http://www.nydailynews.com/opi.../editorials/index.html
President Bush's sunny declaration that "we're gonna be just fine" if Congress passes an economic stimulus package that speeds money to Americans was one of the more hollow claims of his presidency.
As welcome as tax rebates will be, getting the U.S. economy back onto a sure upward trajectory is going to take a lot more than encouraging the public to keep going to the mall.
If only life were that simple and that pleasant.
Behind Bush's smile is a President who is facing a stunningly sudden economic train wreck. Lacking fresh ideas and loath to talk straight about the perils ahead, he's buying time and hoping for the best.
Bush's determination to move quickly in cooperation with congressional Democrats is powerful evidence that he's a worried man.
So, too, his readiness to tackle tax policy without battling the Dems over extending his insanely deep tax cuts, which helped get America into this mess in the first place.
With job growth and consumer spending slowing, fears are rising that the country will slip into recession, meaning the economy will stop growing. To avert a slowdown, policymakers typically make it easier for people to spend money, by either reducing interest rates or putting cash in their pockets.
That's what Bush's $150 billion proposal is all about. In amounts yet to be determined, the public gets money, spends it and the economic wheels keep turning. The Treasury Department projects that such a program would finance a half-million jobs.
But the jolt comes and goes. When spending declines, we'll be back in trouble. But maybe by then the clouds will have parted and the sun will shine and we'll all be on Easy Street.
Don't bet on it.
America needs to come to grips with the fact that the country is not going through a cyclical downturn. We are suffering from two severe, self-inflicted wounds: the subprime mortgage debacle and our eagerness to go into hock to spend, spend and spend some more.
We rode the spending to stock market highs, and now we're getting hammered. Retirement savings accounts are bleeding value. We acted as if our homes would endlessly rise in value, and now foreclosures are mushrooming across the country.
The pillars of American finance have had to take huge infusions of cash from foreign government-related entities and have yet to figure out the value, if there is one, of vast holdings in mortgage-backed securities.
Bush's remedy for now is to send out checks. The Democratic presidential candidates are trying to outbid him, while the Republican field, astonishingly, is offering next to no short-term solutions. They do so at their political peril. Bush's checks are better than nothing.
For those who don't know this is in Mort Zuckermans New York Daily News. Mort also owns and is editor in chief of the U.S. News and World Report.
Mort is a traditional Republican.
It's time to face facts. The Republicans have screwed America with their "insanely" deep tax cuts. The "supposed" huge stimulus giving more than half the tax cut to just a few Americans has been proven false. Turns out the rich don't build factories if consumers don't have money to buy things. And if they do build them them they don't build them in the United States.
In fact, tax cuts to the middle and lower classes are far better for the economy. Not only does this increase demand, it allows these classes to get better educated, start small businesses, etc.
As of this moment the US national debt is a tad over 9 trillion dollars.
Over the last 6 years of the Bush "insanely" deep tax cuts, the richest 3 percent, who recieved 50 percent of the tax cut, were given over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. YES, AND THATS AT THE RATE BACK WHEN THE TAX CUTS WERE PASSED (175 MILLION A YEAR FOR THE SUPER RICH). WITH INFLATION AND THE FACT THAT THE RICH HAVE INCREASED THEIR INCOME FASTER THAN THE REST OF US, THIS NUMBER IS EASILY 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS.
At one trillion dollars thats 1/9 of the ENTIRE US NATIONAL DEBT. At 1.5 trillion that 1/6 of the entire US national debt.
SHORT VERSION:
THE BUSH TAX CUTS GIVEN TO THE RICHEST 3 PERCENT OF AMERICANS OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS IS BETWEEN 1/6TH AND 1/9TH OF THE ENTIRE U.S. NATIONAL DEBT. (BETWEEN 1 AND 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS)
President Bush's sunny declaration that "we're gonna be just fine" if Congress passes an economic stimulus package that speeds money to Americans was one of the more hollow claims of his presidency.
As welcome as tax rebates will be, getting the U.S. economy back onto a sure upward trajectory is going to take a lot more than encouraging the public to keep going to the mall.
If only life were that simple and that pleasant.
Behind Bush's smile is a President who is facing a stunningly sudden economic train wreck. Lacking fresh ideas and loath to talk straight about the perils ahead, he's buying time and hoping for the best.
Bush's determination to move quickly in cooperation with congressional Democrats is powerful evidence that he's a worried man.
So, too, his readiness to tackle tax policy without battling the Dems over extending his insanely deep tax cuts, which helped get America into this mess in the first place.
With job growth and consumer spending slowing, fears are rising that the country will slip into recession, meaning the economy will stop growing. To avert a slowdown, policymakers typically make it easier for people to spend money, by either reducing interest rates or putting cash in their pockets.
That's what Bush's $150 billion proposal is all about. In amounts yet to be determined, the public gets money, spends it and the economic wheels keep turning. The Treasury Department projects that such a program would finance a half-million jobs.
But the jolt comes and goes. When spending declines, we'll be back in trouble. But maybe by then the clouds will have parted and the sun will shine and we'll all be on Easy Street.
Don't bet on it.
America needs to come to grips with the fact that the country is not going through a cyclical downturn. We are suffering from two severe, self-inflicted wounds: the subprime mortgage debacle and our eagerness to go into hock to spend, spend and spend some more.
We rode the spending to stock market highs, and now we're getting hammered. Retirement savings accounts are bleeding value. We acted as if our homes would endlessly rise in value, and now foreclosures are mushrooming across the country.
The pillars of American finance have had to take huge infusions of cash from foreign government-related entities and have yet to figure out the value, if there is one, of vast holdings in mortgage-backed securities.
Bush's remedy for now is to send out checks. The Democratic presidential candidates are trying to outbid him, while the Republican field, astonishingly, is offering next to no short-term solutions. They do so at their political peril. Bush's checks are better than nothing.
For those who don't know this is in Mort Zuckermans New York Daily News. Mort also owns and is editor in chief of the U.S. News and World Report.
Mort is a traditional Republican.
It's time to face facts. The Republicans have screwed America with their "insanely" deep tax cuts. The "supposed" huge stimulus giving more than half the tax cut to just a few Americans has been proven false. Turns out the rich don't build factories if consumers don't have money to buy things. And if they do build them them they don't build them in the United States.
In fact, tax cuts to the middle and lower classes are far better for the economy. Not only does this increase demand, it allows these classes to get better educated, start small businesses, etc.
As of this moment the US national debt is a tad over 9 trillion dollars.
Over the last 6 years of the Bush "insanely" deep tax cuts, the richest 3 percent, who recieved 50 percent of the tax cut, were given over ONE TRILLION DOLLARS. YES, AND THATS AT THE RATE BACK WHEN THE TAX CUTS WERE PASSED (175 MILLION A YEAR FOR THE SUPER RICH). WITH INFLATION AND THE FACT THAT THE RICH HAVE INCREASED THEIR INCOME FASTER THAN THE REST OF US, THIS NUMBER IS EASILY 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS.
At one trillion dollars thats 1/9 of the ENTIRE US NATIONAL DEBT. At 1.5 trillion that 1/6 of the entire US national debt.
SHORT VERSION:
THE BUSH TAX CUTS GIVEN TO THE RICHEST 3 PERCENT OF AMERICANS OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS IS BETWEEN 1/6TH AND 1/9TH OF THE ENTIRE U.S. NATIONAL DEBT. (BETWEEN 1 AND 1.5 TRILLION DOLLARS)