Stimulate The Economy By Elimination Of Payroll Tax
Posted on April 2, 2009 at 12:44 pmMike Hammock thinks it a fine idea:
A more interesting recent proposal is the elimination of the payroll tax. Payroll taxes are taxes taken out of everyone’s paycheck up to the first $102,000. Income over that amount is not subject to payroll tax. Payroll taxes are essentially a tax on employment; they are a disincentive for workers to work, and a disincentive for employers to hire. Getting rid of the payroll tax would instantly put money in the pockets of both workers and employers, encouraging the former to spend (although they might just save most of it) and, more importantly, encouraging the latter to hire. Several economists, including Greg Mankiw, suggested eventually replacing payroll taxes with a higher gasoline tax, or a carbon tax, in order to reduce pollution. I think this sounds like a much better idea than a messy spending bill, which may do very little. Or maybe it will do a lot. I’m not a macroeconomist, and my opinion on this may not be very valuable. On the other hand, I’m not convinced that the real macroeconomists know, either.
Supreme Executive Power
Posted on April 1, 2009 at 11:20 amVia NRO:
In an important victory for the nation’s governors, the White House is acknowledging that state legislatures across the country can’t wrest control of $48.6 billion made available under the new federal stimulus law to help states cope with their budgets.
White House budget chief Peter Orszag says there is no provision in the stimulus law for state lawmakers to accept that money without approval by the governor. South Carolina’s Republican governor, Mark Sanford, has said he may decline more than $700 million in stimulus money because the White House won’t let him spend the money to pay down his state’s debt.
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Senator Corker On Fox News Sunday
Posted on March 15, 2009 at 4:18 pmThe junior Senator advises the administration concentrate on the credit issues before discussing a second stimulus:
Still, the major issue in our country is credit, and it’s very difficult for me to believe that we’re even considering talking about another so-called stimulus package when, in fact, we still have not dealt seriously with the credit issue. That is absolutely incredible to me.
I read today where the Germans agree with us 100 percent. It’s still the credit issue. And this administration, while they still are listening to Barney Frank and listening to Goolsbee, they’re still campaigning. They’re still running against President Bush.
The fact is they still have not laid out a coherent way of dealing with this credit crisis, and that is page one. That’s what our focus needs to be.
Small businesses around this country are still having great difficulty getting credit. And until we solve that, piling government spending on top of that is not going to solve it.
So the next critical step is looking at these stress tests. And when you talk about taking medicine, we can either do a soft stress test and certainly we’ll be waiting till mid-April to find out whether it’s soft or whether it’s hard.
But I’m thinking it needs to be a difficult stress test so that the public knows where these institutions are, so they know whether they’re sound or not. And I think that is a very important thing.
So I hope that Tim Geithner will come back. Let’s get focused on solving this credit issue, and let’s move this stimulus issue to the side, way to the side, until we deal with this.
Tennessee Senators Split On $410 Billion Federal Spending Bill
Posted on March 10, 2009 at 6:19 pmFrom the office of the junior Senator in opposition to H.R. 1105:
“I don’t know how anybody can look at piling this $410 billion bill on top of the $1 trillion stimulus passed last month and NOT call it excessive federal spending. This is trillions of dollars that we don’t have that we’re leaving for future generations to pay back,” said Corker. “Like most Tennesseans, I believe the flawed appropriations process that produced this bill is in desperate need of reform. There is absolutely no construct for fiscal discipline on the federal level, so I have supported measures not only to force a one-year moratorium on all congressional earmarks, but also to enact a two-year budget cycle, and to create a blueprint for solving the growing crisis surrounding entitlement spending.”
…and the senior Senator in support:
“Last month, I voted against the trillion-dollar so-called ‘stimulus’ package, but this is the regular appropriations bill that has to be passed each year if the government is to operate properly. I voted for several amendments that would have reduced spending, but ultimately those motions were defeated.
“The bill that passed today includes funding for several projects important to Tennesseans: an anti-gang program in Memphis; Wolf Creek and Center Hill Dam repair; rebuilding the Chickamauga Lock; as well as increased funding for Oak Ridge, the Great Smokies, and the US Forest Service’s number-one land-acquisition in the country, which is in Upper East Tennessee.”
