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Originally Posted by faceking  Clinton Only reaped the revenue windfall from the internet boom, plain and simple... he couldn't of run up a surplus with the economics that Jimmy Carter dealt with. Bush Two, war spending aside, got handed the internet bust, 9/11, and a recesssion that started circa his inauguration.
A president can have some impact on the economy, but there are larger forces and ppl (see Fed Chair) that can have a much greater long-term impact. |
And Bush will hand off an economy that's crashing harder than the dot com bust with his $ 4+/gallon gasoline, a war machine that's behind by $ 1/2 trillion and growing, then there's the property flipping/real estate bust.
I'm all for tax cuts/rebates when inflation is in check. All this rebate serves is to do exactly what the 2001 rebates did. A wealth transfer fueling inflation as an economic stimulus package. Funny, Bush sold his first tax rebate as something Americans could pocket and save towards retirement and so on. The market reacted and inflation stripped every penny and then some from those receiving rebate checks. As for the rebate I've yet to receive, gasoline is up 80 cents/gallon from the day Bush announced this one in mid January 2008. That's $ 16 a week on fuel alone. Granted it wasn't a lump increase, but it's been a nickle and dimeing process. By mid-summer, that rebate will become a deficit just like it was in 2001.
Wyld's opening commentary on tax cuts and rebates creating opportunities, I disagree with that statement too. There are far too many wolves/entrepreneurs raising the prices on us for these cuts/rebates to create opportunities for anyone other than the wealthier and already established. Right now, we're in the midst of a tax rebate and employment is going south and the similarity, the same thing happened throughout 2001.
Guess we'll ride this out and weather the bad times once again ? I pity the next person in office, there won't be any wars to start to distract this time, just pure domestic economic misery. The war may be a drain, but it does employ 150+K soldiers and others. When the plug is pulled on that, it'll be Gulf War I all over again. The military will downsize to save money, those people/soldiers will have whatever bonus money they received to re-enlist during the Iraq war to blow or live off of, because the economy will head deeper into recession. Who knows, maybe we go after Iran this time ?
Sorry for the pessimism everyone, but 8 years ago we couldn't afford a 2nd Bush as President. I certainly hope there aren't any more with White House aspirations after this one ?