HAND OUT OR HAND UP?
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| Also listed in: Appalachian Populists | Licking County Pro-Active Citizens (www.licopac.org) | Ohio 12th Congressional District | Ohio 18th Congressional District | Perry County Democratic Forum |
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Categories: Budget Priorities, Consumer and Worker Protection, Economic Fairness and Security, Social Justice
Categories: Budget Priorities, Consumer and Worker Protection, Economic Fairness and Security, Social Justice
One good reason to be suspicious of the economic stimulus package now being thrown together in Washington is the unseemly haste in Congress to get something approved. The reason given, of course, is that those $300 to $1,800 checks need to get out to the taxpayers so they can rush out and spend them, thus heading off the freight train of the oncoming (or at least frequently forecasted) recession.
If only there was such a scramble at the White House and on Capitol Hill to do something about other oncoming freights, such as global warming, nuclear proliferation and African genocide, not to mention our own slide to becoming a beggar nation at the mercy of China, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing states.
But is it also unreasonable to suspect that the crash program to get out the bonus checks might also have something to do with the upcoming election? Every incumbent Congressman and Senator on this year's ballot is salivating at the chance to vote for this $150 billion Easter egg.
Our own 12th District Congressman Pat Tiberi, for example, is quoted in today's Dispatch as brooking no delay, scolding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for wanting to take a second look at the House decision to drop extended unemployment compensation benefits and increases in food stamp allotments from the package.
"Everybody can't get everything they want," said Tiberi. "The important thing is doing this quickly."
Yet, as the independent watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense (www.taxpayer.net) reminds us:
"A 2002 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report compares the tradeoffs inherent in many of the more popular proposals for priming the economy. In the end it comes down to predicting individual behavior - a favorite pastime of economists. That said, a more recent CBO report proposes three fixes that at least do minimal harm: temporary tax cuts and rebates, temporarily extending or expanding unemployment benefits, and temporarily increasing foods stamps. Other economists suggest tax breaks and incentives for business investment, such as temporary provisions for accelerated depreciation on new equipment purchases."
In the grand bargain in the House, it looks like Nancy and the Democrats got snookered again. The rebates are there, along with accelerated depreciation on new business equipment, but the hungry and unemployed didn't make the cut.
Here's one taxpayer who would like to see the Senate take the time necessary to help out the neediest instead of just the greediest as usual. Maybe Congressman Pat should check out the depleted food pantries in his district. Maybe then he wouldn't tell those down on their luck that "everybody can't get everything they want."
We hope that our other Licking County ocngressman, Zack Space, D-Dover, who's about to launch a series of economic development workshops across his 18th District, also thinks of the poor and unemployed when he votes for this stimulus package.
In a news release earlier this week before the compromise plan was announced, Space had this to say:
"In an effort to tackle an economic crisis that is devastating Southeastern Ohio's families, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) today said that his first order of business upon returning to Washington next week would be to tell Congressional leaders that an economic package must be enacted quickly.
Reports indicate that a stimulus package could include targeted tax cuts for individuals and businesses, rebates for individuals that may be several hundred dollars, and an extension of unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs as a result of the declining economy."
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/oh18_space/stimuluspackage.html
http://space.house.gov/RENEWOH18.shtml
Bottom line: It's always nice to get a check in the mail, but $600 or $1,200 ain't going to change my life (or my spending habits).
If the government feels it's necessary to send out rebate checks now, why not direct at least some of them to those who really are in the most desperate need of recovery?
If only there was such a scramble at the White House and on Capitol Hill to do something about other oncoming freights, such as global warming, nuclear proliferation and African genocide, not to mention our own slide to becoming a beggar nation at the mercy of China, Saudi Arabia and other oil-producing states.
But is it also unreasonable to suspect that the crash program to get out the bonus checks might also have something to do with the upcoming election? Every incumbent Congressman and Senator on this year's ballot is salivating at the chance to vote for this $150 billion Easter egg.
Our own 12th District Congressman Pat Tiberi, for example, is quoted in today's Dispatch as brooking no delay, scolding Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., for wanting to take a second look at the House decision to drop extended unemployment compensation benefits and increases in food stamp allotments from the package.
"Everybody can't get everything they want," said Tiberi. "The important thing is doing this quickly."
Yet, as the independent watchdog group, Taxpayers for Common Sense (www.taxpayer.net) reminds us:
"A 2002 Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report compares the tradeoffs inherent in many of the more popular proposals for priming the economy. In the end it comes down to predicting individual behavior - a favorite pastime of economists. That said, a more recent CBO report proposes three fixes that at least do minimal harm: temporary tax cuts and rebates, temporarily extending or expanding unemployment benefits, and temporarily increasing foods stamps. Other economists suggest tax breaks and incentives for business investment, such as temporary provisions for accelerated depreciation on new equipment purchases."
In the grand bargain in the House, it looks like Nancy and the Democrats got snookered again. The rebates are there, along with accelerated depreciation on new business equipment, but the hungry and unemployed didn't make the cut.
Here's one taxpayer who would like to see the Senate take the time necessary to help out the neediest instead of just the greediest as usual. Maybe Congressman Pat should check out the depleted food pantries in his district. Maybe then he wouldn't tell those down on their luck that "everybody can't get everything they want."
We hope that our other Licking County ocngressman, Zack Space, D-Dover, who's about to launch a series of economic development workshops across his 18th District, also thinks of the poor and unemployed when he votes for this stimulus package.
In a news release earlier this week before the compromise plan was announced, Space had this to say:
"In an effort to tackle an economic crisis that is devastating Southeastern Ohio's families, Congressman Zack Space (OH-18) today said that his first order of business upon returning to Washington next week would be to tell Congressional leaders that an economic package must be enacted quickly.
Reports indicate that a stimulus package could include targeted tax cuts for individuals and businesses, rebates for individuals that may be several hundred dollars, and an extension of unemployment benefits for those who have lost their jobs as a result of the declining economy."
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/oh18_space/stimuluspackage.html
http://space.house.gov/RENEWOH18.shtml
Bottom line: It's always nice to get a check in the mail, but $600 or $1,200 ain't going to change my life (or my spending habits).
If the government feels it's necessary to send out rebate checks now, why not direct at least some of them to those who really are in the most desperate need of recovery?
