meh, non-story

"Well, that's kind of scary," said Richard Eckstrom, South Carolina's comptroller general.

Indeed. That's what happens when you push through legislation quickly based on fear.

How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

Gee, this sure sounds familiar. No stewardship or controls. AIG/TARP anyone?

We are so farked. It sure is getting hot in this here handbasket.

worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

Man this is such a cluster-fark. I see an endless parade of bewildered state officials being summoned to capital hill to explain how they used the funds. The whole thing will be used as a fishing expedition by the holier-than-thou congress to make themselves look better.

nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

I wish I could find that quote on Google outside of wingnut blogs.

Looks like pure invention.

How about reading the bill and spending the money on projects therein? And then recording where all of the money went and how it was allocated? You know if there is money for infrastructure then spend it on road and bridges. If possible spread it around to many sub-contractors so that if one of them is corrupt it doesn't ruin the entire system.

Rhode Island's Governor is already trying to funnel some of it to high-income tax cuts. Providence's whiney mayor has apparently gone to the feds and whined about it.

/not really sure who I want to back in this one, if anyone.

nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

Of course, by "average citizen" you mean "CEO who actually has monetary power behind his tax cut", right?

/Who's going to make more of a negative impact by saving their tax cut? A $30K a week "average citizen", or a fat cat who earns 10 times that in salary and 50 times that in bonuses?

satanorsanta: How about reading the bill and spending the money on projects therein? And then recording where all of the money went and how it was allocated? You know if there is money for infrastructure then spend it on road and bridges. If possible spread it around to many sub-contractors so that if one of them is corrupt it doesn't ruin the entire system.

This sounds an awful lot like common sense. And I think that we all know that we can't have reasoned, senible posts on the politics page. Did you not get the Frk Politics Tab Rulebook when you signed up?

Now...go back and make your post more flame-y/trollish.

IlGreven: nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

Of course, by "average citizen" you mean "CEO who actually has monetary power behind his tax cut", right?

/Who's going to make more of a negative impact by saving their tax cut? A $30K a week "average citizen", or a fat cat who earns 10 times that in salary and 50 times that in bonuses?

Uh, saving doesn't have a negative impact.

I thought there were rules for specific funds. ie money for unemployement insurance can't used for roads. Which would mean there are rules.

If the AIG bonus mess has taught us is that everyone needs regulations to do the right thing. But after RTFA it seems like most of this stuff will be worked out. And also didn't the Obama administration ask states to submit shovel ready projects? One would hope that states would that that as a guideline but then you'd wouldn't have AIG paying bonuses with government money.

IXI Jim IXI: Rhode Island's Governor is already trying to funnel some of it to high-income tax cuts. Providence's whiney mayor has apparently gone to the feds and whined about it.

/not really sure who I want to back in this one, if anyone.

Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would argue for tax cuts for anyone but themselves right now (human nature being what it is).

In fact, I wasn't even all that happy to see the 300 billion or so tax cuts that were in this bill across the board. I know it was keeping with a campaign promise, but frankly that 300 billion could have been used to put unemployed people to work.

I know there are a lot of arm chair economists here on fark, but as a business owner I can tell you one thing for sure: If my sales are so soft that I'm down 50% on the year, but the government cuts my taxes by 10%, my loss for the year is: a farkload.

In my opinion this all boils down to jobs. Sales are slow because people either don't have one, or they're petrified of losing theirs so they are squirreling away all their income.

I busted my hump this year chasing after some big contracts (actually scored a nice 300k one this week) and I laid off about a quarter of my staff, but I'm still down massively this year. I don't need a farking tax cut because I barely have any income to tax anymore.

Oh well, rant off and back to trying to chase the last few drops of pre-quarter end customer budgets.

Okay..spinning distraction over there with Stimulus while Geithner and the Fed dodges the Congressional hearing on AIG. Expect Geithner to be the sacrificial lamb to dazzle the mob.

Hurry up and waste the taxpayers hard earned (and yet to be earned) money!



Dumbest. President. Ever.


Maybe political experience actually matters. Oh well, it's a lesson the American people have to learn the hard way.

The Energy Department is giving out money to make homes energy-efficient, and the work must begin soon, but there aren't enough trained workers for all the remodeling jobs.

I'm buying a house and would love to make it more energy efficient. How do I get some of this?

nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

You know what foreigners do with dollars, don't you? They put them in big piles, like leaves, then roll around and play in them.

/If only they'd use them to buy American exports...

colbert_rules: I thought there were rules for specific funds. ie money for unemployement insurance can't used for roads. Which would mean there are rules.

