|
 |
 |
|
Suspending the Stimulus Package, Revisited
-
07/14/09 03:42 AM ET
In yesterday's blog space my focus was on the prescription for turning the economy around. The feedback was so overwhelming that I decided to revisit this topic with additional info.
Actually, I was amazed at some of the knee-jerk responders who are so blinded by Obama's charisma and deceit that they have no concern for the truth and the obvious financial turmoil and eventual fallout from the president's policies.
We desperately need to add to the stimulus a large, targeted tax cut on small business as well as an accelerated depreciation schedule for big business looking to invest in capital. Obama’s big mistake was looking to “stimulate” the economy by stoking demand — i.e., supplanting consumer spending with government spending. All that will do is lead to inflation (eventually) and to interest rate pressures and a ballooning debt (immediately).
Rather, the issue is jobs and investment, and they come not through spending, but by giving incentives to the private sector. The president has made a terrible mistake that he is anxious to compound with cap-and-trade and healthcare reform. I pray and hope that our president has the political wisdom to rectify it.
Or I’d trade anything he’d do affirmatively for finishing his first job — unclogging the capital markets. That job is still not done, but as it is now boring because the media has written four or five news cycles about it, no one is holding him to account publicly. The toxic assets — which no financial institution has any incentive to write off while there is hope for a bailout — continue to impede capital flows. That has to be fixed.
Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com .
Actually, I was amazed at some of the knee-jerk responders who are so blinded by Obama's charisma and deceit that they have no concern for the truth and the obvious financial turmoil and eventual fallout from the president's policies.
We desperately need to add to the stimulus a large, targeted tax cut on small business as well as an accelerated depreciation schedule for big business looking to invest in capital. Obama’s big mistake was looking to “stimulate” the economy by stoking demand — i.e., supplanting consumer spending with government spending. All that will do is lead to inflation (eventually) and to interest rate pressures and a ballooning debt (immediately).
Rather, the issue is jobs and investment, and they come not through spending, but by giving incentives to the private sector. The president has made a terrible mistake that he is anxious to compound with cap-and-trade and healthcare reform. I pray and hope that our president has the political wisdom to rectify it.
Or I’d trade anything he’d do affirmatively for finishing his first job — unclogging the capital markets. That job is still not done, but as it is now boring because the media has written four or five news cycles about it, no one is holding him to account publicly. The toxic assets — which no financial institution has any incentive to write off while there is hope for a bailout — continue to impede capital flows. That has to be fixed.
Visit www.armstrongwilliams.com
Most Viewed RSS Feed »
