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Monday, January 12, 2009
Neal Boortz :: Townhall.com Columnist
There is a better stimulus plan out there
by Neal Boortz
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We now have the benefit of PEBO’s* general position on a plan to stimulate our economy. Government shall be our savior. We shall not want. More specifically, government spending. About $800 billion (probably more) will be created out of thin air and then spent by politicians and their cronies in an effort to get our economy moving. Some of PEBO’s spending ideas included “investing” in government schools and modernizing various federal government buildings in Washington and elsewhere.

The “investing in education” bit gives you your first real clue of just what Obama is proposing here. He is proposing to use the occasion of an economic crisis to provide cover for increased government spending that he’s been promising since the day he announced his candidacy. I doubt that someone can explain clearly just how investing in education is going to quickly stimulate our economy, but that spending will be there because it was promised – promised long before our crisis became apparent.

Obama’s stimulus plan is very little more than a plan to enhance and solidify the power of the Imperial Federal Government over our economy at the expense of the private sector and free markets.

Is there a better idea out there? You bet there is, and it came from the 1st Congressional District of Texas. Congressmen Louie Gohmert notes that the federal government collects about $100 billion in income taxes every month, plus another $60 billion in Social Security and Medicare taxes. If those of you who are government educated have a calculator handy, you’ll see that this adds up to about $160 billion a month. Now if you divide Obama’s proposed $800 billion stimulus plan by $160 billion, you’ll come up with five. This means that our government will collect $800 billion in income and payroll taxes from February through June.

So, Gohmert asks, instead of bureaucrats and politicians deciding how all of this money is going to be spent, why not let the people who actually worked for this cash make their own independent spending decisions for this money. How would you do that? Simple: declare a five-month tax holiday. From February through June everybody keeps their paycheck. No income tax withholding … no payroll taxes. What will the people do with this money? What, are you crazy? They’ll spend it, that’s what. Talk about stimulating the economy!

Let’s just wrap this up with a handy little chart. Politicians just love charts.

Stimulus plans' affect on national debt

Obama's Stimulus - The government prints $800 billion for government to spend, thus insuring that the money will be spent as politicians and government bureaucrats want it to be spent. Plan adds $800 billion in additional debt.

Six Month Tax Holiday - The government prints $800 billion to replace the lost tax revenue needed for ordinary government expenses while people are spending the money they earned to stimulate our economy. Plan adds $800 billion in additional debt.

Either way we add $800 billion to our deficit.

Who gets the power to chose economic winners and losers?

Obama's Stimulus - Government makes the choices of who wins and loses. Winners include teacher’s unions, government contractors, politicians and businesses favored by government and political operatives. This plan grows government.

Six Month Tax Holiday - The people who actually earned the money get to choose the economic winners and losers through their spending decisions. Winners include private sector businesses that provide quality products and services. This plan grows the private-sector economy.

Either way $800 billion gets poured into our economy!!! Continued...

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About The Author

Neal Boortz is a talk show host and columnist for Townhall.com as well as co-author of The FairTax Book .

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Lobbing the stink bomb
Boortz's idea sounds good at first, but that one commenter was right when he said that spending itself must be targeted, and that tax holidays aren't really attacking the root. Leaving borrowing aside for now, there appears to be a misconception that, because the lost revenue would be spent better than government would spend it, and would generate more growth, total tax revenues will not only rise, but they will immediately rise so much that they will exceed the revenue that was foregone.

This notion does not follow from the Laffer Curve. Increasing tax revenues while lowering rates is usually something that happens when people become more productive because they get to keep more of what they produce. This change in behavior is not something that is undertaken lightly and quickly, only to be undone after 5 months. There are times when the Laffer curve theory will operate, but 5-month tax holidays that then expire are not among them. There is no guaranteed quantifiable effect on tax revenues. In other words, the tax holiday isn’t going to immediately “pay for itself.”

Absent spending cuts, all such an ad hoc tax holiday would do is make it tougher for the government to run its day-to-day business. Government is running deficits as it is, and has no cushion, and we also don't want Treasury auction sizes jumping up suddenly to account for this one-off event. Just remember, they already have to borrow is it is, with the tax revenue coming in. Without that tax revenue, things might become unbearably tight, and they might literally be unable to function.

What about Ron Paul? He knew about all the problems and how to fix them. He advocated sound money (encourages saving), small government, no undeclared preemptive foreign wars, and obedience to the Constitution. This program would have, and still can, usher in a new era of freedom and prosperity. But the GOP blew it. They had a chance to be real conservatives and they blew it. They blew it.

Who's had enough?
For those who are pi**ed and don't want to take it anymore, I strongly urge you to check out:

www(dot)wethepeoplefoundation(dot)org

In particular, note the Continental Congress 2009. Additionally, please read the long list of grievances brought against the federal government (it's called Petition for Redress) that have been outright denied, in US courts, and in violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution.
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