"Where it is when the economy needs a big kick in the butt?"
The problem, as Krugman points out, is that the rebates are nothing more than pocket change.
The big tax cuts won't come until the middle of the decade. And they favor the rich so the Bushes will have a class society, an aristocracy. Some say Barbara Bush always wanted a dynasty. Maybe, she spent too much time watching that horrible tv show by the same name.
There are responsible and rich people who have opposed the dissolution of the death tax or estate tax.
Two who come to mind are: Bill Gates and Warren Buffet. Gates even had a petition circulated against it.
Buffet refused to sign it because it wasn't tough enough.
I hope I can find Krugman's article on Bush's spin. Anyhow, have a look at his articles in the NYTimes.
Here's an excerpt from the article, "Greenspan Stands Alone."
"America does, of course, have its tax cut. But the peculiar "back-loaded"
timing of that cut makes it a very poor recession-fighting measure. The rebate
checks are not much more than pocket change — $40 billion, or 0.4 percent
of G.D.P. The big tax cuts, which will eventually rise to almost 2 percent of
G.D.P., won't come until the middle of the decade. And the decision to lock
in trillions of dollars in future tax cuts actually depresses the economy now,
since those future cuts do little to encourage current consumer spending but
do raise long-term interest rates.
Can we pump up the economy with additional tax cuts or temporary public
spending? Not safely; those huge future tax cuts have created a grim
long-term financial outlook, and any further tax cuts would make the outlook
even grimmer. Of course, the administration might do the responsible thing,
making room for additional tax cuts now by canceling some of those big tax
cuts scheduled for 2004 and later. And pigs might fly." -PAUL KRUGMAN
See:http://www.siliconinvestor.com/readmsg.aspx?msgid=16321640
for entire text of Krugman article, "Greenspan Stands Alone." |
