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Everyday deserves a tax cut
President Bush who has been the “tax-cutter-in-chief” for last 7 years now faces a sagging economy. What to do? Housing sector which has pulled this economy along for the past 2 or 3 years is now in the toilet. The Military sector has gotten billions of dollars in government contracts so their are flush. So, it is time to revert back to the old standby tax cuts. Bush hasn’t seen a tax cut that he didn’t like. I don’t believe that Bush’s tax cut plan will work but I need to read the fine print.
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From Economic Policy Institute:
There is always debate over what an effective stimulus package should look like. Many different policies are purported to stimulate the economy, but it is important to distinguish between those that will have their effect in the very near-term to offset rising unemployment this year and those policies that have longer-term effects. Any useful stimulus package should strengthen the recovery immediately and create more jobs in 2008. Some obvious examples of policies that fail this criterion are the ones just suggested by the Bush administration, including eliminating the estate tax and extending the high-end income, capital gains, and dividend tax cuts beyond 2010. These policies have nothing to do with the job creation we will need in 2008.
An effective, appropriate stimulus package should meet the following five criteria (I have added emphasis):
1. A stimulus package should generate growth and jobs to offset rising unemployment. The point of stimulus is to increase economic growth and thereby generate more jobs. The reason that employment growth is slowing and unemployment is rising (and will continue to do so) is that there is a shortage of demand for goods and services: we will have the capacity to produce much more than we will be consuming, and what is missing are customers able and confident enough to make expenditures.
The two feasible ways to boost demand are to increase consumer spending (for example through tax or monetary policy) or to increase government spending (at the federal, state, or local level). Any stimulus aimed at spurring more business investment will not be effective at this point, because business investment will remain sluggish until consumer and government demand picks up. For example, a recent study estimated that business investment write-offs and the dividend-capital gain tax reductions included in Bush’s tax packages had a small “bang-for-the-buck.” Without a rise in consumer demand, corporate tax relief and other business investment incentives will not be effective in stimulating growth.
Government spending is more effective than tax cuts in stimulating domestic demand for two reasons: a portion of the tax cut will be saved rather than spent immediately, and consumers are more likely than the government to spend on imports (rather than domestically produced goods). Approximately 10 cents per dollar of consumer expenditures will be spent abroad, while virtually every penny of investments in public infrastructure will be spent domestically. Especially problematic would be more tax cuts directed at the wealthy, which would not be as effective as tax cuts directed at the low- and middle-income households who would spend (rather than save) a larger share of any extra income. [Read more →]
CIA believes that Al Qaeda killed Bhutto
I have written a lot on Benizar Bhutto (here, here and here). She knew before she returned to Pakistan that there were going to attempts on her life. My question is where was the security? If she was unable to Pervez Musharref and the Pakistani government to protect her then she needed to get someone. What about Blackwater? I guarantee that Blackwater would have been able to protect her for a price. Roads would have been cleared. She would have never been allowed to stick her head out of sunroof. Guys with high powered rifles, machine guns and wrap-around sunglasses would have been everywhere. Bullet-proof and bomb resistant Black Chevy Suburbans would have been everywhere and she would have been safe. (Yes, they would have run over innocent Pakistanis and probably shot a few also, but she would be alive today.)
The CIA has issued a report that Bhutto was killed by Al Qaeda and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud. Amazingly, this view is echoed by the Pakistani government. With knowing or understanding the internal politics of Pakistan, I know that the US government would like for me to think about how dangerous Al Qaeda is. This I know. To say that I have my doubts would be an understatement.
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From WaPo:
The CIA has concluded that members of al-Qaeda and allies of Pakistani tribal leader Baitullah Mehsud were responsible for last month’s assassination of former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto, and that they also stand behind a new wave of violence threatening that country’s stability, the agency’s director, Michael V. Hayden, said in an interview.
Offering the most definitive public assessment by a U.S. intelligence official, Hayden said Bhutto was killed by fighters allied with Mehsud, a tribal leader in northwestern Pakistan, with support from al-Qaeda’s terrorist network. That view mirrors the Pakistani government’s assertions. (more…)
What really happened in the Straits of Hormuz?
