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New Deal

It isn’t exactly change you can believe in, but here’s the deal. It’s new. Obama has advanced from trying to be like Bush to trying to outdo him. WSJ, $300 billion tax-cut plan: 

WASHINGTON — President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats are crafting a plan to offer about $300 billion of tax cuts to individuals and businesses, a move aimed at attracting Republican support for an economic-stimulus package and prodding companies to create jobs.

…

The Obama tax-cut proposals, if enacted, could pack more punch in two years than either of President George W. Bush’s tax cuts did in their first two years. Mr. Bush’s 10-year, $1.35 trillion tax cut of 2001, considered the largest in history, contained $174 billion of cuts during its first two full years, according to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation. The second-largest tax cut — the 10-year, $350 billion package engineered by Mr. Bush in 2003 — contained $231 billion in 2004 and 2005.

…

William Gale, a tax-policy analyst at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, said the scale of the whole package is larger than expected. He called the business offerings a true surprise, since most attention has been focused on the spending side of the equation, especially the hundreds of billions of dollars being discussed for infrastructure and aid to state and local governments.

“On the other hand, it was hard to figure out how they were going to spend all that money in intelligent ways, so it makes sense to do more on the tax side,” Mr. Gale said.

Damn. But wait, there’s more …

“We’re working with Congress to develop a tax-cut package based on a simple principle: What will have the biggest and most immediate impact on creating private-sector jobs and strengthening the middle class?” said transition-team spokeswoman Stephanie Cutter. “We’re guided by what works, not by any ideology or special interests.”

Dawn over Obamalot. OK, he’s surrendering on economic policy as well as foreign policy now. Health care is under advisement. It’s the kind of change you can hope for, but when he hasn’t even taken office yet and everything he believes in is just the latest thing to get thrown under the bus, it’s not exactly change you can hang your hat on.

Reynolds points to more change.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Hotair re Richardson, the latest scandal in the greater Obamasphere.

Volokh Conspiracist Jim Lindgren marvels at making sense as an emerging Obamist policy principle, points to some underlying principles of the emerging sensibility.  

It passes the initial smell test at Maggie’s Farm.

Tigerhawk: Hey, that was my idea.

Dean’s World: Yeah, but what about the spending?

Talking Points Memo: Tax breaks to business to stimulate the economy? Cart before the horse! Whatever happened to loading the cart up with deadbeats and making the horse pull harder?

Thoughts on the pitfalls of stimulus packages from Robert Samuelson via RCP.

Classical Values rains on Obama’s parade.

Krugman at NYT, a little behind the news curve, thinks Obama stimulus will have a hard time passing without tax breaks, but cautions against them. Someone tell Krugman it looks like Obama is getting ready to throw Keynes under the bus.

Welcome, Punditeers, etal. Always so good to see you. Heil Hamas! Meanwhile, here’s an Old Warhorse’s Best 2008 Reads.

Topics: Obama

  Posted by Jules Crittenden at 7:12 am on Monday, January 5, 2009

4 Responses to “New Deal”

1. Stone Dead Parrot » Throwing Keynes Under the Bus… Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 1:32 pm

   [...] Obama decided to keep some of Bush’s foreign policy team on for awhile.  Now he’s basically adopting Bush’ economic policy (that is, tax cuts): The size of the proposed tax cuts — which would account for about 40% of a [...]

2. The_Real_JeffS Says:
   January 5th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

   …it’s not exactly change you can hang your hat on.

   Unless you’re a pinhead. (You aren’t, of course, Jules, but there’s always Krugman…..)

3. M. Simon Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 5:51 am

   Darn,

   It looks like I voted for the wrong Republican. No matter. Evidently the right one won in the end.

   But I got to tell you - my head is spinning. What happened to all that Marxist stuff he studied as a kid? Or all the lefty rhetoric he fobbed off on his south side constituents?

   Maybe he is working on the principle of: “if the economy is going good there will be more to steal”. It could be worse.

4. On Obama’s CIA Pick:Political considerations will trump competence and experience | Right Voices Says:
   January 6th, 2009 at 11:37 am

   [...] Jules Crittenden » New Deal [...]

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