rssCandidates’ New Economic Plans, Take 2
Tuesday, October 14, 2008 at 8:53 am
- 2 Comments
Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain announces his new economic plan today, just after his rival, Sen. Barack Obama, the Democratic nominee, grabbed headlines on Monday with his new economic plan. I would expect at Wednesday night’s debate to hear the two argue over their new economic plans. As opposed to their old ones, of course.
With a credit crisis that deepens and changes in scope almost daily, you can’t blame candidates for trying out new ways to address the country’s problems. But these new economic plans, coming just three weeks before the election, don’t have the feel of solutions carefully thought out to tackle complex, global difficulties for an economy on the brink.
McCain announced over the weekend he had a plan for Monday, then he didn’t, then he does, but it’s for Tuesday.
Obama included an idea for a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures that his primary opponent, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, introduced last spring, with no explanation for why it’s suddenly a good idea now. All this makes McCain and Obama seem less like statesmen and more like two candidates standing in a kitchen next to a pot of boiling water on the stove, throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it sticks.
When Clinton put forward her moratorium idea during the primary, economist Dean Baker correctly pointed out that it could lead to a wave of foreclosures as lenders would rush to take action before the moratorium. Obama’s camp says his proposal would apply only to banks that participate in the government’s $700-billion rescue package, and is meant for people who are making some payments on their mortgages, but can’t cover the full amount.
So if I’m someone struggling every month to meet my mortgage payment, wouldn’t I be slightly tempted to pay just a portion, knowing I won’t be foreclosed on, at least for 90 days? And why 90 days, anyway? Why not 95 days? Or nine months?
And what happens when the next wave of resets for adjustable rate mortgages rolls around? More moratoriums?
Today is McCain’s turn to take a crack at this, but this late in the game for both candidates, I can’t say we should expect the kind of well-thought out plans voters deserve.
Consider all that’s happening right now. We just nationalized nine banks, essentially. As Charles R. Morris points out on TWI today, the Federal Reserve in the last three weeks extended $650 billion in credit, nearly the total of the entire bailout plan. But we’re not talking about that. Instead, the candidates are quibbling over the margins of the tax code for retirement savings accounts and offering “relief” to the middle class.
It’s undignified to come up with gimmicks in the middle of a crisis. If you want to test the pasta, take out a few stands with a fork and let it cool in the strainer. Don’t take shortcuts in your kitchen.
Demand the same of your candidates.
2 Comments
Comment posted November 7, 2008 @ 10:44 pm
The past several years have seen a rapid increase in funding for fighting economic poverty, this is one of the main focus of the Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama who is firmly running on a platform that will inject increased government regulations into problem areas like the economy.
The economy now takes place, as the number one issue people are concerned about. Of course as a concerned citizen, saving something for future is an advisable one. The US economic status depends upon on the regulation and ruling system, and I firmly agree with that. If the economy suffers the never-ending cycle of problem such as unemployment, malnutrition of children due to poverty, terrorism, increasing high standard of living; the tendency is to blame the current political leader.
The largest issue that has come to light in America in the past year is the economy and its current crisis. The word around the various media outlets is to get out now, and to curb spending with expediency. However, some believe that we are actually in a recovery position. The thing about economies is that they work in cycles, of growth and recession, and some leaders in the economics field believe that we are beginning recovery instead of entering a massive contraction. This recent discussion segment is from Fox News, where Jeff Sachs from the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Dan Shaffer from the Shaffer Asset Management firm discuss the economic forecast, and talk about the light at the end of the tunnel. Sachs hails the Feds’ efforts to thaw the short term money market, and Shaffer provides a statistical/historical context by pointing out that there have been 14 different times since 1929 where the stock market has plunged by 40% or more, with an instance in 1973 where the stock market took a 49% dive. If the short term markets were to freeze, then businesses wouldn’t be able to have access to working capital, and wouldn’t be able to pay payrolls and other expenses. These other recessions have been survived by America. Shaffer’s assessments of the S&P and Dow indicate a bear market, which is a market condition in which the prices of securities are falling or are expected to fall, is here. If we’re lucky, well funded entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet just might be able to jump in and invest while the time is right. What has been hurt is beginning to be repaired, but in the meantime, don’t start hiding under the bed. The best thing to do is keep your money on the market, and not to curtail personal spending too much. More money in the system means the better chances for avoiding a recession. If you do run into some short term problems, remember that there are short term installment loans available as an option for help. Go out and stimulate the economy, my fellow Americans.
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Comment posted November 8, 2008 @ 6:44 am
The past several years have seen a rapid increase in funding for fighting economic poverty, this is one of the main focus of the Democratic Presidential Candidate Barack Obama who is firmly running on a platform that will inject increased government regulations into problem areas like the economy.
The economy now takes place, as the number one issue people are concerned about. Of course as a concerned citizen, saving something for future is an advisable one. The US economic status depends upon on the regulation and ruling system, and I firmly agree with that. If the economy suffers the never-ending cycle of problem such as unemployment, malnutrition of children due to poverty, terrorism, increasing high standard of living; the tendency is to blame the current political leader.
The largest issue that has come to light in America in the past year is the economy and its current crisis. The word around the various media outlets is to get out now, and to curb spending with expediency. However, some believe that we are actually in a recovery position. The thing about economies is that they work in cycles, of growth and recession, and some leaders in the economics field believe that we are beginning recovery instead of entering a massive contraction. This recent discussion segment is from Fox News, where Jeff Sachs from the Earth Institute at Columbia University and Dan Shaffer from the Shaffer Asset Management firm discuss the economic forecast, and talk about the light at the end of the tunnel. Sachs hails the Feds’ efforts to thaw the short term money market, and Shaffer provides a statistical/historical context by pointing out that there have been 14 different times since 1929 where the stock market has plunged by 40% or more, with an instance in 1973 where the stock market took a 49% dive. If the short term markets were to freeze, then businesses wouldn’t be able to have access to working capital, and wouldn’t be able to pay payrolls and other expenses. These other recessions have been survived by America. Shaffer’s assessments of the S&P and Dow indicate a bear market, which is a market condition in which the prices of securities are falling or are expected to fall, is here. If we’re lucky, well funded entrepreneurs like Warren Buffet just might be able to jump in and invest while the time is right. What has been hurt is beginning to be repaired, but in the meantime, don’t start hiding under the bed. The best thing to do is keep your money on the market, and not to curtail personal spending too much. More money in the system means the better chances for avoiding a recession. If you do run into some short term problems, remember that there are short term installment loans available as an option for help. Go out and stimulate the economy, my fellow Americans.
Post Courtesy of Personal Money Store
Professional Blogging Team
Feed Back: 1-866-641-3406
Home: http://personalmoneystore.com/NoFaxPaydayLoans….
Blog: http://personalmoneystore.com/moneyblog/
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