The fallout from Pres. Obama's news conference continues. Primarily with the mounting feeling that the two parties can't agree on a deal to avoid default. Now what?
TODAY
- Pres. Obama speaks at DNC fundraiser in Philadelphia.
- The Senate votes on the confirmation of David Petraeus to head the CIA.
- Mitt Romney holds a news conference at a closed metal works.
- Stephen Colbert appears at the FEC today, in a campaign that has some worried about the consequences.
BUDGET / ECONOMY
- A primer on the debt-ceiling battle.
- Certainty was the GOP's economic mantra. Just last year.
- Was Obama's news conference a reassertion of leadership on the economy?
- Senate Democrats will introduce a budget; reportedly to the left of Obama's. This makes some Dems nervous.
- As we've cited here recently, more Republicans are open to defense cuts (rather than tax cuts). #CountryFirst.
- Ezra Klein: It's not just that no deal's in sight, both parties are moving away from a deal.
- DCCC hits Republicans with robocalls on entitlements.
- IMF warns that US default will be severe shock to world economy and markets.
- Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) again asks whether the GOP is tanking the economy to hurt Obama.
- Standard & Poors will downgrade defaulted Treasuries to a D-rating.
- Sen. GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) just said they need to impress Standard & Poors. Oops.
- Sen. Democrats take aim at tax breaks for the horseracing industry of McConnell's home state, Kentucky.
- White House adviser David Plouffe says we're in the "danger zone" for default.
- Medicaid cuts could be part of debt deal (if there is one).
- A handful of states see signs of recovery in the housing market.
- Chart: GOP recommended 85:15 mix on revenues, walked out over 83:17 proposal.
- Opinion: We need more stimulus.
- Poll: Most Americans think the country is worse off than ten years ago.
- Poll: Portion of Americans naming deficits top issue falls from 15% to 7%.
- Republicans continue to pooh-pooh default.
- Treasury Sec. Geithner knocks down GOP non-default schemes.
- VIDEO: Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) undercuts GOP pooh-poohing about default; says vital assistance to Americans will be cut off.
BROKEN GOVERNMENT
- How much legislation has Congress passed since the new GOP House majority? This much.
WALL ST. / BANKS
- The Fed gives banks a high maximum fee on credit-card charges for retailers.
- Wall Street lobbying brought the Fed in line.
- The rate of defaulted mortgages is much higher at private banks than at Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac.
- Reports of mortgage fraud soar.
CORPORATE AMERICA
- Amazon flees California to avoid state taxes.
- Investigators say Massey Energy misled the government about conditions at mine where 29 died.
- Boeing overcharged the US Army by millions.
JUSTICE
- The Supreme Court favors the Big Guy over the Little Guy.
HEALTH CARE
- Rulings against health-care reform get more coverage than those upholding it.
REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS
- Kansas doctors mount desperate effort against anti-choice regulations going into effect tomorrow.
TERRORISM
- The new US plan means targeting terrorism, rather than getting drawn into large-scale wars.
- The US envisions an end to al Qaeda.
IRAQ
- The US has its deadliest month there in three years.
LATINOPHOBIA
- Alabama's having trouble rebuilding from its tornadoes, because it's chasing Latino workers out of state.
WISCONSIN
- Milwaukee to lay off hundreds.
GOP 2012
- Republican presidential fundraising seems to be going at a slow pace.
MITT ROMNEY
- Romney signs pledge supporting default in the absence of a balanced-budget amendment.
- Analysis: Romney's pledge is a sign of weakness.
- Site of Romney's news conference closed because it didn't get stimulus money.
- VIDEO: Romney's new anti-Obama ad.
- DNC responds to new Romney ad.
MICHELE BACHMANN
- Bachmann says family business had to accept government payments she had criticized, or be guilty of discrimination.
- VIDEO: Her husband called gays "barbarians" who need to be "disciplined."
RICK PERRY
- His advisers try to walk back his secession remarks.
- Poll: Perry would lose Texas. To Obama.
SARAH PALIN
- Quits again; this time, a book-signing, and this time, an excuse: Not enough people showed up.
LEFT-WING MEDIA
(What I'm reading: Greg Sargent's Plum Line, Think Progress, Matt Yglesias, The Wonk Room, Talking Points Memo, TPMDC, Taegan Goddard's Political Wire, the Washington Monthly, the National Journal, Ezra Klein, Politico's Playbook and Huddle, Dave Weigel, Wonkette, Firedoglake, the NYT Caucus, Daily Kos, Crooks and Liars. What my iPod has me listening to: Roadrunner by Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers.)
Follow Senior Producer Jonathan Larsen (@jtlarsen) on Twitter
Leave a Comment:
MSNBC suspends Halperin.
good to see!!!!!
So are some people on this blog.
The rate of defaulted mortgages is much higher at private banks than at Fannie Mae / Freddie Mac.
smiling that`s going to hurt. the ones who defend the greedy rich bankers.
LOL
thanks again
and we have a winner winner chicken dinner for the greedy!!!!!
Hi Pilotshark ! Nice to see that STR gave you such a good belly laugh yesterday . . . looks like the truth got to Halprin hey ? The truth can really hurt sometimes I guess.
smiling,
yes i like the daily dose of laughter i get from the other point of view, which seems to be correlated as just one talking point.
The absolute insanity of some of the comments is the stuff that not-so-much-reality shows are made of !
Oh that person will be back sooner or later today to post like crazy under his copy and paste name then reply to his copy and paste posts using his other names showing support for C&P posts. One thing about the conservative, pretty much like their policies, they can't change tactics because change is not a conservative thing, they fear change.
It's nice to see some many people have such disrespect for our President. Where was all this disrespect when bush lied us into Iraq?
