You need to fix your title Steve.

What is the danger of overshoot? A little wage inflation for the lowest paid would be a good thing.

Overshoot could easily be fixed by increasing revenues or cutting back on some of the projects.

I want to hear what that moron Boehner will have to say if GM and Chrysler (and maybe Ford too) go belly up BEFORE the inauguration.
"Golly, a timely tax cut would've saved them. President Bush should stop acting like a Democrat."
What a creep. Ohio went for Obama, so I don't think he should consider his seat too safe, especially if he leads filibusters against job-creating stimulus packages. Did I mention he was a creep?

The belief that capital gains tax cuts are the best way to boost the economy rests on the simplistic assumption that the money saved by individuals will be reinvested. There is absolutely no guarantee that the money won't instead be spent on things like trips abroad rather than plowed back into our own economy.
Given the instability in our markets today it is a better bet that any money saved would NOT be invested.

In contrast, if the government puts more money into the pockets of lower income people or the unemployed through things like increases in food stamps and unemployment insurance, almost all of this money will be spent, stimulating our economy. Giving money to the states so that they do not cut back will also help. Infrastructure projects will take a little longer, but there are a lot of projects underway that can be sped up very quickly giving a boost soon as well as in months to come. Not to mention it would take care of needed repairs and development which will be good for our economy in the long term.

"I realize that Boehner and congressional Republicans don't want to deliberately hurt the country,"

That's way too generous. If they could press a big red button and win back Congress, at the cost of causing a depression and putting millions out of work, they'd do it in a heartbeat. That's the lesson of 1993-2008, and we'd better remember it.

"I realize that Boehner and congressional Republicans don't want to deliberately hurt the country,"

you haven't been paying attention..

"I realize that Boehner and congressional Republicans don't want to deliberately hurt the country,"

Of what use is the State, if it does not promote the interests of the Party? It is, after all, the Party that is the vanguard of the Glorious Revolution, and not the State. Better that the Party create a new State than have a State that fails the Party.

If the senate Republicans do filibuster such a plan I think the Democrats ought to make them go through with it completely - really filibuster. The Democrats need to not cave-in to filibuster threats and confront the problem right away. I suppose there are good reasons not to do that but I don't know what they are and I can't stand the idea of a minority of Republicans dictating every move just because they threaten to filibuster. I'll concede that I'm probably too emotional and probably not rational enough about it, though.

Oh, please, Lord, let them filibuster an Inaugural Day stimulus package. Is there any better way to highlight how dysfunctional and indeed inimical the Republican Party has become? But Harry Reid has to make them actually filibuster -- no whiffing on the mere threat. Let's have the news networks running round the clock footage of Republicans in the well of the Senate arguing against helping people keep their jobs, heat their homes, pay their mortgages ... that'd be classic.

i agree with tk. let's get off on the right foot this session and the first time they threaten a filibuster, make them go through with it. that ought to stop that nonsense cold.

May be this calls for the grassroots to contact their Senators, especially Susan Collins, Olympia Snowe.

Prudence is folly.

We need a new acronym CFMA Country First MY ASS.
What short sighted narrow minded ideologes. I got a war I can sell you cheap.

The belief that capital gains tax cuts are the best way to boost the economy rests on the simplistic assumption that the money saved by individuals will be reinvested.

In this investment climate, I think it is safe to guarantee that this money will not be reinvested.

Besides, who the hell is worried about capital gains right now? Anyone who has held on long enough that they are not at a loss is probably not selling anytime soon. Or if they are, it is because they are so financially strapped that they have to -- in which case other stimuli would be preferable anyway.

Let your leaders do what they want, just let your money follow financial integrity and the rule of law - offshore.

Is this serious, or some sort of gag? I'm no fan of Boehner, and, in fact, voted for Obama, but so-called fiscal stimulus is absolutely worthless for the long-term health of the economy. Why is it so important to spend like drunken sailors to try and exit a downturn a quarter or two early when such fiscal manipulation does nothing for the long-term structural health of the economy?

Is this what passes for serious commentary on high-profile political blogs? Damn, we're screwed.

At least part of the stimulus is to repair current infrastructure and start in on new infrastructure that will help spur economic growth. That won't just end the recession/depression a quarter earlier, it will help provide the long term growth you're looking for.

Asher your a flaming idiot. Haven't you been paying any attention at all? "A downturn"? Does the term worst economic catastrophe in 75 years have any meaning for you? If all three American car companies fail it could be a calamity for 2 million employees immediately and certainly many more right after that. Do you seriously think sticking your head in the ground is going to make it all go away?

Asher is right, sad to say, the stimulus will prove to be worth shit. Public liabilities make the US a banana republic and that won't change, wherever you funnel the money to. If you really value realism you need to understand that no one cares what you think. The only way to express your opinions is capital flight - or else trusting your country and leaving your money here to decay.

hmmm. . . should I believe this anonymous blog poster named Asher, whose credentials aren't much in evidence, or should I believe a bunch of economists with advanced degrees, access to gigs of data, and in some cases Nobel prizes? Whatever shall I do?

bakho is pretty close to right. The dangers of overdoing the stimulus are inflation (beyond just wages) and the ballooning of an already massive federal debt (and the accompanying interest payments eating up the budget, and the fact that much of the debt is held by not-entirely-friendly countries).

