Mike

Thank you for a well thought out and intelligent post.

"That said, poor governance by the republicans in the past does not excuse the same poor governance being continued by the democrats in the present. Do you think that the stimulus bill is a good one, Jamie?"

In response I have to say I think the democrats in congress are doing a fucking awful job, which is why they have a 10% approval rating.

I do think the revised stimulus bill is a good one. From what I have read, the initial bill had too much pork in it.

I am of many minds concerning this. In the past, I thought it was dumb to just put money back into the tax-payers’ pockets. How is putting three hundred dollars into someone's hand going to stimulate the economy? That's not going to do anything! But I believe we are in a unique situation. For one thing, we're not talking three hundred dollars, we're talking three thousand. For another, it's not just that the economy is bad, it's that banking, lending, mortgages, car sales, etc are all down. We have tons of businesses failing.

Give me three thousand dollars and I can pay off my mortgage for months. I can catch up on my defaulted car loan. I get the money, the banks get the money, everyone is saved. Give it straight to the banks and I still lose my house. What good does that do?

Still, something needs to be done. I think spending almost a trillion dollars on infrastructure is a good start. Unlike tax breaks, this actually has been shown to work in the past.

Comments

  1. Jamie,

    In regards to your opinion on the stimulus bill, you're on the money.

    ReplyDelete
  2. My dear friend,

    I have to correct you on a few misconceptions.

    "Unlike tax breaks, this actually has been shown to work in the past"

    From this remark, I can see, quite unfortunately, as I have a high regard for your writing but not your political stance, you known very little of American history.

    Just to give you one, of many, example: The New Deal. His economic plan to stimulate growth during The Great Depression, and recover was a disastrous one at that. Only a Democratic would say such presumptuous things such as creating phantom money to pump back into the economy. This does not fill in the widening deficit hole, nearing 11 trillion. This kind of approach only deepens it, creating a mass grave site for burdening taxpayers. And who are the ones shoveling dirt onto us? Those would be the overfed and bloated businesses who have begged with their hands out like shameless hobos. A classic example would be the bank and real estate industries who were 'saved' by our now socialistic government.
    It's time we cut the fat from the government spending and force feeding of those capitalistic pigs called big business. No Mas.

    And, again, you are incorrect on tax cuts. It just does not make sense. Please show me a piece in history when cutting taxes has actually HURT the economy? It would be hard pressed for you to do so, as the long term implications have never been shown. Why is that? Because we haven't had it done.

    While we may be a 'unique' situation, it does not cause for a repeat of history's failures as a solution for today's problems. We are only doomed to repeat it. Stop giving money to the businesses. We know best what to do with our own money. I do not need a socialist, monopolistic government. Allow the government to distribute wealth, and soon they will control the businesses.

    To sum up, the stimulus, revised or not, is a threatening action to the economy. These kind of short term solutions do not, nor has it ever, built, founded and supported a capitalistic country. It is long overdue to stop the greed from corporates, government feeding and state institutions. Capitalism has been founded on individual freedom in its action that determines its success; built upon the people who support it.

    No thank-you.

    And while I hold you in some regard, my fear is that you do not hold those ideologies.

    Sincerely,

    Shawn J. Houtsinger
    Houts

    ReplyDelete

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