On Oct 2, 2008, at 12:07 PM, Jed Rothwell wrote: Edmund Storms wrote: 6. As a result, stagflation will come again. The Obama administration
will look a lot like the Carter administration.
It might resemble the New Deal, if things get worse and Obama is decisive. Or the Hoover administration if he is not. The crisis has begun before Obama takes office (or is even elected), so people will not blame him, at least in the initial stages. Of course it is still far from certain that he will be elected. The polls remain very close. An administration is shaped partly by the personality of the president. Obama is not a bit like Carter. The only president Obama resembles is Woodrow Wilson, it seems to me. Once a professor, always a professor. There are some big differences. Obama has low blood pressure, he is less starchy, and he is not bigoted against black people. (On that score, Wilson is probably spinning in his grave.) By the way, the world's richest man, Warren Buffett, again came out strongly in favor of the bailout. He is a liberal and no friend of Wall Street, and he saw the crisis coming long ago, so I trust his judgment in this matter. I still do not know what to make of the bailout, but I trust people like Buffett more than I trust U.S. senators or Pres. Bush, or Obama and McCain for that matter. See: http://money.cnn.com/2008/10/02/news/newsmakers/buffett.fortune/- Jed
Agora 5 Min Financial's Forecast provided this bit of information. Perhaps there is actually something for almost everyone, but not the actual people who need the help. Once again, money is being given away as if it has no long term consequences. People with power get the money and the rest of us pay the bill in higher cost of goods. This process has nothing to do with liberal or conservative philosophy. It is pure theft.
The process goes like this:
I want to save the system so please vote for my bill. Sorry, I want something for the people who voted for me and pay my expenses. OK, what will you take to save the system. Here is my list. Thanks
Ed
 What started as a three-page “blank check” request for $700 billion to buy “toxic” assets on Wall Street, has now passed the Senate as a 451-page pork-laden piece of detritus. Ian sifted through the table of contents for tax exemptions and picked out a few of his favorites:
Sec. 101: Extension of alternative minimum tax relief for nonrefundable personal credits.
Sec. 102: Extension of increased alternative minimum tax exemption amount.
Sec. 201: Deduction for state and local sales taxes.
Sec. 202: Deduction of qualified tuition and related expenses.
Sec. 203: Deduction for certain expenses of elementary and secondary school teachers.
Sec. 204: Additional standard deduction for real property taxes for nonitemizers.
Sec. 205: Tax-free distributions from individual retirement plans for charitable purposes.
Sec. 304: Extension of look-thru rule for related controlled foreign corporations.
Sec. 305: Extension of 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements and qualified restaurant improvements; 15-year straight-line cost recovery for certain improvements to retail space.
Sec. 307: Basis adjustment to stock of S corporations making charitable contributions of property.
Sec. 308: Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Sec. 309: Extension of economic development credit for American Samoa.
Sec. 310: Extension of mine rescue team training credit.
Sec. 311: Extension of election to expense advanced mine safety equipment.
Sec. 312: Deduction allowable with respect to income attributable to domestic production activities in Puerto Rico.
Sec. 314: Indian employment credit.
Sec. 315: Accelerated depreciation for business property on Indian reservations.
Sec. 316: Railroad track maintenance.
Sec. 317: Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility.
Sec. 318: Expensing of environmental remediation costs.
Sec. 319: Extension of work opportunity tax credit for Hurricane Katrina employees.
Sec. 320: Extension of increased rehabilitation credit for structures in the Gulf Opportunity Zone.
Sec. 321: Enhanced deduction for qualified computer contributions.
Sec. 322: Tax incentives for investment in the District of Columbia.
Sec. 323: Enhanced charitable deductions for contributions of food inventory.
Sec. 324: Extension of enhanced charitable deduction for contributions of book inventory.
Sec. 325: Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds.
Sec. 401: Permanent authority for undercover operations [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 402: Permanent authority for disclosure of information relating to terrorist activities [as related to tax provisions].
Sec. 501: $8,500 income threshold used to calculate refundable portion of child tax credit.
Sec. 502: Provisions related to film and television productions.
Sec. 503: Exemption from excise tax for certain wooden arrows designed for use by children.
Sec. 504: Income averaging for amounts received in connection with the Exxon Valdez litigation.
Sec. 505: Certain farming business machinery and equipment treated as five-year property.
Sec. 506: Modification of penalty on understatement of taxpayer’s liability by tax return preparer.
Sec. 601: Secure rural schools and community self-determination program.
Sec. 602: Transfer to abandoned mine reclamation fund.
Sec. 702: Temporary tax relief for areas damaged by 2008 Midwestern severe storms, tornados and flooding.
Sec. 704: Temporary tax-exempt bond financing and low-income housing tax relief for areas.
Sec. 709: Waiver of certain mortgage revenue bond requirements following federally declared disasters.
Sec. 710: Special depreciation allowance for qualified disaster property.
Sec. 711: Increased expensing for qualified disaster assistance property. Seriously, did they think no one was going to read this thing? “Increase in limit on cover over of rum excise tax to Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands”? “Seven-year cost recovery period for motorsports racing track facility”? “Extension and modification of duty suspension on wool products; wool research fund; wool duty refunds”? It’s one thing to drown a piece of legislation with pork. But the urgency laid on thick by the administration and Sen. Gregg over the last two days all but guaranteed even armchair economists like yours truly would be reading this thing line by line. C’mon, fellas. Couldn’t you be a little more discreet? Guess you just couldn’t help yourselves. |
