Good news; taxpayers can expect more money in their paychecks beginning April 1. In a radio address to the nation, President Obama said that the Treasury Department has already started to inform employers to reduce the amount of taxes withheld from paychecks. The average family should take home an additional $65 month.
Not a staggering figure, but certainly a nice pad for my debt fund.
The $787 billion stimulus law is designed to improve local economies by increasing federal spending; providing much needed aid to states with struggling economies, such as ... well, all of them.
Although lowering taxes is a key element to the scheme, the ultimate goal is to stop foreclosures, repair the banking system, so as to eventually restore the flow of credit in America.
As it stands, credit card companies will very soon be subject to federal regulations, controlling interest rates and late payment fees. In the meantime, credit card companies are drastically increasing interest rates to control their own debt problems, putting a strain on the long-suffering working class.
Slightly wealthier Republican leaders have opposed the new stimulus law, yet I highly doubt that any governor in his or her right mind would refuse the money if offered. And though staunch Republicans like Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly blame the liberal media for “over-hyping” the current economic crisis. I would encourage them to try selling that to the 400 people who lost their jobs this month when Penn Traffic was forced to close not one, but eight supermarkets due to the “over-hyped” economic crisis.
I can appreciate an opposition to federal spending. But increased federal funding, particularly to public works, is exactly what led our nation out of The Great Depression. And to critics who fear that the money will be misused at the local level, President Obama has already warned that he will hold government officials, regardless of level, personally responsible for how the money is used.
Bottom line - don't be too quick to pooh-pooh the recovery plan. If history has taught us anything, the only way out of a recession is to put money directly into the economy to fund necessary state projects that create new jobs. Not dissimilar to the construction of interstate highways following World War II.
I've clearly hitched my wagon to a star. But for those who are still skeptical, I encourage you to read up on the New Deal policies of the 1930s. I think you'll find that President Obama is on the right track.
Estabrook's column appears
Mondays and she can be reached at estabrookcarole@yahoo.com
The $787 billion stimulus law is designed to improve local economies by increasing federal spending; providing much needed aid to states with struggling economies, such as ... well, all of them.
Although lowering taxes is a key element to the scheme, the ultimate goal is to stop foreclosures, repair the banking system, so as to eventually restore the flow of credit in America.
As it stands, credit card companies will very soon be subject to federal regulations, controlling interest rates and late payment fees. In the meantime, credit card companies are drastically increasing interest rates to control their own debt problems, putting a strain on the long-suffering working class.
Slightly wealthier Republican leaders have opposed the new stimulus law, yet I highly doubt that any governor in his or her right mind would refuse the money if offered. And though staunch Republicans like Karl Rove and Bill O'Reilly blame the liberal media for “over-hyping” the current economic crisis. I would encourage them to try selling that to the 400 people who lost their jobs this month when Penn Traffic was forced to close not one, but eight supermarkets due to the “over-hyped” economic crisis.
I can appreciate an opposition to federal spending. But increased federal funding, particularly to public works, is exactly what led our nation out of The Great Depression. And to critics who fear that the money will be misused at the local level, President Obama has already warned that he will hold government officials, regardless of level, personally responsible for how the money is used.
Bottom line - don't be too quick to pooh-pooh the recovery plan. If history has taught us anything, the only way out of a recession is to put money directly into the economy to fund necessary state projects that create new jobs. Not dissimilar to the construction of interstate highways following World War II.
I've clearly hitched my wagon to a star. But for those who are still skeptical, I encourage you to read up on the New Deal policies of the 1930s. I think you'll find that President Obama is on the right track.
Estabrook's column appears
Mondays and she can be reached at estabrookcarole@yahoo.com
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drivebytrucker wrote on Feb 25, 2009 3:57 PM:
scottgrimshaw wrote on Feb 25, 2009 8:45 AM:
romer1234 wrote on Feb 24, 2009 1:44 PM:
World War II has also been long touted as a time of economic boom but the indicators during this time were artificially improved. Unemployment was low because a large portion of the population was fighting overseas. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was high because so much of the nation’s resources were engaged making weapons for the war effort. The real conditions for Americans during this time did not reflect the optimistic economic indicators. Domestic consumption was low and goods were rationed. These were times that could scarcely be called prosperous. We were not dragged out of the depression by World War II, but by the reduction in government controls, the relaxation of trade barriers, and the return to normalcy and a peacetime economy.
But if we truly want to look to history as a guide though our time of turmoil, perhaps we should examine Japan’s “Lost Decade” of the 1990’s during which the Japanese government attempted to unsuccessfully confront a faltering economy with large government bailout packages. The result was “zombie” businesses that survived only by repeat feedings from the government dole and never returned to any level of productivity.
It is a politically effective tool to marginalize the criticism of one’s adversaries through the thinly veiled rhetoric of class warfare, but this tactic can only stifle honest debate at a time when careful examination of our fiscal policies is most needed. It has been stated that only “wealthier Republicans” would oppose a stimulus package thus implying that it is just another attempt by “The Man” to keep the people down, but this policy is not only opposed by Republican governors. Economic thinkers from both sides of the isle oppose this program and have publicly stated their position through such actions as the Cato Institute’s petition to President Obama.
The overwhelming debate in this country encompasses what stimulus action the government should be taking during this economic downturn, but the real question should be whether the government should be doing anything at all. We talk of stimulus as the cure to recession, but recession is not the disease, but the cure to an overinflated stock and housing market and an overleveraged banking system. To inject money at this time keeps prices artificially high and adds the new problem of inflation. We’ve seen this before, when the excessive government spending in the 1960’s lead to stimulus spending in the 1970’s. The irony of this situation was best summed up by Adam Davidson when he said giving a politician a blank check is like giving coke to a crack addict. The subsequent spending did not fix the economy, but resulted in stagflation, an important lesson for all those touting Keynesian prescriptions for our economic ailments. "
drivebytrucker wrote on Feb 23, 2009 11:49 AM:
P&C gives a very different reason for closing their 8 stores. Not only is it a business decision that was long in the making, those stores were long in the decline. The stores are empty and dirty and have been for years. They even smell bad. They can't compete with Wegman's.
We were dragged out of the 1929 Depression by World War II.
do youhave a bottom line on where is all this stimulus money coming from? "