Stimulus Rorschach Test

Remember Hillary Clinton's recently announced plan to "stimulate" an American economy that is in no need of "stimulating," thank you very much - and not by embarking upon a second career as a lounge singer, either - via pork barrel deficit spending and economically meaningless tax rebates?  Yes, that's a rhetorical question; this is an election year, the country is drifting haplessly to the left, so what else is everybody else going to do but latch on to the same harebrained idea?

Congressional Democrats are all behind Mrs. Clinton's budget-busting scheme, of course, because they love deficit spending and they think (correctly, I'm afraid) it will aid in their re-election races.  Federal Reserve Chairman Bennie Bernanke, evidently determined to prove he's a different breed from his inflation-phobic predecessor Alan Greenspan, recommends further debasement of the dollar - oh, I'm sorry, "putting money into the hands of households and firms quickly and on a short term basis."  If you've ever read about the various and sundry economic "panics" of the nineteeth century and wondered where they came from, now you have a better idea.

Inevitably, the "DON'T JUST STAND THERE, DO SOMETHING!!!!!" urge is stampeding Pachyderms as well.  Mitt Romney, fresh from his triumphant mission to convince Michiganders that he'll make their state a ward of the federal government, has called for "immediate congressional action" (oh, joy) without specifying just exactly to what action he refers.  Ron Paul said that a recession is possible because the word isn't found in the Constitution.  And Mike Huckabee prayed for American CEOs to die en masse and bequeath their fortunes to the middle class.

It's not a total washout.  Congressman Eric Cantor (R-VA) seeks to take advantage of the stimulus stampede to rectify a long-overdue revenue-related injustice:

The centerpiece of Cantor’s plan is a permanent, across-the-board cut in the corporate tax rate, from 35 to 25 percent. The United States has one of the highest corporate tax rates in the developed world. The best way to keep companies from “shipping jobs overseas” is to remove incentives for them to do so, and cutting the corporate tax rate is an important first step down that road.

Cantor’s plan includes commendable tax breaks on new business equipment and other capital costs. The idea here is to keep businesses growing and expanding through any downturn, so that it is as short-lived as possible. Cantor’s plan would also expand tax credits and tax-deductible losses, reducing the burden on businesses that might otherwise resort to downsizing.

NRO suggests throwing in an expansion of the child tax credit as a "middle class tax relief" fig leaf, the better to rebut the usual classist garbage of Republicans being the "friends of Wall Street" and Donks the "friends of Main Street".  Like that's going to blunt that wheezy old canard in an election cycle that appears to be thriving on them.  But what the heck, my family and I can always use a few extra bucks in April, even if we're not "struggling," along with the vast bulk of the rest of the middle class.

The lone 'Pubbie who isn't fleeing to the "stimulating" tall grass is the one you might expect, which is another reason why I like him so much:

Republican White House hopeful Fred Thompson made light of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's call for a quick economic stimulus Thursday and said it might be best to leave the economy alone for now....

"We're all concerned about the direction of the economy," said the former Tennessee senator. "We've had a good run, but we can't take growth for granted." He said "we've got to have a potential stimulus package on the table to be discussed if it would make sense to be used in short order, but we're not quite there yet."

And doing nothing might leave the economy stronger, he said.

"There's a case to be made for that," he said. "And it just requires strong heads at the table and not snap judgments, you know, by politicians on the road trying to think of something smart to say in 30 seconds."

Worlds without end, halleluliah, amen.  This "stimulus" fiddle-faddle is simply the latest "flavor of the month" PR fad, the result, ultimately, of the Democrats' seven-year effort to talk the economy into a Second Great Depression.  Now that an indicator here and there has actually started going in the direction after which they've lusted for all this time, and with the prevailing political winds blowing in their direction since the 2006 election cycle, it's becoming the "perfect storm" of self-fulfilling prophecies.

Ready Freddie doesn't subscribe to fads.  He's a serious leader.  He's a grown-up in a field of children.  As such, he is far more qualified to be George W. Bush's successor than the rest of the field in both parties put together.

But, to modify yet another old saying, "There isn't much call for serious leaders" these days.  Peole don't want to be told what they need to hear, but what they want to hear.  It's what fueled Mitt Romney's comeback win in Michigan this week, and it makes FDT the right man at the wrong time.

So what kind of "stimulus" will we ultimately get?  Well, since Representative Cantor's plan has about as much chance as building a snowman in a furnace, and the President will (I'm assuming) veto whatever statist snake oil the Democrats enact, I'm assuming, ironically, none at all.  This would explain the White House announcing its own $145 billion proposal, which appears to focus primarily on tax rebates more than twice the size of the ones enacted in the depths of the Clinton recession of 2000-2002.  Any proposal including the words "tax cut" will be DOA in the Pelosi-Reid Congress, but one that omits any rate reduction in the outrageously exorbitant corporate income tax (i.e. "targeted" at the "middle class") will provide cover for his likely veto of the Dem alternative.

Ironic that gridlock will produce the result Ready Freddie has already suggested.  It hearkens back to one of the bedrock tenets of conservatism: "If it is not necessary to act, it is necessary not to act."  Particularly when almost all the proposed actions are doomed to failure.

And besides, Hillary doesn't need to run against a booming economy she can't credibly take credit for.  With the "stimulus" proposals now on the table, including hers, she needn't worry.

UPDATE: Sho 'nuff, Bush didn't insist on linking the one-time tax rebates to making his tax cuts permanent.  Irritating that is, since the President, with no more election campaigns to wage, is the one player in this equation best positioned to fight for precisely that linkage, and provide the party leadership necessary to hold congressional 'Pubbies in line

Maybe the imminent sunsetting of those tax cuts - i.e. a locked-in massive tax increase - is contributing to the slowing of the economy.  Anticipation, and all that.  All I can say is, if people think the economy is tanking now, just wait until that automatic tax hike hits.  For those who don't remember the last REAL recession (1981-83), it's going to come as a rude awakening and - hopefully - a hard lesson.

Will any Republican under the Hillaryian stiletto have the courage to connect these dots?  Well, she's not even to the Donk nomination yet (officially), only Fred Thompson is willing to offer such straight talk now, and he's in fourth place.

That doesn't inspire much in the way of confidence - consumer or otherwise.