Rethugs call for more tax cuts and "putting money in people's pockets"

[pnwmom]

and oppose Obama's public works program.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/06/AR2008120602187_2.html

I've heard a number of DUers propose the same "solution." Why is this not a solution? Because that won't insure that the funds are invested in the U.S. With all the money in their pockets, Americans could just decide to use it to buy more Chinese goods from Walmart.

With Obama's plan, we'd at least have something lasting to show for our money.

Edit to add: I favor actions that will change mortgage terms and keep people in their homes, as Obama does. But just putting more money in people's pockets for a couple of years won't take care of the long term problem of all those ARM mortgages.

[still_one]

1. The repugs have been proven wrong, and that is one of the reasons they lost

The first priority is to create jobs and stop the forclosures

Taxes policy can be dealt with later

We also have to get out of Iraq before 2011. Not only can't we afford 10 billion a month, but there is no reason for us to remain

[glowing]

2. Also, with so many without a job.. a mini-check isn't going to do anything.

A job will give them money to pay the mortgage.

[aquart]

5. A mini-check will pay the electric bill, that's all.

Or we'll shop on eBay, but we won't go to Macy's.

[Deja Q]

6. You mean, teaching a man how to fish?

It'd be nice to see more fish in the lake too.

[high density]

3. The top tax bracket is already near record lows

Tax policy is not going to pull us out of this. Rich people putting more money into their own savings or investment accounts thanks to a tax cut does not grow the economy.

[bluestateguy]

4. Obama is calling for middle class tax cuts for 95% of people

and graciously allowing the wealthy to keep their Bush tax cuts for another year (to the considerable disgust of Left).

I don't know how much more they could want. Do they seem to have trouble acknowledging that they lost the election, and it wasn't even close?

[Idealism]

7. Tax cuts NEVER work in the long run

Tax cuts on the wealthy lead to a speculation boom (because they invest in the market instead of goods) then a bust, always. When they are given to the middle class, it just gets used to pay off a credit card debt.

The only way to bring our economy out of this nasty recession quickly would be a WPA-style entity. It will take a year or so to get off the ground, but the foundation of this country is infrastructure and it needs to be reinvigorated. How can we compete with China, Japan, or the UK when they regularly spend 6,7,8% of their GPD on infrastructure and we spend less than .5% of ours?

[librechik]

8. give them $700 this time! That's almost enough to buy a Korean big screen!

[haele]

9. And yet, they always trot out the old saying

"give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for the rest of his life"... which is only true if the man lives near somewhere where there is a plentiful supply of fish.

If we don't have jobs and aren't legacy babies, all the tax cuts or college degrees in the world won't help us have "money in our pockets".
And if they just hand us a fish with incentive checks, they're still just "feeding us for the day". This is immature, privileged thinking - assuming everyone else has access to the apparently plentiful - at least in fantasy land)$500K a year jobs if they would only work hard enough like all the other bureaucrats, talking heads and upper level management supposedly did. Luck and social networking apparently had nothing to do with their success. (My father in law claims he never took a dime from the government or anyone else, conveniently forgetting he retired a full bird colonel in the Air Force and that his mother worked two jobs putting him through college in the 50's after his father died...)

Just like the teenager - who thinks life would be sooo much better if we just let her have the bank account to meet her wants (makeup, "latest style dress up clothes", trinkets and money to throw around to impress her friends with) with and doesn't seem to understand she needs to get buckle down and get the grades to get a job if she's going to get any more than her needs in the near future.

Haele

[leftofthedial]

10. something needs to be done to discredit this insane wealth-fare theft once and for all.

their "cut-taxes"mantra does not work, never did work and is largely to blame (along with their deregulatory policies) for the global meltdown we are in now.

[Idealism]

11. I'd say low wages, high commodity prices, and no regulation on investment banks

were the biggest reason for this crash, tax cuts only put us in a deeper national debt hole; that picture hasn't exploded yet as people are lending to us (and at cheaper rates than before I might add). Deregulation wasn't nearly as big of an issue as refusing to regulate in the first place as Greenspan did on deriavitives

[leftofthedial]

12. bush's tax cuts were actually a wealth redistribution upward.

there is only so much money in the economy at any one time. bush's tax policy ensured that more of that money lodged permanently in the hands of the wealthy few. Our tax system nationwide became far more regressive.

the tax burden (including state and local and property taxes) ROSE for most Americans, all while states and municipalities were given an overwhelming burden of services to provide on their own.

but all your reasons apply as well. the repukes created a perfect storm of economic destruction. gee, it's almost like they planned it that way...

[Idealism]

13. Tax burden rose because wages didn't

:)

Your points are valid, but the real cause was wage inequality, that then led to the income redistribution you describe

[northernlights]

14. stupid one trick ponies didn't read the memo

The last little snippet of refund didn't work. People woke up from their comas, realized the rethugs have not only driven the economy into a ditch, it's got 2 or 3 wheels hanging over the edge of a cliff.

Any and all refunds go directly to paying bills or paying down debt if you're one of the "losers" in *'s world, or to savings if you're one of the "winners" in *'s world.

Or maybe they never got the memo. It was sent via email; they're still carving in stone tablets.