Mark it zero!

nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office. the reelection of George W. Bush.

If you're trying to make the point that average citizens aren't stupid, you might want to pick an example other than the one that demonstrates just how retarded 'we' can be.

First Obama appeared in a comic book with Spider-Man. Now you're saying he refers to himself as "us."

nosferatublue:
Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens idiots like me who are too stupid to do anything right

Fixed for accuracy

No different than the bank plan. Force everyone to take the money (even if they don't need it, i.e. Wells Fargo for example) then apply terms and conditions retroactively.

Crude: Hurry up and waste the taxpayers hard earned (and yet to be earned) money!



Dumbest. President. Ever.


Maybe political experience actually matters. Oh well, it's a lesson the American people have to learn the hard way.

Obama will never, ever, ever be the Dumbest President Ever. That will be he guy he just replaced, always.

Snarfangel:

You know what foreigners do with dollars, don't you? They put them in big piles, like leaves, then roll around and play in them.

/If only they'd use them to buy American exports...

Yeah, it's almost as bad as letting someone save their own money. Saved money is usually buried in someone's backyard, and is lost to the economy forever.

Eddie Adams from Torrance: nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office. the reelection of George W. Bush.

If you're trying to make the point that average citizens aren't stupid, you might want to pick an example other than the one that demonstrates just how retarded 'we' can be.

Make no mistake, I think Bush made some of the worst decisions of any recent president. I picked on Kerry because Kerry was the one who actually said that tax cuts carry too much freedom.

TwistedFark: IXI Jim IXI: Rhode Island's Governor is already trying to funnel some of it to high-income tax cuts. Providence's whiney mayor has apparently gone to the feds and whined about it.

/not really sure who I want to back in this one, if anyone.

Honestly, I don't understand why anyone would argue for tax cuts for anyone but themselves right now (human nature being what it is).

In fact, I wasn't even all that happy to see the 300 billion or so tax cuts that were in this bill across the board. I know it was keeping with a campaign promise, but frankly that 300 billion could have been used to put unemployed people to work.

I know there are a lot of arm chair economists here on fark, but as a business owner I can tell you one thing for sure: If my sales are so soft that I'm down 50% on the year, but the government cuts my taxes by 10%, my loss for the year is: a farkload.

In my opinion this all boils down to jobs. Sales are slow because people either don't have one, or they're petrified of losing theirs so they are squirreling away all their income.

I busted my hump this year chasing after some big contracts (actually scored a nice 300k one this week) and I laid off about a quarter of my staff, but I'm still down massively this year. I don't need a farking tax cut because I barely have any income to tax anymore.

Oh well, rant off and back to trying to chase the last few drops of pre-quarter end customer budgets.

So, which is true? That you own a business in the US and have an issue with the current US economic situation, or that you are an ex-pat that lives in Australia? Or are you talking about how you don't want/need a tax cut in Australia? Or is "down under" like, Georgia or Texas or something? You have me confused.

TwistedFark: In my opinion this all boils down to jobs. Sales are slow because people either don't have one, or they're petrified of losing theirs so they are squirreling away all their income.

Or their job has been cut back so bad, they don't have much left over to do anything with.

Congrats on the contract. Hope things get better for ya down there.

Just put it in the bank and make interest.

worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

They are not likely to spend it quickly or on infrastructure

IlGreven: /Who's going to make more of a negative impact by saving their tax cut? A $30K a week "average citizen", or a fat cat who earns 10 times that in salary and 50 times that in bonuses?

Considering the $30K a week "average citizen" outnumbers the fat cat by over 30,000,000:1? ...

=Smidge=

Spade I'm buying a house and would love to make it more energy efficient. How do I get some of this?

Depending on where you live you can get subsidies for putting in nwq insulation and discounts on heating bills, I've also seen similar incentives to use tankless water heaters.

YixilTesiphon: IlGreven: nosferatublue: worlds tallest midget: How bout just giving it back to the taxpayers?

"If you put a tax cut into the hands of a business or family, there's no guarantee that they're going to invest that or invest it in America. They're free to go invest anywhere that they want if they choose to invest."

That's why we shouldn't give it back to the taxpayers, according to John Kerry.

Too much freedom in the hands of average citizens who are too stupid to do anything right, as evidenced by him being voted into office.

Of course, by "average citizen" you mean "CEO who actually has monetary power behind his tax cut", right?

/Who's going to make more of a negative impact by saving their tax cut? A $30K a week "average citizen", or a fat cat who earns 10 times that in salary and 50 times that in bonuses?

