Everyone was shouting yesterday about the rise in GDP -- we're up to 3.6% increase, apparently. There was barely restrained glee from the White House and mumbling from various parts of Congress.
Three quick points:
1) This has very little to do with the $780 billion stimulus plan that was passed by Congress earlier this year. Most of that money hasn't been spent yet.
2) Mainly responsible for the increase are Cash For Clunkers and the $8000 new-homebuyer tax credit. On the one hand, paying people to buy cars and houses is odd. Still it puts money back into the hands of the American people, instead of leaving the Congresscritters to decide what to do with it. So I can't complain too much.
3) What really steams me about this phenomenon is the repeated description of Cash for Clunkers and the $8,000 tax credit as "government spending ."
What a crock of shit. Why does the government reduce taxes and consider it spending? In order for that to make any sense at all, they'd have to assume that they actually own all your money, and they are entitled to tax every cent of it.
Friday, October 30, 2009
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4 comments:
Aw c'mon, they would never think THAT, would they?
Why, if that were true, then they could tell you that defacing of money was a crime...or that smelting down pennies was against the law...
I'm not looking forward to the revolution...I am NOT looking forward to the revolution...I have to keep telling myself that, too many have gone south. Just look at how many feminists were involved in the one in Iran, and where they are now.
Well that is what they think. Remember the money the money says "Federal Reserve Note". A note is an IOU for payment. Of course since there is no gold backing the money you basically have a fiate currency.
Not sure about this. The Cash for Clunkers program was idiotic, but there was only $3 B or so. Similar for the new home thing. It just wasn't enough to get 3% growth.
I agree that nothing the administration has done has made a difference, but think that this is just the normal up and down noise of an extremely chaotic system.
My $0.02 worth.
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