SEE ALSO: Senatus
On Bredesen’s Possible Rejection Of Stimulus Funds
Posted on February 25, 2009 at 2:00 pmIt was first reported by Herman Wang on Monday night but not til today are people really starting to rock and roll on it.
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What Kind Of Democrat Is This?
Posted on at 10:34 amDavid Lyons is not pleased with Governor Bredesen statements that he may end up refusing some federal stimulus money:
Gov. Bredesen is considering turning down $143 million from the federal stimulus package because, in giving another $25 per week to unemployed Tennesseans, he is afraid it might raise taxes on businesses later. Odd. I thought I voted for a Democrat. I thought government was supposed to help families in need.
Bredesen May Just Turn Down Stimulus
Posted on February 23, 2009 at 5:10 pmVia the Wangmeister:
“We are evaluating this piece of money, whether it makes sense for us to take it,” Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen said. “We may well be one of the states that say we can’t take on that portion of it.”
The money in question — millions of dollars to each state — would require an expansion of unemployment insurance, a continuing obligation that some governors have criticized as an unfunded mandate.
SEE ALSO: The Wall Street Journal
(TFJ: Underwood)
Where’s My Change, Son?
Posted on February 15, 2009 at 11:50 amFirst District Congressman Phil Roe on the stimulus package:
“We got it at 9 o’clock yesterday morning and voted at 2 o’clock yesterday afternoon,” Roe said of the bill. “No one has read this bill. I can promise you not one senator, not one representative in the United States Congress has read that.”
Roe said he did find questionable expenses in the bill, such as $450 million for a new Homeland Security building and $30 million for buying wetlands in San Francisco.
The federal government, Roe said, can’t keep up with disbursements from the multibillion-dollar financial industry bailout passed by Congress last year.
“If I sent my kids to McDonald’s with a hundred dollar bill and they bought a couple hamburgers, I’d want to know where the change is. … Right now we don’t know where the (bailout) change is,” Roe said.
(HT: Angelia)
I Got Your Incrementalism Right Here
Posted on February 6, 2009 at 8:34 pmSen. Corker thinks the stimulus bill is a bunch of hot garbage:
I know that there are a number of people on both sides of the aisle that are working in a “gang” mentality right now to try to make this package better. I certainly applaud people who work together in a bipartisan way to try to solve problems. In particular though, this stimulus package is nothing short of a disaster. And I think to try to make it 10 percent better, while admirable, is not really doing our country the justice that it deserves.
SEE ALSO: Say Uncle
Where Were Our Dogs At On The Stimulus?
Posted on at 10:09 amRep. Jim Cooper stood up and represented for the Blue Dogs standing tall against the House stimulus package passed last week.
However, all Tennessee Democrats in Congress (save Steve Cohen) are members of the Blue Dog Coalition yet Cooper was the only nay vote. Where were the others?
Shock Horror: Rep. Jim Cooper Is A Politician
Posted on February 5, 2009 at 7:21 amJeff Woods puts a recent controversy in historical context:
In 1994, when Cooper was running for the Senate, Bill Clinton was the president and wildly unpopular in Tennessee. Across the state, Cooper made a point of painting himself as a maverick, desperately distancing himself from the president. But then one evening, I watched Cooper give an interview on a black radio station in Nashville. Clinton remained very popular with blacks, if no one else, and Cooper told listeners, “I have voted with President Clinton 90 percent of the time.”
It was an audacious display of hypocrisy. Cooper plays the upright guardian of the public interest but he’s no different than most politicians, just a lot squirrelier. A big phony, he tailors what he says to suit his audience. That’s what he’s doing here. He wants to oppose wasteful spending, but he doesn’t want to buck the popular new president. He’s not agile enough to walk that tightrope.
Cooper’s Comments To Liberadio(!) Continue To Stir Stew
Posted on February 4, 2009 at 2:08 pmPolitico has the developing story of the fallout regarding the remarks made by Rep. Cooper concerning his vote against the House stimulus package:
“Mr. Cooper has clarified those remarks,” she said, motioning to an aide, who handed out copies of Cooper’s statements.