Uh, saving doesn't have a negative impact.

yes it does (new window)

Smidge204: IlGreven: /Who's going to make more of a negative impact by saving their tax cut? A $30K a week "average citizen", or a fat cat who earns 10 times that in salary and 50 times that in bonuses?

Considering the $30K a week "average citizen" outnumbers the fat cat by over 30,000,000:1? ...

=Smidge=

i think the point is that the "average citizen" here doesn't really have the leisure to not spend the tax cuts, but most of the tax cuts won't go to him.

but either way, it's actually a perfectly correct thing to say that spending is better stimulus.

burndtdan spending is better stimulus.

I think the idea is to both stimulate the economy with consumerism, while also creating new jobs. You can just not tax the current working population as much with tax cuts, which helps consumerism, but that doesn't immediately help those without jobs.

scseth: burndtdan spending is better stimulus.

I think the idea is to both stimulate the economy with consumerism, while also creating new jobs. You can just not tax the current working population as much with tax cuts, which helps consumerism, but that doesn't immediately help those without jobs.

No the idea is to invest, not to consume.

More blind rushing by an incompetent who doesn't know how to do anything but talk real well spokenly.

Butthurt.

(Just going ahead and getting it out of the way for ya).

Because we have been overconsuming so many years, we are over the barrel financially, and don't have much leeway to spend our way out of this crash -- which is the only way out.

The solution is threefold:
1. Massive investments that reduce consumption -- eg in energy savings where we spend a lot of money.
2. A squeeze on personal consumption.
3. Forfeiting our overseas assets like like the car factories the big three own around the world.

The first has to happan asap to get the financial system working again.

PERHAPS We shouldn't have rushed the legislation through

satanorsanta

You did not RTFA. In the FA their are refrences to reporting requirements but not defining how you count a "saved" job

among other things

the funny thing is, if he would have allowed earmarks in the stimulus, there would be rules aplenty!

/ducks

To solve this problem we need to create another stimulus bill larger than our debt to China but this time with rules.

i like that they don't bother bringing up that obama followed up by thanking himself when he took the podium (he read the wrong speech, too)

NYZooMan: More blind rushing by an incompetent who doesn't know how to do anything but talk real well spokenly.

Well, I think that's a tad harsh. But certainly, like all flesh-and-blood human beings (as opposed to Messiahs) Pres. Obama has weaknesses. We all do. And something I perceive to be a weakness of his is an excessive vulnerability to populist sentiment. The public is extremely whipped up right now, and I think that that hysteria is influencing public policy to some extent. My concern is no so much with the direction of Pres. Obama's reforms, but with the precipitous and breakneck pace with which we are approaching them. I think it's time to stop, take a deep breath, and slow down the pace a bit. We need to devote a lot more time to evaluating these putative reforms before they are enacted. After all, it took us 28 years to get into this mess - we aren't getting out of it overnight.
And I have another fear. I am in complete agreement that we are in a serious mess, and that remedial economic and political policy is appropriate. But the American people and their leaders have a nasty habit that I have seen manifest itself a couple of times before in my lifetime : When we are in a jam, and enact remedial policies, and those policies work to some degree, we conclude that it is "good policy" period, and adopt them on a permanent basis - and that way lies madness.
It makes about as much sense as a man who has broken his leg deciding to remain on morphine for the rest of his life because it did such a good job of relieving his pain while his leg was healing.
We need to be very clear on the concept that policy that is employed to deal with emergent situations is NOT necessarily good, permanent policy.

sabyJeBus: i like that they don't bother bringing up that obama followed up by thanking himself when he took the podium (he read the wrong speech, too)

Yea, they loaded the wrong speech into the Presi-prompter TWICE.

"I'd like to thank the President....Aww shiat".

Hey Barry, can I have my money back since you have no idea what you are doing?

xtragrind: Hey Barry, can I have my money back since you have no idea what you are doing?

Me too - honestly, this guy gets more incompentent every day. No wonder he can't take a shiat without a teleprompter.

absoluteparanoia: meh, non-story

^^meh - non-contributing member of fark^^

see how easy it is to discount something you don't like?

Obama: "Did you hear what Rush said? Pay attention to him. Not me!"

ghare: Crude: Hurry up and waste the taxpayers hard earned (and yet to be earned) money!



Dumbest. President. Ever.


Maybe political experience actually matters. Oh well, it's a lesson the American people have to learn the hard way.

Obama will never, ever, ever be the Dumbest President Ever. That will be he guy he just replaced, always.

You say this because you've seen the future? One of the best ways to show stupidity is to speak in absolutes...