Bruce Bartlett. fmr. asst. Sec. Treas. says the "stimulous package" will do more for a dirty joke than for the economy -- I am paraphrasing. So he says in that liberal rag, the WSJ.
So, let's play our favorite game again, cui bono? Who stands to benefit if Mr. Bush decides to start doling out checks again? Well, let's see. The package is passed now andwill likely require about 2 months to set up, then another month to send out the checks, and we are in April. Just before the summer push to Election Day. Republicans will toot the "tax cut"/"money back in your pocket" trumpet and try to push Republicans to the polls.
Yes, this is cynical. Even more cynical is a guess that $800 might buy some goodwill from independent voters, but then we're arguing that the White House is leveraging the fisc for the benefit of part politics. I don't think I want to go that far.
I'll admit that I don't see any economic plus-side here and the political plus-side is a little fuzzy. Can anyone draw a clearer line as to who benefits from the cut?
2 comments:
$.02
Ideologically, neocons benefit from the cut. Lower taxes/higher spending is the means to their end of eliminating all social programs.
Of course, both parties will fall all over themselves trying to look like they're doing something to help the average voter. Few politicians would risk opposing a rebate when the economy is (at least in the national mind) staring down a recession, especially in an election year. While experts may say that this stimulus plan isn't going to do much for the economy, try explaining that to the tens of millions of Americans who have already been struggling to get by and who are looking economic uncertainty in the face right now.
I am a Republican, and do not think that this package is a good idea. However, I do not think it's an attempt to buy votes - I think it's just a misguided attempt to prevent a recession.
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