Privately, people close to Pelosi said they weren’t surprised he would take a swipe at her – but said they had received back-channel assurances from the White House that the substance of his remarks was untrue.
And a senior House leadership aide scoffed at Cooper’s claim, suggesting the congressman was merely grandstanding.
“The idea that he didn’t get information or was kept in dark is just not true,” said the aide. “We sent out reams of information. He spoke at one of the caucuses [about the bill].”
Fired back a source close to Cooper: “If he were grandstanding, he could probably pick a more appropriate venue than a small-audience local radio show.”
Cooper has made little secret of his lack of regard for Pelosi’s leadership and has earned the enmity of her loyalists for his propensity to speak candidly.
You gonna take that Mary and Freddie?
UPDATE: Mary Mancini reports that Obama’s spokesman has been asked at a press briefing about the comments.
Rep. Cooper Says You Didn’t Hear What You Heard
Posted on at 11:55 amDavidson County’s congressman denies what you can plainly hear him say in this Liberadio(!) interview, that Obama’s people, in a subtle, unofficial way, sanctioned his vote against the stimulus package in the House:
“At no point did any member of President Obama’s staff encourage me to vote against the House economic recovery bill. I told them I believed that the bill had too much long-term spending and didn’t meet the president’s goal of getting 75% of the money into the economy within 18 months. After the conversation, I felt encouraged that the administration understood those concerns and shared my longstanding commitment to fiscal responsibility.”
Compare that with this:
Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I actually got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I’m doing. They know its a messy bill and they wanted a clean bill.
Now, I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don’t care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous. They don’t mind the partisan fighting cause that’s what they are used to. In fact, they’re really good at it. And they’re a little bit worried about what a post-partisan future might look like.
If members actually had to read the bills and figure out whether they are any good or not. We’re just told how to vote. We’re treated like mushrooms most of the time.
SEE ALSO: Cooper continues damage control, belittles radio audience.
The Coop Is Loose
Posted on February 3, 2009 at 2:53 pmUPDATE: Cooper now says his words below don’t mean what you think.
With the withdrawal of Tom Daschle’s name from consideration for Health and Human Services chief, the obligatory speculation regarding whom the next nominee shall be necessarily follows.
Some folks like Howard Dean. Others have less controversial choices.
The Office of Management and Budget was, of course, the main job folks thought Congressman Jim Cooper would end up in if he chose to go to Washington. HHS, however, would not be a bad fit either, considering the congressman’s interest in healthcare.
And FYI for those of you who are operating under the misimpression that the Congressman is on the outs with the new administration for his vote against the stimulus need only to take a listen to Cooper’s interview yesterday with Liberadio(!):
Well, I probably shouldn’t tell you this, but I actually got some quiet encouragement from the Obama folks for what I’m doing. They know its a messy bill and they wanted a clean bill.
Now, I got in terrible trouble with our leadership because they don’t care what’s in the bill, they just want it pass and they want it to be unanimous. They don’t mind the partisan fighting cause that’s what they are used to. In fact, they’re really good at it. And they’re a little bit worried about what a post-partisan future might look like.
If members actually had to read the bills and figure out whether they are any good or not. We’re just told how to vote. We’re treated like mushrooms most of the time.
Of course, while this is evidence that Coop is still working inside the proverbial Obama circle it is also more evidence why he would never, ever take a job with the administration.
Why go on the inside when, as an independent operator in Congress, he can serve his own agenda AND play good cop or bad cop for the Obama administration depending on the need?
UPDATES:
Politico places Coop on the short list
Nate Rau with some thoughts
Daily Kos links up
Fired Up, Ready To Go
Posted on December 11, 2008 at 7:59 amTennessee is ready for its federal stimulus help:
Gov. Phil Bredesen says Tennessee has close to $1 billion in road and bridge projects that are ready to go and may qualify for the massive public-works stimulus package proposed by President-elect Barack Obama.
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