.14-point difference, if maintained for eight years, would yield 9.33 percent more income per person, which is a lot more than almost anyone can expect from a tax cut.

The next time someone tells you that we need to cut taxes for the wealthy in order to grow the economy, you can explain to them that the opposite is true.

Also, income inequality is greater under Republican presidents than under Democrats. So, the economy grows faster, and the poor are better off under Democrats.

Democrats, Economy, Republicans

Classic Phil Gramm

July 10, 2008 /

Former Senator Phil Gramm is hilarious. He’s one of the true believers in the concept of deregulation, while he seems completely oblivious to the negative effects of many of our deregulation efforts, probably because the was behind many of them.

He’s now becoming famous for his claim that “we’re becoming a nation of whiners.” Now, we all know plenty of whiners, but this isn’t the best way to describe Americans when you’re an advisor to a presidential candidate. He’s also dead wrong about our economic situation. Things aren’t peachy. The economy has serious structural problems, and our major banks are in big trouble and are getting bailed out by Middle Eastern investors, the same people we’re making rich with our idiotic energy policies. In the meantime, ordinary Americans are getting squeezed. Foreclosures are going through the roof, and gas prices are slowing the economy.

Phil Gramm is a PR nightmare for McCain, but more importantly he is McCain’s cheif economic advisor. The Gramm/McCain policies would be a disaster for this country. So it’s poetic justice that Gramm’s stupidity and lame political skills are hurting McCain. I remeber when Gramm ran for president in 2006. He had by far the most money, but people hated him. He crashed and burned very quickly in Iowa.

McCain threw Gramm under the bus today, but he and Gramm have been friends for years and he has been a critical advisor. That connection will continue t be a problem for today.

Meanwhile, the video has surfaced of Gramm making his “whiner” statement. As Joe Sudbey points out, he’s so smug and condescending.

Conservatives, Economy, President 2008, Republicans, Video

Clinton/McCain gas tax plan – dumbest idea yet

May 1, 2008 /

Michael Bloomberg chimes in on the latest pander from Clinton and McCain.

Tom Friedman is even tougher on these lame politicians.

It is great to see that we finally have some national unity on energy policy. Unfortunately, the unifying idea is so ridiculous, so unworthy of the people aspiring to lead our nation, it takes your breath away. Hillary Clinton has decided to line up with John McCain in pushing to suspend the federal excise tax on gasoline, 18.4 cents a gallon, for this summer’s travel season. This is not an energy policy. This is money laundering: we borrow money from China and ship it to Saudi Arabia and take a little cut for ourselves as it goes through our gas tanks. What a way to build our country.

When the summer is over, we will have increased our debt to China, increased our transfer of wealth to Saudi Arabia and increased our contribution to global warming for our kids to inherit.

Economy, Energy Independence, President 2008

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