| If You Really Want To Help, Extend The Tax | | | | party had its backside booted in the 1994 |
| Cuts | | | | midterm elections, Clinton famously "pivoted" back |
| | | | to the center; thereafter, working with the new |
| Yesterday's news included a sound byte from | | | | Republican Congress, Clinton managed to get |
| President Obama, urging Congress (and his | | | | some important things done, like reform of |
| opponents in the Republican Party) to stop | | | | welfare and other entitlement programs. The |
| blocking his next stimulus, this one ostensibly for | | | | economy grew, and Clinton claimed (and received |
| small businesses... right after all of them return | | | | from the mainstream media) a lot of the credit |
| from vacation. | | | | for the ideas that never would've seen the light |
| (This guy takes more vacation on your money | | | | of day if the GOP hadn't taken over control of |
| than a spoiled heir - but that's a subject for | | | | Congress in those elections. |
| another day.) | | | | That was OK with the Republicans, who'd been |
| Unless I'm missing something (and feel free to | | | | taught by Ronald Reagan that you can accomplish |
| comment if I am), this "aid" package is being paid | | | | amazing things if you don't care who gets the |
| for with borrowed money, and the general idea is | | | | credit. |
| to guarantee loans to small businesses (a la | | | | Obama could take a cue from Clinton, and in fact |
| Freddie and Fannie's "guarantees" of home | | | | might even be able to stave off a midterm |
| mortgages). And the biggest reasons the idea has | | | | drubbing if he were to pivot early, and announce |
| opposition in Congress (which the president's party | | | | right now a proposal to extend the 2001 and |
| can override at will) is because the government is | | | | 2003 tax cuts. If he did that, and the rest of his |
| out of money, and can't afford more bail-outs... | | | | party followed suit, the Democrats might avoid |
| especially when the net effect might well be that | | | | losing control of at least the House of |
| the government ends up taking over hundreds of | | | | Representatives in this fall's election. |
| (newly worthless) small businesses. | | | | More importantly, that move would be the |
| We also can't afford all those entrepreneurs to | | | | greatest help they could offer to struggling small |
| leave their wealth-generating, people-employing | | | | businesses and investors. It would be the first |
| businesses for the unemployment line. With what | | | | thing Obama would have done during his |
| would we then pay them? | | | | presidency that actually worked. |
| In short, this stimulus has righteous opposition, | | | | But don't hold your breath. Obama and the |
| because it's a bad idea. Like nearly every one of | | | | Democrats campaigned hard on ending the "tax |
| this administration's ideas, it will cause the greatest | | | | cuts for the wealthy," and playing the |
| harm to the very people (small business | | | | class-warfare card is always their favorite ploy. I |
| operators) it purports to help | | | | expect them to go down in November, sailing off |
| Bill Clinton traveled a similar path in 1993-4, having | | | | the cliff with their class-warfare banner flying high... |
| campaigned as a centrist-alternative to the senior | | | | even knowing a pivot might actually save their |
| President Bush but then using his election as a | | | | control of the government. Therefore, since I |
| chance to run the government as fast and hard | | | | think we desperately need balance in the federal |
| as he could toward the sort of big-spending, | | | | government (and pronto), that's exactly what I'm |
| high-entitlement policies favored by the Left. | | | | hoping they'll do. |
| Remember the debacle that was "Hillary Care?" | | | | If you're an entrepreneur, hold on, if you can. Help |
| (Frankly, Obamacare now makes Hillary Care | | | | is on the way. |
| seem reasonable, almost austere!) Then, after his | | | | |