In a rare show of bi-partisan glad-handing, the House and President Bush have agreed on a so-called economic stimulus package that consists largely of "tax rebates" to be given to individuals earning < $75K per year and couples making < $150K. From this perspective the plan could be called a tax cut and therefore be…
Category: Finance
Bad Business of Recession
Investing in markets, stock, real estate, and otherwise, is a gamble and with all such bets there are inevitably going to be winners and losers. At the NY Times, David Leonhardt writes that the Federal Reserve’s "great moderation" may have been a mere illusion fueled by stock and land rushes over the last 16 years….
Huckabee’s Fair Tax Endorsed
Economist Steven Landsburg has a new article in Slate magazine in which he gives his approval to Huckabee’s Fair Tax plan. His conclusion: the underlying issue becomes a lot clearer once you realize that a sales tax is a modified income tax. The right question is: Is the proposed modification a good one? The answer,…
Red-lining Black America
Jesse Jackson said today that mortgage companies and other lenders discriminated against black Americans by “profiling” them and that the rash of home mortgage foreclosures could initiate a “sustained depression”. Am I being naive or is what J.J. calls “racial profiling” is more commonly known as “risk assessment”? One of Jackson’s sources is the National Community…
WSJ Disproves Wage Stagnation
Earlier today the Wall Street Journal showed how the myth of income stagnation and decreased social mobility is just that – a myth: The Treasury study examined a huge sample of 96,700 income tax returns from 1996 and 2005 for Americans over the age of 25. The study tracks what happened to these tax filers…
3 Saudi Terror Funders Designated
The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated as Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGTs) three individuals based in Saudi Arabia: Abdul Rahim Al-Talhi, Muhammad `Abdallah Salih Sughayr, and Fahd Muhammad `Abd Al-`Aziz Al-Khashiban were designated for providing support to the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), an al Qaida-affiliated terrorist group responsible for multiple bombings, kidnappings and…
Hillary’s Baby Plan Redux
The Chicago Tribune just published an analysis of Hillary’s plan that is rather similar to mine. Their conclusions? Well, the editorial is titled "Clinton’s baby boondoggle" for a reason… It would be expensive — about $20 billion a year — and Clinton offered no way to pay for it. Absent a funding source, the cost…
Hillary: $5000 for Every Baby! (and a Car in Every Garage)
Devlin Barrett writes: Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday that every child born in the United States should get a $5,000 "baby bond" from the government to help pay for future costs of college or buying a home. … The New York senator did not offer any estimate of the total cost of…
Bush’s Bailout
President Bush outline a plan today that would help bail out hundreds of thousands of borrowers who have been unable to pay off their mortgages. CNN says: Foreclosure rates have soared over the past year as homeowners struggle to pay off loans that have become more expensive as they mature. Many are hybrid adjustable rate…
Martha Stewart a Scapegoat, Distraction
Martha Stewart is being used to distract us, the victims, from the lack of prosecution of those responsible for the dot-com stock scandals. “Look, we’re doing something!” crows the SEC. And yes, she probably did trade on inside information. That happens every day. If we prosecuted everyone who did so, we’d have more white-collars in…