Capital Commerce

The Obama Stock Market Correction

By James Pethokoukis

Posted: November 6, 2008

Since Election Day, the stock market, as measured by the S&P 500, is down a smidgen over 10 percent. That's what we call a "correction."  Of course, the decline is really part of a broader bear market which has seen the S&P 500 fall some 42 percent. Hey, Obama already warned us that it's going to be "a long road and a steep climb." Maybe if we doubled/tripled/quadrupled/quintupled that big stimulus package ...  What I really wonder is what stocks would be doing if we lowered the capital gains tax rate to zero ...

Captial gains tax cut myth

Proponents of a capital gains tax cut like James have little if any historical evidence to point to when trying to prove the benefits of these cuts. See > http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/L-capgainsspur.htm >

Dave of NY @ Nov 25, 2008 03:59:53 AM

'Meaningless Titles'

You might call it an '8th grade playground taunt' but these so called 'Tax Credits' are nothing more than the institution of a broad welfare system. You can't cut taxes for people that don't pay taxes in the first place. It's all an illusion. In what way can you call raising taxes on so called 'rich' people making $250,000 annually, wait make that $200,000/yr, or $175,000, no no how about $120,000/year and giving it to people who aren't working as hard. Socialism my friend. If you think a homeowner with one or two kids and a wife that stays home to take care of them is rich making 120k, 200k or even 250k you better wake up buddy. The biggest financial crisis the US has seen since the Great Depression is not the time to raise taxes, maybe you haven't picked up an economics textbook since you were on the playground in 8th grade. Raising Cap Gains Taxes when everyone is getting annihilated in the market anyway is ludicrous. This guy is better than David Copperfield in my opinion. To pull of this Tax Policy BS, after being in bed with Bill Ayers, his certifiably insane spiritual advisor Jeremiah Wright, and a spokesman of the PLO who has 'opened his mind to all of the biases' he didn't realize he had is a testament to show how this country is going down the toilet. When the first person to congratulate you is Ahmedinejad, maybe you realize you made a mockery of the country. I hope this idiot has the balls to stand up to Iran before they get their chance to press the button, or at least back the Israelis when they do what we don't have the Chutzpah to do and attack their reactors first. What a sad day in this country. The biggest Dow drop since October 1987 is the exact welcome party that Mr. President Elect Barack Hussein deserved.

Lee of NY @ Nov 07, 2008 19:13:38 PM

Issues of the Heart at the "heart" of our crisis

Naked Socialism is the result when Naked Greed runs amok in the markets...BUT KEEP READING before counting me a socialist; I am decidedly not...It seems the days of responsible CEO's, company leaders and management running business in a "steward-like" manner, protecting company assets and making conservative business decisions that both produce wealth through free-market jobs and increased opportunity for all, are over and it corresponds with a loss of values and a sense of personal responsibility in our culture. The "country-club' Republicans of wealth and the "too-wealthy to care about the rest of us" Democratic Elite, removed sensible and responsible regulation in the markets to the point that greed and irresponsible behavior have resulted in this "class warfare" response, of which the Democratic party exploits to their own advantage and now have a fearless leader in Obama. So, in the place of Godless Greed comes Sweeping Socialism, an opposite and equally devastating response to those "making millions" in the market while the rest of the country, and the middle class, America's best contribution to the world, goes bust. Each extreme market position is a form of Godlessness in regarding to personal responsibility and being productive to the good of all with what we have, being the greatest free-market on earth. I fear that our future will now only be dominated by a system which alieniates our God-given rights of freedom, including economic freedom, due in major part to the loss of God-directed values in conducting business in a way that benefits all people with the rewards of work. To quote a recemtly famous preacher, "the chicken's have come home to roost" but not in the way he stated; they are the chickens of economic revolt when we lost our soul of responsible free-markets which at one time were directed by Divine principles. Godless Greed is replaced with Godless Socialism - equal and opposite reactions! God help us all and bring us back to responsible stewardship of our nation's wealth.

William Broyles of FL @ Nov 07, 2008 15:55:55 PM

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Capital Commerce

Capital Commerce

U.S. News business reporter Matthew Bandyk examines the issues, people, and debates that shape the nexus of political and economic life in the nation's capital.

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