The blogs covered a wide spectrum of substance this week – and it’s only Wednesday. From coverage of the candidates and their fiscal policies to speculation about a potential depression, discussion about America’s fiscal policies is robust to say the least.
On the Economist’s View blog, Mark Thoma targets McCain. In a piece entitled, “The Confused Talk Express,” Thoma highlights alleged “flip-flopping” on issues pertaining to taxation and Social Security [1]. Aside from highlighting some instances in which he believes McCain has changed his position on the aforementioned issues, he had the following to say:
“But, McCain says his most potent weapon is to make sure we know taxes won't go up (I'm sure lots of people will be expecting that response to a recession), and to promise to lower taxes on the wealthy and/or raise taxes on the poor (making taxes flatter, and fairer by his definition, but how does that stimulate the economy out of a recession given the difference in propensities to consume?).”
While some are criticizing McCain, others see his fiscal policies in a much different light. On the Government Bytes blog, Dominic Rupprecht provides an overview of McCain’s fiscal promises [2]. While Rupprecht does mention some blunders he sees from the onset, he ends he pens the following: “But if nothing else, these positions do give fiscal conservatives reason to get themselves out of the fetal position.”
Eyebrows have also been raising over promises the candidates have made on the campaign trail [3]. With the national budget positioning itself as one of the most important issues of the 2008 campaign, the NTU Foundation conducted an overview of costs associated with proposed federal programs. In the most recent analysis, the Democratic candidates made some pretty hefty promises:
“Since we released our first report on January 29, candidates Obama and Clinton have upped the ante on their campaign proposals by $20.3 billion and $7.9 billion, respectively. That's the equivalent of nearly $1 billion of political promises for every day they've been on the campaign trail between then and now.”
Over on Robert Reich’s blog, he ponders the potential of another American Great Depression [4]. All-in-all, he claims that there is a 20% chance (no higher, no lower) of a Depression occurring in the United States. Perhaps his explanation about why he believes that there is only a two in ten chance of such an occurrence is the most intriguing:
“Because, unlike then [first Great Depression], our monetary authorities know how and when to pump more money into the economy; our Congress and White House know how and when to stimulate with fiscal policy; and the US economy is more integrated with the rest of the world (which is riding out the storm better than we are) than then.”
On the Free NY Blog, the authors take on government spending. The authors stand against “…Big Government, Political Machines and Special Interests.” This post sheds light on their opinion regarding government spending [5]:
“So, roughly 60% of government spending consists of taking money from some people by force of arms, keeping a large portion and then distributing the rest to other citizens.”