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4/13/2010
Burri: M&Ms are good!
Wait, did I say good? Ha. They’re not good. They’re delicious. One at a time; by the handful; baked into cookies; mixed into trail mix with Cheerios and pretzels and raisins…
You get the point: M&Ms are very, very good, and I, like many of my fellow Americans, have to stay the hell away from them because I’ll eat a whole bag at one sitting if I get the chance.
They’re like Oreos that way. Especially the chocolate-covered kind.
So. Let's take that wonderful M&M (or Oreo, I guess) and shove it into a pile of horse manure.
How is it now?
According to Steve Benen, lead blogger at the Washington Monthly’s “Political Animal,” it still tastes great:
April 15 comes this week, so taxes will no doubt be on the minds of many. President Obama used his weekly address to remind the public about a little detail that usually goes overlooked: He cut taxes.
….The president may need to repeat the message a few more times as the midterm elections draw closer -- a recent NYT/CBS poll asked Americans if they think the Obama Administration increased taxes, decreased taxes, or have they kept taxes the same. Only 12% accurately noted that taxes have done [sic] down; twice as many (24%) mistakenly said the opposite.
They “mistakenly” said the opposite, Benen writes, mistakenly.
Let’s not give the wrong impression: We’re all very glad that President Obama included those tax cuts. Well, not tax cuts, exactly. They’re tax credits, is what they are. You can claim them if you do something (or if you are something) specific. And most of them (at least) are temporary. They’re going away soon, unless Congress acts on them again.
Still, we’re glad they’re there, and we’re glad President Obama and his followers are touting them. That alone means they understand: Americans want tax cuts. Tax cuts are good.
But here’s the thing: Americans aren’t idiots. Americans – the vast majority of us, anyway – are not simpletons. You cannot distract us with that shiny object. You cannot tell us that the big pile of poop smells better because there's an M&M in there somewhere.
President Obama’s policies have sent America’s economic numbers into unheard of territory. The Obama deficits don’t just boggle the mind: they make comparisons of the U.S. to Greece – or worse: California – reasonable. And, keep in mind, those are the deficits the Obama administration created before ObamaCare became law. Before Cap&Trade, which congressional Democrats and their White House allies still want. Before the fiscal tsunamis that are Social Security and Medicare hit the beach.
Translation: it’s only getting worse from here.
So. Why were the Bush tax cuts panned for "causing" big deficits, but the Obama temporary tax credits aren't?
Politics, partly. Hey, Obama's doing a whole lot of things Bush did, and more. But that's partisan politics: if Bush did it, it's bad. If Obama does it, not so much. Or vice versa. We get that.
But. President Bush’s tax cuts were like a fresh new bag of M&Ms. He handed them to you with that grin on his face and said: enjoy!
President Obama doesn't hand you the M&Ms: he drops them in a field, where they're covered by the first donkey that takes a dump. The same candy, buried in gross and unpleasant. By the time you find it, you're feeling sick.
Benen may be right: Americans may not realize that Obama enacted some (specific, temporary) tax credits. Even if they did, though: under all that other crap, it's just not as good.
Lance Burri blogs regularly via his site, The TrogloPundit
COMMENTS
So, in light of the big drop in tax revenues and increases in spending (most of which is entitlements, defense and interest on the debt)What is your solution? Isn't it obvious that in good times (late '80s,2004-2008) and in bad (early 80s, early 90s and now) that all administrations have increased the debt. Except for one Clinton (with due respect to George the 1st who had the guts to increase taxes). I like the M&M analogy but unfortunately as the NYT poll shows most Americans don't understand the simplest of policies. So in clear specific language with actual numbers, what are your solutions?
dave allen (Tue Apr 13 07:22:52 2010)
Cut taxes and open the spigot of cash. President Kennedy figured it out - and it worked perfectly, as it did for Reagan and the ever-maligned GW Bush.
BUT before you note the increase in debt during the Reagan & GW Bush years - here's the complicated part. CUT SPENDING.
Dave, I believe you have previously noted that you are a business owner. You KNOW you can't keep spending whatever you spent in the previous month if revenues go down. You have to manage your debt load to your cash on hand. That's the part we have failed to do as a nation.
Get more money in by allowing us to TRULY recharge the economy AND reign the Federal Budget (spending AND entitlements) back in.
Jeff Riedl (Tue Apr 13 08:43:15 2010)
Here is my answer Dave, and you ought to like the fact that I use a lot of numbers:
Second clip.
