Looks like Salon agrees with me...
salon.com
But what alarms [economists] most is that the political strategy Bush has been employing for months to push for the tax cut -- criticizing the current state of the economy -- may well be increasing consumer fears. In effect, the strategy is a self-fulfilling prophecy that could tip the country from a downturn into a full-blown recession.
"I don't know that we've ever before had the experience of a slowing economy where the administration talks it down,"
...
For months, Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and their aides have been expressing worries about the economy. In December, Cheney warned that "we may be on the front edge of a recession here." In February, Bush declared, "A warning light is flashing on the dashboard of our economy."
But to economists of nearly every political stripe, the Bush administration's statements have been appalling strategic mistakes. In a calculated attempt to build political support for tax cuts and dump responsibility for the economy on the Clinton administration, Bush is helping to create the very reality that the vast majority of Americans want to avoid.
Remember, you read it here first. LOL.
Message 15485681
And also, a nice side-swipe...
: "There's two ways to go with the government surplus. You can actually take that unprecedented amount of public money and start aggressively investing it in long-term strategic things that will make society more adaptable, productive and adept with dealing with the future: Transforming education, moving into new technologies like biotechnology and nanotechnology, or energy technology. You can rebuild infrastructure at a fundamental level. Or you can do what he's doing -- going back to a policy of the past, conceptualized by Reagan, and hand the money back primarily to well-off people that don't really need it on the blind faith that they will invest it in the right places."
But what are the chances of a renewed emphasis on infrastructural spending actually occurring? On Thursday, the Bush administration announced that it wanted to halt the Advanced Technology Program -- a Commerce Department initiative that funnels about $145 million a year into strategic high-technology research efforts. What better evidence could one ask for in trying to determine the priorities of the new administration?
Quite. Risking the long-term good of the US and the world, for short-term ends and ideology... |
