It’s downright jarring for a die hard liberal such as myself to hear one’s views on the economy echoed by a republican candidate for president. But that was exactly what happened last night during the republican debate. When asked for his view of Bush’s “economic stimulus package,” Mike Huckabee pointed out that the money for the “rebate” checks would have to be borrowed from China and that the money would most likely be spent on good manufactured in China. Huckabee asked the perfectly rational question – whose economy is going to be stimulated?
I couldn’t agree more, but I wouldn’t have been nearly as polite as Huckabee. The whole thing is insane. Yes, it’s true that consumer spending is a huge component of our economy, but I don’t see what sending 120 million people a check for a few hundred dollars is going to do. People spend money when they feel confident about the future. Is getting a one time check from the government for a few hundred bucks going to make the future look rosy? I don’t think so….
I would put this program under the category of pandering when what we need is some thoughtful planning. We need to take a look at the fundamental problems with the structure of our economy, and figure out what to do to fix them. What are those problems? Hmmm, let’s start with the mass exodus of manufacturing jobs, the war in Iraq (wars are economic issues too), the ridiculous tax structure, the widening chasm between the super duper rich and everybody else, our disastrous trade policies, and the absence of any coherent energy and medical care policies. Those are just for starters, and of course, the 120 million checks of Chinese money are not going to address a single one of those problems.
But those are big problems and they take time to solve, you might say. Well, you have to start somewhere, and one place to start would be for the so called leaders in our government to start talking about these problems and show some signs that they are actually working on solutions. That might generate a spark of confidence, which in itself would be a stimulus. Instead, we keep hearing that we have to lower taxes on corporations and the rich even more, that we need to enter into more trade agreements with low wage countries, that we need to drill for more oil and that the government does not belong in health care. And of course, “the surge in Iraq is working.” In other words, more of the same irresponsible and lunatic policies that put our economy in the dumpster in the first place. Is it any wonder that people are sour on the economy?
In the meantime, our embarrassment of a president shows his deep understanding of economic issues. After reaching a plan with democrats that would send $28 billion in cash payments to 35 million working families that earn too little to pay income tax, Bush expressed his “satisfaction that it was built entirely on tax breaks.”