Harry and Nancy’s Day Off
by matt at 6:00 am on February 8th, 2008 in Congressional Man Date, EconomyCongress Approves $151 Billion U.S. Stimulus Measure – Bloomberg (2/7/08):
The U.S. Congress gave final approval to a $151 billion economic stimulus package that will send tax rebate checks to more than 100 million households in an effort to boost the slowing economy.
In an 81-16 vote, senators agreed to add rebates for 20 million senior citizens and 250,000 disabled veterans to a measure previously approved by the House. That chamber approved the revised bill 380-34 less than three hours later, sending it to President George W. Bush for his signature. Bush signaled he would sign the measure.
Simply put, there’s no shot in hell of this working. The problems facing the U.S. economy thanks to all the wise and credible financial alchemists on Wall Street won’t be unwound because the Treasury Department cuts a few checks. It didn’t work in 2001 – even after Bush told everyone to go shopping – and today’s economy is two bubbles worse.
While not scientific, this CNN poll mirrors many I’ve seen in the last few weeks:
Paying down debt does nothing for consumption, and even if it strengthens the banks’ reserves, they aren’t lending much money these days. And if only 10-20% of those who receive a check spend it on goods or services, there’s not going to be much stimulus at all, certainly not enough to justify the price tag. And this isn’t a Republican problem, Democrats were racing to sign the checks. In the process, they failed once again to protect those who will need it the most:
The measure was approved after Senate Democrats agreed to Republican demands to delete provisions extending unemployment benefits and boosting funding for home-heating assistance.
Nice governing majority you have there, morons.
Who’s going to save Ferris?
In the House of Representatives, in an effort to alleviate the effects of…
Anyone? The Great Depression…Passed the…anyone?
The Holly-Smoot Tariff Act which…raised or lowered?
Raised tariffs in an effort to collect more government revenue
Did it work? Anyone know the effects?
It did not work and the United States sank deeper into the Depression.
Matthew Tobey wrote:
Should I not save my stimulus check when it comes? Knowing what you’ve outlined here, does it behoove me to go out and spend it on retail goods? Or would that just be a drop in the bucket since only 10% of people are going to do that, and if I’d prefer to save it, I should go ahead and save it because we’re fucked no matter what?
Our savings account could certainly use an influx of $1500, but if buying new BlackBerrys or taking a weekend getaway will actually contribute to the greater good, then by golly I’m willing to make that difficult sacrifice.
Asking honestly here, because I really don’t know the wisest way to use this money when it comes. Or if there is a wise way to spend dumb money at all.
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 6:58 am ¶
matt wrote:
it’s always wise to save/pay off debt. if i’m right, and this “stimulus” doesn’t work, you’ll wish you had the money in the bank or $1500 less debt.
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 7:11 am ¶
sarabeth wrote:
As a general rule of thumb, you can hardly go wrong doing the exact opposite of what Georgie exhorts you to do.
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 7:39 am ¶
Nick wrote:
The guy’s name was Hawley, but I see that the script has Holly. Oh well, if that were the worst of our problems, I’d sleep a lot better.
And Sarabeth, George Costanza’s “do the opposite” rule certainly applies to this George.
Posted 08 Feb 2008 at 8:42 pm ¶