Short version: once the payment for our unfunded liabilities fully kick in, Cost of Government will exceed 100% of our economy. CUT SPENDING is the ONLY formula that will return us to prosperity. But see the clip for details.
Ken Van Doren (Tue Apr 13 09:02:54 2010)
Here's the (problem and the) solution Dave. Click on "The Solution." Specifics. Crafted legislation even.
Jo (Tue Apr 13 09:30:45 2010)
To all the posters who have shown me their solutions, there isn't one of these that have facts and figures unless they're buried in a campaign video. Come on folks. Pretend just for a while that you are dictator (no congress nothing, do what you want). What specifically do you cut, how much, what programs does it affect and how much long term impact on deficit (percentages would be nice also so I can see the curve moving downward). Just put it on a spreadsheet and post it or something. Specifics please.
dave allen (Tue Apr 13 12:21:58 2010)
Dave, read D. Crockett's "Not Yours to Give" and you'll see what needs to be cut: practically everything! At one time, this country was governed by people who believed in PRINCIPLES, not pragmatics. In fact, this country came into being through the minority who believed in principles, not the majority who rather liked their overbearing "mother".
emily matthews (Tue Apr 13 12:45:21 2010)
Emily,
Sorry, you're the dictator, you make the choices. You need to understand what to cut. Don't hide behind someone else. declare yourself specifically.
dave allen (Tue Apr 13 14:36:27 2010)
You could buy a lot of m&m's with the credit most taxpayers will find on line 63 of form 1040 or on line 40 of form 1040A. Most single taxpayers will find a credit of $400 and most married taxpayers will find a credit of $800 on those lines. The credit is based on 6.2% of their earned income up to the maximums mentioned above. This was part of the stimulus program.
Mark L. Harris (Tue Apr 13 16:35:58 2010)
Ryan's solutions are not buried in a campaign video. They're written in a bill and detailed in verbiage and graphs.
Jo (Tue Apr 13 16:59:59 2010)
Jo,
please send the links to the graphs. With regard to the only concrete suggestion in this forum relative to the credit:
A) how much money recovered, when
B) what impact on the deficit in total dollars and %
dave allen (Tue Apr 13 19:04:58 2010)
Dave, you're wonderful at putting the onus on somebody else. I take it your "solution" is to raise taxes?
I'm willing to bet my dictatorship on the free market. I won't cut a thing - okay, I take that back. I'll repeal what's left of the "stimulus," and ObamaCare. No new spending, though. No new programs or positions.
Otherwise, I'll simply simplify the tax laws; reduce taxes on investment, including corporate income taxes; break down the barriers between states (health insurance) and nations.
Short term, that will mean deficits. Longer term - five years, more - revenues will grow to the point that we don't have to cut anything. I'll bet on that.
I'm sure you're champing at the bit to give us your details now.
Mark: as I said, we're all glad those credits are there. I'm particularly glad that Obama feels he needs to tout some kind of tax cut. But they're a drop in the bucket compared to all the horrible economic policy coming out of the Obama administration.
Lance (Tue Apr 13 19:22:49 2010)
Lance,
You seem to react based on the same old yell from the ramparts but have no specific solutions. Same old tired mantra with no specifics. Must be nice to sit in your ivory tower and toss bricks on everyone. Even the Republican presidents with a Republican congress did nothing to reduce deficits (remember it was under the Clinton Administration when it was done). And you accuse me of asking others to do the heavy lifting? I'm not the one stating general platitudes about how we will all have heaven on earth by cutting taxes yadda, yadda, yadda, you are. And by the way I recommended nothing about raising taxes did I? Come on put your ideas in to practice be specific, make the hard choices.
dave allen (Wed Apr 14 07:41:28 2010)
Wow, Dave, I'm sitting in an ivory tower tossing bricks? You've been presented with several specific ideas here, but you think you can simply run around crying "not specific enough!" and that gives you some kind of moral high ground?
That's a cheap and common political trick, Dave. It means you either have no ideas, or you don't want to share your ideas because you know people don't agree with you.
Lance (Wed Apr 14 09:32:25 2010)
Lance, What specific ideas did you mention? Costs saved, programs cut or taxes raised. Numbers not generalities. Apparently you believe that being specific is something done without actually mentioning even one dollar amount. Amazing!
dave allen (Wed Apr 14 14:49:47 2010)
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