Dean Parisian
Active Member
- Messages
- 440
Last night the White House sent a letter to lawmakers asking them for legislation to (primarily) assist states. The plan is to distribute the states money so that they can defer job cuts of teachers, police and fireman.
-I hate it when these things get snuck onto the table in the dark hours of a weekend. Doing it this way is a measure of just how unpopular the ?spend more? economic policies are both in D.C. and in the country.
-This request is about politics. The President wants to spend an extra $50b between now and the November elections. The thinking is that that the 300,000 state workers who will keep their jobs for another half year will all vote for Democrats. That might be the case. My guess is another million or so voters will pull a non-Democrat lever as a result.
-This additional spending bill will happen. The votes are there. It will probably end up as a technical adjustment of the 2009 ARRA stimulus legislation. The result will be a future year budget impact but nothing new on the books in 2010.
The letter from the President strikes me odd. Last week the head of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, went out of his way to tell us that things were on the mend. The MSM pushed this thinking broadly. Many suggested that the better tone to the markets recently was a product of the ?soothing? words from the Fed maestro. The President's Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner has been on the airwaves as well, touting the recovery that he and the Administration has created. Others like Christine Romer and Larry Summers have been talking the same line. With that in mind a few lines from the Presidents letter:
?We are at a critical juncture on our nation?s path to economic recovery.?
?Given the urgency of the continued economic challenges we face??
?address the devastating economic impact of budget cuts at the state and local levels that are leading to massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.?
?if additional action is not taken hundreds of thousands of additional jobs could be lost.?
?Because the urgency is high these provisions must be passed as quickly as possible?.
?We must take these emergency measures.?
? I know you share my sense of urgency as we continue our efforts to jumpstart job creation and restore fiscal discipline in Washington?.
The pundits (and political leaders) out there who are selling the story that we are in a sustainable V shaped recovery are wrong. The economy struggles to create 40,000 jobs a month. But budget cuts are about to lay off 300,000 high paid workers. The President's proposal will pass the buck forward a few months on these layoffs. But by January they will be back on the table. We are less than six months away from another significant slowdown. The President no longer has the money to avoid that reality.
_________________________
Only trash litters. Fighting mediocrity and pessimism daily.
-I hate it when these things get snuck onto the table in the dark hours of a weekend. Doing it this way is a measure of just how unpopular the ?spend more? economic policies are both in D.C. and in the country.
-This request is about politics. The President wants to spend an extra $50b between now and the November elections. The thinking is that that the 300,000 state workers who will keep their jobs for another half year will all vote for Democrats. That might be the case. My guess is another million or so voters will pull a non-Democrat lever as a result.
-This additional spending bill will happen. The votes are there. It will probably end up as a technical adjustment of the 2009 ARRA stimulus legislation. The result will be a future year budget impact but nothing new on the books in 2010.
The letter from the President strikes me odd. Last week the head of the Fed, Ben Bernanke, went out of his way to tell us that things were on the mend. The MSM pushed this thinking broadly. Many suggested that the better tone to the markets recently was a product of the ?soothing? words from the Fed maestro. The President's Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner has been on the airwaves as well, touting the recovery that he and the Administration has created. Others like Christine Romer and Larry Summers have been talking the same line. With that in mind a few lines from the Presidents letter:
?We are at a critical juncture on our nation?s path to economic recovery.?
?Given the urgency of the continued economic challenges we face??
?address the devastating economic impact of budget cuts at the state and local levels that are leading to massive layoffs of teachers, police and firefighters.?
?if additional action is not taken hundreds of thousands of additional jobs could be lost.?
?Because the urgency is high these provisions must be passed as quickly as possible?.
?We must take these emergency measures.?
? I know you share my sense of urgency as we continue our efforts to jumpstart job creation and restore fiscal discipline in Washington?.
The pundits (and political leaders) out there who are selling the story that we are in a sustainable V shaped recovery are wrong. The economy struggles to create 40,000 jobs a month. But budget cuts are about to lay off 300,000 high paid workers. The President's proposal will pass the buck forward a few months on these layoffs. But by January they will be back on the table. We are less than six months away from another significant slowdown. The President no longer has the money to avoid that reality.
_________________________
Only trash litters. Fighting mediocrity and pessimism daily.
