Quote of the Day
A person is only as big as the dream they dare to live.
Unknown
"Not Going to Do It, Wouldn't Be Prudent":
(Dana Carvey's GHW Bush)
Payroll Tax Holiday Christmas Sausage: Thumbs DOWN!
I don't like the smell or taste of rancid fatty government pork...Speaker Boehner is putting together a package with some goodies Obama wants in his Christmas stocking: a payroll tax holiday extension, a 2-year "doc fix", and unemployment tax payments--and other things he doesn't: Keystone pipeline authorization, mandatory spending cuts (NOT a class warfare tax hike), and tightened benefit qualifications (to filter out unauthorized aliens). I already make my position clear in yesterday's post that I oppose another ineffectual payroll tax holiday. On unemployment insurance, I want to wring some of the moral hazard out of the system by reducing the number of and capping unemployment payments and improving incentives for relocation and/or retraining. Mandatory cuts sound like playing games with automated budget increases; I prefer the GOP senators' approach of cutting the federal workforce and freezing federal pay.
The Senate Dems once again found themselves unable to reach cloture 50-48 on their formula of paying for a reduced (from Obama's 3.1 point drop) tax holiday through a class warfare hike. The GOP alternative focusing on payroll savings lost 22-76.
Silver Spring, MD: A Case Study in Government Stimulus "Job Creation"
When my musical interlude feature a few weeks ago featured Fleetwood Mac, I pointed out that the Stevie Nicks' hit "Silver Springs" was actually inspired by Nicks' on the Capitol Beltway one day seeing signs for Silver Spring, MD. The libertarian-leaning reason.com does a good job showing how the 2009 stimulus was implemented. The video is well-done and I have little to add other than point out a few points I've raised in past commentaries. First, notice that the piece of work Governor O'Malley (D) was playing bureaucratic shell games to capture federal funding available for infrastructure, i.e., Maryland had a budget in place for infraastructure, but cut it when it was clear that funding would be replenished by Washington money. Second, notice that money was also being used on things like minor street repairs, which are ordinary infrastructure maintenance expenses. This funding was essentially pushing on a string: it was going to be spent anyway. I have repeatedly noted that money is fungible, and federal bailouts of ordinary state and local spending constitute moral hazard. Third, note how the union-friendly rules and regulations governing the funding for weatherizing homes were a critical path item that delayed relevant projects for several weeks or months.
Poliitcal Humor
"There are 17 more shopping days until Christmas. So, guys, that means 16 more days till we start shopping, right?" - Conan O'Brien
[President Obama is down to his last 17 vacation days this year through New Year's...]
"Former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich sentenced to 14 years in prison. This is the most disgraceful thing to happen to an Illinois governor since their last governor." - Jay Leno
[The sentence would have happened earlier, but the judge found his own courtroom chair on eBay with the seller saying that "I've got this thing and it's [expletive deleted] golden" and "I'm just not giving it up for nothing".]
Musical Interlude: Nostalgic/Instrumental Christmas
Jim Brickman (with guest vocalists Collin Raye and Susan Ashton), "The Gift". Faithful readers may know my favorite more recent Christmas singles include: Faith Hill's "Where Are You, Christmas?", Dolly Parton & Kenny Rogers, "Once Upon a Christmas", the Christ Church Choir, "Mary, Did You Know?", Newsong's "Christmas Shoes", Trans Siberian Orchestra's "Christmas Canon"--and this song. One of these songs has already been reprised, and others might be during the coming weeks.
