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By Robert Barro
My calculations suggest the jobless rate could be as low as 6.8%, instead of 9.5%, if jobless benefits hadn't been extended to 99 weeks.
Congressman John Boehner recently suggested that President Obama replace his top economic advisers. I think he may have a point. The economic "recovery" has been disappointing, to put it mildly, and it has become increasingly clear that the blame lies with the policies of the Obama administration, not with those of its predecessor.
In general, the current administration has been too focused on expanding government, redistributing more from rich to poor, and stimulating aggregate demand. I have previously criticized the stimulus package as cost-ineffective. In particular, whatever tax reductions were in the package did not involve the cuts in marginal income tax rates that encourage investment, work effort and productivity growth.
Now the administration wants to kill the 2003 income-tax cuts, at least the parts that reduced marginal income tax rates for high-income earners and for all recipients of dividend income. This proposal is particularly disturbing because the 2003 law was George W. Bush's main economic achievement; unlike most of Mr. Bush's policies, this one was well-conceived and effective.
I want to focus here on another dimension of the Obama administration's policies: the expansion of unemployment-insurance eligibility to as much as 99 weeks from the standard 26 weeks. . . .
Read more at the Wall Street Journal. |
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2010
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CONTACT: Danny Gonzalez
(714) 926 - 6189
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PRO-TROOP GROUP DEMANDS JERRY BROWN CANCEL FUNDRAISER WITH ANTI-MILITARY CODE PINK LEADER, JODIE EVANS
Move America Forward, the nation’s largest pro-troop organization, is calling on California Attorney General Brown to renounce Code Pink, the anti-military organization that has provided aid and comfort to America’s enemies. Brown is planning to attend a fundraiser at the home of Jodie Evans, founder of Code Pink
Unless Brown cancels the fundraiser, MAF will be organizing a protest against this event. On Saturday, Aug 21st, we will rally our members to protest outside the home of Code Pink’s founding member Jodie Evans, who bankrolls the group’s activities. We will call on Jerry Brown to renounce his appearance with Code Pink out of respect for the military families he professes to care about. Not only should be cancel the fundraiser, with tickets as high as $25,000 per person, but he should also return any contributions received.
We at Move America Forward are disgusted and outraged by the news of the fundraising event. Jodie Evans and her organization have betrayed their country and spit in the face of the men and women who serve honorably in our military. For Jerry Brown to link arms with such a despicable group is a direct insult to military personnel.
Move America Forward has a storied history of engaging directly with Code Pink, and opposing their anti-American activities. As an organization dedicated to supporting the troops, it is our duty to defend their honor domestically while they protect ours abroad. We will not allow the anti-military activities of Code Pink to go unchallenged, and it is a grave mistake for Jerry Brown to associate with a group that has openly supported our nation’s enemies.
WHAT: Protest to demand Jerry Brown renounce his appearance with Code Pink
WHEN: Saturday August 21st, 4PM PST
WHERE: Home of Jodie Evans. 757 Palms Blvd. Venice, CA 90291 |
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Last Updated on Friday, 20 August 2010 19:45 |
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Michael Rosen in Politico
During the debate, Fiorina leveled against her opponent another powerful charge that went unrebutted: Boxer’s indifference, even outright hostility, to farmers in the politically pivotal Central Valley whose livelihoods have dried up along with dwindling water supplies.
Fiorina noted that Boxer — who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee but is in thrall to green lobbying groups — not only wouldn’t lift a finger to relax federal regulations and let the water flow, but also voted against legislation that would have done so while pressuring her fellow California Democrat, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, to withdraw her own similar amendment.
While coastal California (except for San Diego and Orange counties) generally votes heavily Democratic, and the Inland Empire favors Republicans, the Central Valley can swing both ways, especially this year when the political climate has endangered several Democratic incumbents in the region. If Fiorina can take the fight to Boxer in the Valley, the senator will find herself in similar straits.
During the debate, for the most part, Boxer came across as much more of a warm, smiling, grandmotherly figure than Fiorina, a product of the senator’s lengthy political experience. But angry California voters by now may well have tired of Boxer’s shtick, preferring an upstart candidate whose uneasiness matches their own.
Fiorina has mined this vein relentlessly, both during the debate and throughout the campaign, with endless references to Boxer’s “long track record of 28 years in Washington, D.C,” which has been “long on talk and short on achievement.” The challenger never tires of pointing out that Boxer has a grand total of four relatively minor pieces of legislation to her name.
And in one area in particular these two strands — big government liberalism and legislative fecklessness — weave together: the cap-and-trade regime, which Fiorina calls the “most expensive regulatory act in U.S. history,” which will burden consumers and kill yet more jobs, but to which Boxer has adhered religiously. At the debate, Fiorina blasted the senator for her inability to shepherd the ill-considered legislation to passage and for having it “taken away from her and given to John Kerry.” This, in the end, is Boxer’s legacy: failed leadership and misguided policies amidst troubling times.
Thus, in a toxic environment where irate voters find themselves booting incumbents even during primaries, it’s not much of a stretch to predict that Boxer’s political life will never be the same come November.
Michael M. Rosen (
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
) is an attorney and a Republican activist in San Diego.
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Last Updated on Friday, 03 September 2010 10:39 |
By Laurence Kotlikoff - Aug 10, 2010
Let’s get real. The U.S. is bankrupt. Neither spending more nor taxing less will help the country pay its bills.
What it can and must do is radically simplify its tax, health-care, retirement and financial systems, each of which is a complete mess. But this is the good news. It means they can each be redesigned to achieve their legitimate purposes at much lower cost and, in the process, revitalize the economy.
Last month, the International Monetary Fund released its annual review of U.S. economic policy. Its summary contained these bland words about U.S. fiscal policy: “Directors welcomed the authorities’ commitment to fiscal stabilization, but noted that a larger than budgeted adjustment would be required to stabilize debt-to-GDP.”
But delve deeper, and you will find that the IMF has effectively pronounced the U.S. bankrupt.
Read more at Bloomberg.com. |
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Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 August 2010 21:35 |
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