Psst…another quickie?

 

After the language blog and the letters to my Congressman, I’m tapped out, only got quickies for you.

 

On human rights:  Pot and Kettle calling each other “black” again

 

Pot: (answering phone, checks caller ID) Hello, Kettle?  That you, man?

Kettle: S’up, dude, why you chairing the Human Rights commission? That’s my gig!

 

Sacre Bleu!  Not le Sacre Coeur!

 

It’s wrong, just plain wrong, to threaten things of beauty like the Sacre Coeur.  If you’ve been there, you know what I mean.  It’s the heart of Paris, not just a church.

 

Déjà vu all over again…

 

This approach with North Korea seems awfully familiar.  Didn’t we do something like this back in, hmmm, 1994?

 

Lousy example…

 

Note the use of the change in leadership at Dow Chemical in the Economist.  There’s more to this change – there’s a bunch of cost cutting about to happen and a less-kind-less-gentle-axeman who’ll leave promptly afterwards is needed at Dow.  But the Economist points to it as backsliding on separation of the Chairman and CEO roles.  Not backsliding at all, except on journalistic practices.  Try looking more closely at the company’s history and you’ll see what I mean.  (Full disclosure notice:  Yes, I own stock in Dow.  That’s why I know this level of detail.)

  7:37:37 PM    comment []

RantsCounterRants: A letter to Senators and Representatives...

In the mail yesterday.  They can't say they weren't told.

- - -

RE: PRESIDENT BUSH’S PROPOSED ECONOMIC STIMULUS PLAN

 

I am writing this letter to convey my concerns and disappointment with the Economic Stimulus Plan which President Bush proposed this last week.

 

§         The plan does not and cannot assure immediate, constructive response by the tax base to the suggested tax cuts.

 

As an example, the elimination of dividend taxes may not turn into increased consumption or increased employment; there is no direct correlation between less taxes and either a consumer’s spending habits or a company’s capital spending habits.  Past efforts to enact supply-side tax incentives have simply not worked.

 

§         Given the current economic situation, both consumers and companies may be inclined to save any further cash savings against further increases in costs or downturn in the market.

 

A Fortune 100 company employing approximately 50,000 people issued an enterprise-wide directive today that all hiring was to be frozen, travel to be by 35%, projects to be suspended, all internal expenses were to be examined and frozen if possible.  The rationale for this was the continuing increase in costs due to the Venezuelan crisis, other market uncertainties and the higher than expected expenses last year.  In addition, the company will work to increase prices across the board to recoup additional costs.  The company is under pressure to return to profitability and spending money will not yield this goal.  Any improvement in tax status will most likely not result in additional consumption or more jobs over the next four quarters.

 

I suggest that government leaders look more carefully at:

 

§         The degree of responsiveness that any stimulus will have; will it help in 3 months or 3 years?

§         Are any other challenges in the global marketplace working to undermine or negate the effects of any stimulus?

 

In particular, I would more fully support a stimulus plan that will yield more direct results more quickly.

 

A tax cut or rebate for expenditures on new capital equipment bought in the US, from US companies, or a tax incentive for the hiring of unemployed workers would be more effective.  Capital equipment purchases would yield additional jobs, in turn creating more consumption.  Incentives for technology improvements would also stimulate the tech sector while encouraging a broader number of companies and citizens to attain higher levels of technical proficiency.

 

Employed people spend money – it’s that simple.  Dividend cuts do not assure increased employment.  And dividend cuts will not help the company cited in the example above reach profitability if its margins are being slashed much faster by other economic conditions, including a lack of demand by consumers.

 

I’d also like to point out that an increasing number of Americans are now “working poor”.  Note that the state of Ohio has 4.5 MILLION people receiving emergency food aid, as documented last week on CBS news programming.  Some of these aid recipients may be unemployed, but many are working people who cannot make ends meet.   These are NOT dividends recipients; they are people who are likely to spend any additional money they receive in tax cuts on food, shelter and healthcare.  Many of these recipients are voters; it’s not clear how many may be children who need help NOW.  The stimulus package suggested does not equate to immediate assistance for these people.

 

For your benefit I am providing links to articles which helped formulate my opinion:

 

Commentary from Paul Krugman, Professor of Economics-Princeton, for NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/07/opinion/07KRUG.html

 

Comments from former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill to the Associated Press, as published at Salon:

http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2003/01/13/oneill/index.html

 

Comments from William Raspberry, Washington Post:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47821-2003Jan12.html

 

Observations from multiple national papers at UPI:

http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20030108-113708-3969r

 

Article from New York Times (NYT) documenting four families and their current financial conditions:

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/01/13/national/13FAMI.html

 

I cannot endorse or support the Bush Economic Stimulus Plan in any way.  The U.S. economy needs action now and cannot hope for the tax cuts proposed to yield results.  People need jobs now -- hope does not pay the bills.

 

Thank you very much for your time.  Please feel free to contact me regarding this message.

 

Respectfully yours.

  11:12:24 AM    comment []