Capital Commerce

Obama, Stimulus and the 2010 Election

By James Pethokoukis

Posted: February 10, 2009

Liberal economic analyst Robert Reich makes a point in his blog that I have been making in my blog for some time: The economy is unlikely to improve fast enough by the 2010 midterm elections to substantially improve voter sentiment. Even if the economy is growing, unemployment is likely to be sharply higher than what it is today. Indeed, Goldman Sachs just put out a research note that said its forecast of 9.5 percent unemployment in 2010 might be in the low side. And certainly the history of banking crises would indicate a slow recovery. (Add into that the the inexplicable White House policy choice of eschewing tax cuts despite their tremendous impact on the economy over the past 25 years.) The result could be a rerun of sorts of the 1994 midterm election where GOP took control of the House and Senate.GOPers might be able to make the argument that the Obamacrats wasted trillions of taxpayers dollars and two months of time.

The three turn coats

The “gang of three” — liberal Republican Sens. Arlen Specter, Olympia Snowe, and Susan Collins — who handed President Obama the stimulus bill he so desperately needed, apparently sacrificed billions in tax cuts during final negotiations over the measure in order to reduce its cost.

Though Republicans who crossed party lines apparently got rewarded. The New York Times reported Thursday that Sen. Specter got $6.5 billion for medical research. The Senator is ailing from cancer. Questions is what did the other two SELL OUT for?

All three should be removed from the Republican Party, one for not supporting the Conservative Republican values and second for doing a smoke filled room deal for their benefit, not the American public.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lr1M1T2Y314

Larry of CA @ Feb 13, 2009 11:26:27 AM

Obama (Running for King of the World)

On Monday the new President went to Elkhart (the R V capital of the world). This visit along with a townhall meeting was the kickoff of Obama's plan to cram his stimulus package down the throats of the tax payer. Obama spoke to a campaign style hand picked adoring crowd. As Obama was getting ready to speak, a chant was started; O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA, O-BA-MA. Did the man go to Elkhart to run for office? Is this a kickoff for a seven year campaign to run for "King of the World".

Obama now represents the citizens of the USA, it is not just about him anymore. If these hand picked special citizens of Elkhart wanted to chant; shouldn't they be chanting something like; U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A. Or, more to the point, a chant like:

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A, BAIL-US-OUT, BAIL-US-OUT.

It seems the people of Elkhart think the new President is their friend. Has anyone thought about asking him why the US is not seeking to find and drill for more oil and refine more gas. Maybe the residents and unemployed of Elkhart (The R V capital of the world) are content to wait a few more years and then they can sell campers with real long extention cords which can be plugged into windmills.

Henry Rose of CA @ Feb 11, 2009 00:29:28 AM

"Time for a True Leader" Indeed

I'm tired of people down in Washington, DC preaching to us about what we can do. Obama disgraced himself last night. FDR and Ronald Reagan had different economic policies, but at least both of them tried hard to keep the spirits of our country up. Both of them wanted to empower Americans with the opportunity to believe in themselves. Last night, Obama basically said pass my stimulus or else. He isn't inspiring faith in the spirit of the America people, he wants people to believe in his big government policies and him alone. The Republicans had their own disgraces over the past eight years, but if Obama and the ultra-left wing of the Democratic party keep moving too fast, they will undergo the same fate as the Republicans. Immorality on Wall Street will never be cured by central planning and immorality in Washington DC.

As for policy prescriptions - I'd say that the financial markets had too much asymmetric information and some participants didn't quite understand what was going on and were taken advantage of. Then the entire system crashed. The market wasn't the problem - the regulatory and legal structure needed to be brought up to speed to what had developed in the market. Our focus now ought to be stabilizing the financial markets, softening the blow of this recession through a targeted, timely, and temporary stimulus, and then updating our financial regulations and making sure they are enforced. These incursions into healthcare and the rapid implementation of environmental and labor regulations in the middle of the recession are as unwarranted as they are dangerous. The very structure of the economy is adjusting because so many individuals and companies are deleveraging and it will take some time to get out of the recession. Meddling with non-financial markets will crush more businesses and lengthen the recession.

America deserves better than what it had in the past eight years and what it has right now. Unfortunately, I don't see things getting better until 2010 or 2012 when hopefully the Republicans will clean themselves up or the Blue Dogs & New Democrats will become more prominant or a viable new party for the American tradition arises.

Joe C of VA @ Feb 10, 2009 13:34:07 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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