We’re in the midst of taxation without representation on a Gargantuan scale never seen in the history of humankind. Massive taxes on a population that has absolutely ZERO representation. We know this as a fact because this population for the most part hasn’t even been born yet.
IBD Observes — Since the 2008 recession:
* Federal employment has jumped by 10%, or nearly 200,000 positions,
* Private-sector employment has plunged 7%, or 7.8 million jobs.
* Massive spending and an unprecedented expansion of the role of the U.S. government in the American economy.
* CBO Estimate of spending for the next 10 years: $44.5 trillion from 2010 to 2020 - an 82% jump from $24.5 trillion spent in the last decade.
CONCLUSION :
* Big Government and its unions are the main beneficiaries of the “stimulus”.
* The real aim of the Democratic stimulus is NOT jobs or infrastructure or any other real-world accomplishment, but to INCREASE THE SIZE OF GOVERNMENT.
I confess that I never really thought of it in quite that way. Excellent point.
I sleep well at night knowing my great-great-grandchildren have a solid case for REPARATIONS!
(/sarc)
The National Review observes that Obama’s latest proposal smacks of desperation and panic.
Obama knows it is losing its fight to let certain of the Bush tax cuts expire — even though it now has explicitly ruled out a compromise on extending them — and it is making one last push to buy leverage for its position by offering “targeted” tax cuts to the business community.
“Targeted” is one of this administration’s favorite words, second only to “inherited,” as in, “To address the severe crisis he inherited, President Obama pushed for a stimulus that was timely, targeted, and temporary.”
But what we have learned from the stimulus is that Congress has exceptionally bad aim, and that temporary measures to boost the economy do little more than steal demand from the future.
The Cash for Clunkers program boosted car sales for the two-month window of its existence, but it was followed by a steep drop a few months later: Average the two time periods together and you get no noticeable change in demand. The temporary Homebuyers Tax Credit had a similar effect on home sales, with transactions spiking the month before the credit expired and then plummeting in the months after.
Having spent the last 18 months binging on stimulus sugar and enduring the consequent crashes, Obama suggests we return to the cookie jar with a temporary credit that would allow businesses to take an immediate 100 percent deduction for new capital and equipment expenditures made between now and the end of 2011. A permanent credit of this sort might make sense as an option for businesses, but a temporary credit is a bad idea.
Just as Cash for Clunkers and the Homebuyers Tax Credit distorted demand for cars and homes without really stimulating it, a temporary deduction for capital expenditures would encourage firms that were already planning on building new plants or buying new equipment at some point to make those investments in 2011 rather than 2012, but it probably wouldn’t be enough to persuade them to invest in the absence of such plans.
I said this before and I’ll say it again :
There are 3 “F’s” to a good tax code that will boost the economy and make for long term prosperity :
* FIX IT (Make it low and competitive)
* FLATTEN IT ( make it simple and understandable )
* FORGET IT (make it permament and don’t mess with it. Messing with it will only cause UNCERTAINTY, which is certainly what’s happening now).