Note that the latter of those concerns is also a huge hazard of the Boehner "if only taxes were zero!" theory.

The downsides of too little stimulus, on the other hand, is massive and far-reaching. The real key is to structure it correctly to minimize moral hazard, maximize accountability while maintaining speed and flexibility, balancing the needs of those high on the ladder and those at the bottom, and balancing the needs of short, medium, and long term. (Obama's emphasis on an infrastructure jobs program is a critical part of maintaining this balance by adding long term help and help at the bottom of the ladder).

If you are a member of the universal world policy elite, then you get paid to optimize world GDP. Most people have not been so annointed, however, so they can't afford to ignore the consequences for their individual net worth when ill-conceived policies interact with the institutionalized corruption from eight years of 3rd world rule.

There's pretty much no way to win Republicans like Boehner over. The notion that government spending is always bad is an article of faith at this point, and trying to convince him otherwise would be like trying to convince a committed Christian that Jesus never existed. He must continue to believe that government is bad and tax cuts are good, or his entire worldview will crumble around him.

Look at people like Asher -- no matter how many experts and Nobel Prize-winners say that what we need is Keynesian stimulation of the economy, he still thinks that we need cutbacks, because that's what Republicans have been saying works for 30 years, even though there's not one shred of evidence that it works for anyone but the top 1%. But, hey, if it hasn't worked for 30 years, we just haven't tried hard enough and had enough faith in the magical power of tax cuts.

Let's say you just flew into a bankrupt equatorial country with a comprador economy that has just deposed a neocolonial strongman. What do you do for it? Relief for the poorest, institutional anticorruption reform, macro structural adjustment. No stimulus until you're sure it won't be pissed away.

Relief for the poorest, institutional anticorruption reform, macro structural adjustment. No stimulus until you're sure it won't be pissed away.

If there's no stimulus allowed, how do you propose relief for the poorest? Food relief only? Any other kind of relief -- unemployment or jobs programs -- count as stimulus.

As it happens, an expansion of WIC, food-stamps etc. has very high bang for the buck. But more consumption won't help the broader economy until imbalances adjust and transparency's restored. The perspicuous analogy here is not America after Hoover, it's Congo after Mobutu. Slave state cultures such as Texas' are more African that not, so first you have to stop the Weberian patrimonial/patriarchal rot.

Heehee.

Capital gains tax cuts.........

....after eight years of Republicanism anyone GOT ANY CAPITAL GAINS????

Heehee.

The question to ask is: Which taxes? Does Boehner and the GOP want to cut payroll taxes --including FICA and Medicare--and marginal rates? Let me answer my own question. No. Those morons want to cut capital gains --which are no benefit to the average person, because average people invest for retirement, not as a source of current income--and corporate taxes. Same old story. I don't know why middle class families vote of those royalists.

"I realize that Boehner and congressional Republicans don't want to deliberately hurt the country,"

This statement may be true, but the corollary, that they DO care about the country, has absolutely no evidence to support it. The evidence shows that they are completely self-centered and work on the what's-in-it-for-me principle. If there isn't anything in it for them, forget it.

Also, their statements show that they haven't realized that the reason they lost so badly in the last election is that their ideology is not based on reality, but rather on some semireligious fantasy. Someone once pointed out that their economic philosophy is just a way to justify their greed, not a valid theory that reflects the real worldy

Assumes spending is the answer to debt induced problems.

The question is, if Ford, GM and Chrysler go belly up, will the Boner attend NASCAR races to cheer on an all Toyota field?

"Democrats can't seem to stop trying to outbid each other -- with the taxpayers' money," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio) said in a statement.

For eight years, Boehner's Republicans couldn't stop trying to outbid each other on tax cuts -- with the taxpayers' money.

Shorter John Boehner: "Tax cuts are the answer. What was the question?"

I recall reading here (or was it at Mother Jones?) that, after the Big Bailout Bill was passed, you (or Kevin) didn't want to hear ever again that this country can't afford to spend $XX on healthcare or infrastructure or education or any other thing that will be good for the people of this sorry nation. I mean, why shouldn't there be some parity? In fact, I'd say that the best thing to do would be to let the sinking financial institutions and brain-dead auto industry die a natural (free-market) death, and use a trillion or so dollars to hire a big heap of people to rebuild roads, make solar and wind power, write poetry, sing songs, clear brush (that's for the ex-prez), pick through landfills to extract recyclables, build mass transit, drive trains and buses, etc. Pay them all something reasonable, and I can about guarantee that almost every penny of that money will be spent on such reasonable things as rent, food, clothing and extra training or education. If this country really needs a personal vehicle transportation manufacturing industry, give some new, creative and modern team a chance to change the world without the dinosaurs in the way. If the financial sector needs companies to move virtual money around a barrel, these companies will probably grow into this need pretty quickly.

I am so tired of handouts to tired, old corporate giants that shoot themselves in the foot.

John Boehner is an ass.

What on earth were the people of OH thinking when they elected this pompous windbag?

Perhaps Space Lab, or some other man made junk in space will fall to earth and land on this bozo. Kind of like Dorthy's house landed on that witch!