Obama

What is in The Economic Stimulus Bill of 2009?

Stimulus, stimulus, everywhere the buzz word stimulus, devil in detailsbut where is the devil, you know that creature who screws up the details?

Navigating the politics, the lack of analysis, the specifics and more importantly, the time line of effectiveness is not for the faint of heart. To that end we must start with the latest publicly available legislative text.

The Bill Text

The working title for the bill is, The American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan . The bill is also in a state of flux. The House states the bill will be formally introduced on 01/26/09.

Obama's Economic Stimulus Plan - Opinions & Analysis

Obama hasn't been sworn into office yet and he's basically laid an egg on his economic stimulus plan. That said, opinions are like censored and let's look at some analysis.

Firstly we have Christina Romer & Jared Bernstein analysis.

Frankly, I find this this report odious simply going off of the principle that a 1% increase in GDP equates to 1 million jobs. Well, that's all great if the U.S. were an isolated economy, but it's not and today's GDP does not equate directly to U.S. domestic job growth, as a 1:1 correlation. Rebate checks end up buying goods from other nations. Tax cuts not dealing with global labor arbitrage and offshore outsourcing won't create jobs.

Obama makes disturbing noises about entitlements

There are some very disturbing sounds coming from the President-Elect. Even more disturbing is that only a small number of people in the progressive blogsphere have picked up on what’s been said.

Stirling Newberry warned yesterday that Obama Puts New Bank Bailout in Stimulus Bill - allowing financial companies to use losses in this crisis to “recover” taxes paid on profits going back five years! As Newberry notes, “The Wall Street Journal calls it a bonanza.”

But even worse, is what Obama had to say about what he is considering now:

“We expect that discussion around entitlements will be a part, a central part” of efforts to curb federal spending, Mr. Obama said at a news conference. By February, he said, “we will have more to say about how we’re going to approach entitlement spending.”

Obama Promises to Create 2.5 Million Jobs, but in What Countries?

President-elect Obama promises to create 2.5 million jobs and has plans for a massive stimulus package costing at least half a trillion dollars if not $1 trillion dollars.

But where exactly would those jobs be created?

Business Week Journalist Michael Mandel asks Can Obama Keep New Jobs at Home? Mandel points out that a massive stimulus might just well go offshore.

Some startling facts in this article:

Imports have risen from the equivalent of 9% of gross domestic product to almost 19%. Even more astonishing, the value of imported goods now is equal to almost 40% of the output of U.S. manufacturing.

Sunday Morning Comics - Post Election Edition

Sponsored by Yoda - Do or Do not, there is no try.

Cup O' Joe

Good Morning! Rise and Shine! Get that Cup O' Joe...
break out the O.J....hang out with the pooch...time to check out the Funnies!

Below are political cartoons and one can see why McCain lost so badly. It's the economy stupid. Now that the Euphoria is passing the daunting task which lays ahead becomes real.

Road to the Dog House

Obama to Crack Down on Tax Evasion?

This should be fun. The incoming Obama administration has eyed a new revenue source to help defray some of the budget shortfall.

Cracking down on offshore tax havens.

President-elect Barack Obama plans to crack down on international tax havens, including Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man, within weeks of taking power in January, putting him on a collision course with Gordon Brown.

There is growing international pressure to outlaw the secretive practices of tax havens as a key part of reforms to the world's battered financial system, as the leaders of the world's 20 most powerful economies gather for a major conference in Washington next weekend....

We're Going to Stop Offshore Outsourcing, Really, Swear!

There has been enormous campaign rhetoric on tax incentives to offshore outsource American jobs. But can corporate tax policy alone really do much?

Firstly, what are Politicians even talking about? When corporations keep profits in a foreign country, they don't pay taxes on that money in the United States. A reasonable explanation:

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