Word: taxed
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...limits. Economists have neglected the subject for so long that their theories of how stimulus works are shockingly underdeveloped. Many of the arguments they make for one proposal or another are the product not so much of economics as of common sense, guesswork and ideology. The motley mix of tax cuts for families and business, aid to states, infrastructure spending, health-care spending and alternative-energy investment that constitutes Obama's stimulus plan is partly the product of campaign promises and political compromises. But it's also a good reflection of the current muddled state of economic thinking on stimulus...
...biggest split is over whether stimulus should take the form of tax cuts or government spending. The main argument for spending over taxes is that at a time when American consumers have turned suddenly frugal, they're more likely to save any extra cash they get than spend it. This may be the right thing for most people to do, but it won't stimulate the economy. Meanwhile, if consumers do spend the money on TVs and cars and such, much of the impact will leak out overseas to pay for imports...
...Tax cuts have the advantage, though, that they can be put in place quickly. There's also the more ideological, if still possibly valid, argument that they don't encourage the growth of bureaucracy. And recent empirical research - some of it by Christina Romer, the University of California, Berkeley, economist who will be chairwoman of Obama's Council of Economic Advisers - indicates that tax cuts have been quite effective as stimulus in the past. All of which helps explain why 40% of the Obama stimulus consists of tax reductions...
...Despite her extensive knowledge of the system, she ran afoul of the IRS in 2005 when it placed a $946 tax lien on her home, accusing her of failing to pay unemployment compensation tax for her household employees. Killefer was cleared shortly thereafter...
...concerned about wasteful spending," House minority leader John Boehner told reporters after meeting with Obama on Tuesday. "Simply put, we should not bury future generations under mountains of debt and create 600,000 new government jobs." In the face of a crumbling economy and a bill that includes massive tax cuts, voting against it - for any member, Republican or Democrat - will be a very difficult short-term proposition, regardless of the long-term costs...