Did you see the initial reports on this incident? 5 gunboats approached one of our Navy groups. Gunboats? What is that? Is that a destroyer? Is that a PT boat like McHale’s Navy? I suspect that everyone remembers the damage that even a small boat can do to one of our large boats like the USS Cole. 17 US Sailors were killed. So, I think that most Americans were aware of the dangers when one of our boats gets approached on the open water.
Code words were being throw around. “Provocative.” by the Americans while the Iranians were using phrases like “ordinary encounter.” Well, which is it? A quote from one US official stated that the Destroyer was very close to firing. This can’t be good. We can’t be ordinary on one hand and very close to firing on the other hand. Then the video comes out. On the video you can hear a voice clearly say, “I am coming to you. … You will explode after … minutes.” Officials were telling us that this was an Iranian voice. Okay. If you say so, but it sounds weird. It sounds not right. It sounds like a college prank like some dubbed in the voice and did a rather bad job of it.
Now, we have to add to the mix a story that really didn’t get much play but was very important. 2 F-18 Hornet fighter jets crashed in the area on the same day. 2 pilots and one crew member were recovered in good condition. The planes were lost in the sea. Were these incidents related? The Pentagon didn’t think so.
Let’s turn up the heat on this. We have the Republican debates where each candidate tried to out Clint Eastwood the other. Huckabee, with his preacher background had the winner of the night, they (the Iranians) would be introduced to the gates of Hell (not an exact quote but close). (An honorable Eastwood should go to Fred Thompson who delivered the “they will be introduced to those 40 virgins” line.) President Bush, not one to let an opportunity to get by him without bashing the Iranians, stated, “We viewed it as a provocative act.” He went on to say, “It is a dangerous situation, and they should not have done it, pure and simple.”
The Iranians put out their own version of events. It sounds nothing like the American version. Now, finally, we have an opportunity to look at everything that transpired. The Iranian boats were nothing more than modified fishing boats. I have seen the same type of boat out at many area lakes. The Iranians did have weapons but they were clearly no match for a Destroyer, a Cruiser and a Frigate. It is not clear where the voice came from. This is key. We have no idea if the voice came from one of those gunboats or the shore or from a sailor on one of our ships. We have no idea. I would like to commend the Commander of this group and their crew for not firing. A huge and ugly international scene could have been started right there. (this is very much like that Tom Clancy movie with Denzel Washington and Gene Hackman, Crimson Tide, but this was for real.)
Robert Johnson apologizes to Obama
I remember I was in 3rd and 4th grade we used to have this crack sessions. Not that type of crack!! Hell, this was 1970 and there was no crack cocaine, that I knew of, at the time. Crack sessions were when you and your friends would sit around and insult each other. You know - You’re mother was so fat when she sat around the house, she SAT around the house. I’m guessing that was what Billionaire Robert Johnson thought he was doing when he was stumping for Hillary Clinton last week and happened to mention that Obama was doing something that he shouldn’t have been doing. Ooo. Face. In yo’ face, Obama. Oh, wait. We aren’t 10 years old. We are adults. We are trying to help a candidate win the presidency, aren’t we?
I find it offensive that Robert Johnson was bringing up Barack’s drug use. I think that it takes a REAL man to admit that he has made mistakes. George Bush, not a real man, never admitted that he made mistakes. Saying that you have made some mistakes, without stating what those mistakes were, is useless. Barack put his mistakes down in writing. Black and White. Robert Johnson can’t lift Hillary Clinton up without tearing Obama down? Why not?
Robert Johnson has issued an apology. okay, whatever. Hasn’t the damage already been done?
Bobby Fisher dies
Bobby Fisher, the chess master, died today at the age of 64. I was a very young man when Fisher beat the Russian Boris Spassky. This was the early 70’s. The US was looking for something to cheer about with Nixon and Whitegate dominating the airwaves.
After winning, Fisher became an odd figure. I didn’t know anything about his anti-semitic rants. Still for a second in time he was an American hero. Okay, maybe that is overstating a bit. He was an American icon.
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Errington C. Thompson, MD, is a surgeon, scholar, fulltime sports fan and part-time political activist. He is active in a number of community projects and initiatives. Through medicine, he strives to improve the physical health of all he treats...
