I'm not an economist.
I don't understand or "know" at least 75% of the terms I hear bandied about on the news shows.
I do hear the GOP complaining that the pending stimulus bill is simply going to put "the next generation" in debt. Over a TRILLION dollars in debt, they say.
Debt - you mean, like the war in Iraq debt? (Whether you agree with it or disagree, you can't deny it's cost a lot of money!) 1.5 TRILLION dollars in tax cuts under President Bush (whether you think tax cuts are good or not, they clearly could not prevent the situation we are in now!)
Isn't all spending by the government really just debt for the American people? Everyone complains when Uncle Sam takes and spends their money, but where would this country really be without 6.7% of my paycheck? I might have a nicer TV and more DVD's, but I probably wouldn't have a nice Interstate to drive on to go visit my sister in Ohio.
I have no idea if this stimulus bill will work, but WAKE UP GOP!!! Tax cuts are not the answer for everything! Even if you gave me back more money from my paycheck or cut me another stimulus check, it wouldn't help the economy. Why? I've already spent it! (Like most people I know.)
Americans need jobs. Americans need hope. Americans need for their leaders to try something NEW and BOLD. We don't want a guarantee or a few hundred dollars. We want someone to follow - out of this mess.
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Ahem...I'm, uh, commenting on my own, uh, blog.
ReplyDeleteI had to add a John Stewart-ism (slightly modified)...
Maybe we can convince Republicans that spending 800 billion dollars in our OWN country might be worth it if we show them that we possess WMD's and then invade ourselves.
My feelings on the economic stimulus package (that's what she said!) are complicated.
ReplyDeleteOn the one hand, we can't sit around and do nothing. That "strategy" is a proven disaster, unless you consider a decade-long depression a desirable result.
On the other hand, I fear a massive stimulus package only prolongs the inevitable. For the market to work, there has to be risk attached to investment, and if investors -- particularly well-connected investors -- believe the government will always have their backs, we'll see more reckless investment and the problem won't be fixed. In fact, we'll only face a bigger day of reckoning in another decade or two.
I guess I prefer a middle course, something that approximates bankruptcy proceedings but is much faster. Let the reckless investors take a deserved haircut on their investment and let the companies that aren't sufficiently competitive go by the wayside.