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Sunday, February 01, 2009

Are the Democrats failing to communicate?

Consider the "Stimulus Bill". Here's the definition of stimulus:

something that incites to action

This nation is in the midst of an economic downturn. It would be nice if the economy, on its own, could perk up. A stimulus for the private sector would be preferred, and there are some things that help (e.g. targeted tax credits). But, given the seriousness of the situation, and that

stimulus takes time
stimulus alone cannot end the recession in a timely manner
stimulus simply won't work in some sectors of the economy

What is needed is something that will, at a minimum, keep the economy moving until the private sector - especially banking - is ready to expand again. That means that in addition to stimulus, you extend unemployment, support existing state government programs, and in some cases resort to employment by the government (for worthwhile projects or even make-work). The name for that sort of thing isn't a Stimulus Bill, but an Economic Security Bill, in the sense that the government is stepping in, temporarily, to provide a support level of economic activity.

But when the Democrats talk about the Stimulus Bill, it leaves them open to Republican attacks on elements that do not stimulate the private sector - which are found in many places in the legislation.

Perhaps it's an unwillingness to say out loud that the government is taking over economic activity in areas where the private sector has retreated, but that's what's needed, unless you're a fan of a libertarian just-wait-and-things-will-get-better approach.

posted by Quiddity at 2/01/2009 08:25:00 AM

1 comments

the government is taking over economic activity in areas where the private sector has retreated, but that's what's needed, unless you're a fan of a libertarian just-wait-and-things-will-get-better approach.

Actually, the government is taking over economic activity in areas where they have fucked it up so badly with politically motivated regulation that the private sector can no longer function in that area. The CRA requires banks to make bad subprime loans, or be sued by shakedown outfits like ACORN.

There's this wierd rhetoric floating around where people talk about how there is "too much regulation" or "too little regulation", as if regulation was the sort of thing that comes by the pound, and the only trick is in figuring out how many cans to open up and slather on the problem. No one seems to want to talk about figuring out which of the bad regulations caused the problems and replacing them with regulations that don't cause the problems. Problem is that the bad regulations, like the CRA, are Progressive pet projects, and liberal lawmakers are no more likely to kill off their pet projects as they are to kill their pet puppies.

So we keep throwing money at the problems, and listen to speeches about executive bonuses and greed.

I think that we're at the economic high point for the next 2-4 years. It is going to take a complete collapse and disintegration of the United States economy before Congress, or whatever form of government takes its place in its wake, gets serious about identifying the problems, much less fixing them.

By Anonymous, at 2/02/2009 3:42 PM