Mikey, was there ever a pic of bush with a bone through his nose dressed as a witchdoctor? Thats the difference, it's called 'racism'
Good god you DO have ADD! I said RACIST posters! How is it 'racist' if an african American holds up a sign hanging bush compared to a poster of a bone through Obama's nose and dressed like a witch doctor? Damn!!!
Mike,
On re-writing history; isn't there something in the bible about spreading oil on the waters? They will be sure to leave that in. I think it's in the 'Book of Ayn'.
From Palinists trying to edit the Wiki on Paul Revere to Michele Bachman's 9 yr. old founding father, they will throw this stuff out and it will stick where they want it; to be touted down the line by the ignorant faithful.
If they want to re-write history in their own biased way, first attack the opposition for just that, same as when they cry about 'activist' judges.. Then distort as much as you want, claiming any opposition supporting the facts has a liberal bias so should either be ignored or at least debated on a 'level basis'. It's like a child rapist claiming he should be let off because some liberal once looked at a racy magazine ad showing a 17 yr. old..
Can't have Universities teaching facts independently, can we?
Rick in Canada . . . here is how you figure out what the Radical Religious Right ( who use Jesus as a weapon against people they don't agree with and use Jesus as a mascot to show how holy they are ) are saying :
Whatever con games they are running with their conversation . . . just know they mean the opposite.
For instance . . .
When Paul Ryan is saying he wants to help protect medicare for older people . . .
What he means is he wants to shove grandma and grandma in a ditch so he doesn't have to look at them and be reminded of who he screwed with his quote " Budget Plan For America " . . .
Pretty simple.
Exactly what he's saying. If you care to actually read his "budget" it also has figured in and debt cieling increase to $16 billion. The right wing math is amazing. I need to learn it for my budget. Cut taxes=increase revenue. Amazing.
here is some voodoo majic. how can an entitlement baby like Paul Ryan live off of social security look at a grandma in the eye and say I'm on your side grandma. what was good for me is not good for your grand children?
was waiting. let's do some more voodoo. Bachmann appears to like entitlement programs also. problem is she likes them for her OWN family. not mine or MsTs' or anyone outside of the click. hows the click work because I could use some better health care services my self. maybe all the closet socialist calling themselves republicans can help me out?
Michele Bachmann the Welfare Queen
June 29, 2011
by michaelshatz
i
1 Vote
Michele Bachmann has often denounced social welfare programs like Medicaid and Medicare, citing fraud and abuse of the systems as the cause of rising costs across the nation. And, as it turns out, Bachmann does know what she is talking about, because her husband, Marcus Bachmann has been the beneficiary of just such funding since 2005.
Marcus Bachmann is the founder of Bachmann and Associates, a therapy clinic based in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. The clinic’s website claims that patients receive “quality Christian counseling” for issues such as anger management, addiction and eating disorders.
According to records obtained by NBC, Bachmann and Associates has received Medicaid funding totaling over $137,00 annually since 2005. So, as Michele Bachmann publicly denounces federal welfare programs, the truth is that these programs are her bread and butter.
Often times, these clinics cater to low-income juveniles sent to them by the local courts. The patient comes in for consultation, fills out a few psychological tests and then answers a short series of loaded questions. On the next visit, the patient is prescribed a mind-altering medication, or sent to a participating doctor who can write the prescription for them.
The patients are rarely prompted to deal with the root problems that cause their mental affliction, which is what therapy used to consist of. Now, doctors who take advantage of the Medicaid system and low-income families quickly diagnose and medicinally treat patients without ever digging deep enough to actually help the troubled youth.
Treating patients who are forced into therapy by criminal courts and who are covered by Medicaid is a highly lucrative business with a very low long-term success rate. Such doctors tend use drugs to treat the symptoms without ever seeking the root causes of disorder, if a disorder existed in the first place.
While Bachmann’s activities are ethically questionable, such practices are widespread and fall short of fraudulent behavior. However, Bachmann is providing a sub-standard service and the federal government is picking up the tab.
So just remember, when presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann speaks of the rising costs of Medicaid, she is personally benefiting from those rising costs. Any Medicaid reform proposed by Rep. Bachmann is highly unlikely to exclude her husband’s practice from receiving such funding…
POSTED June 3, 2011
Paul Ryan Vows to Continue Kevorkian’s Work
Medicare to be Replaced with ‘Kevouchers’
WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – In a somber Congressional ceremony, Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) eulogized the late Dr. Jack Kevorkian today, vowing to “honor his legacy by continuing his good work.”
“Dr. Kevorkian tried to ease the transition of seniors into the great beyond,” an emotional Rep. Ryan told his colleagues in the House of Representatives. “Here in Congress, we have the opportunity – one might even say the obligation – to continue Kevorkian’s work on a grander scale.”
As a first step to memorialize the work of Dr. Kevorkian, Rep. Ryan said that his new budget plan would replace Medicare with a system of so-called “Kevouchers” that could be redeemed for cyanide pills, nooses and bullets.
And Now The Best News Of The Day:
Good Riddance Glenn Beck: (excepts from article By Stephen D. Foster Jr.
　
– June 30, 2011
Posted in:Current Issues,
　
He is perhaps the most paranoid man in America and he makes anyone who has ever claimed to have been abducted by aliens seem sane by comparison. Hell, we should rename paranoid schizophrenia after him. And he has brought the Radical Right Wing closer to the mainstream than ever before. His name is Glenn Beck and for the last few years, he has made it his mission to create elaborate conspiracy theories to bring down Democrats, and more specifically, liberals..
Glenn Beck is by far the biggest hate and fear merchant in the media today. An alcoholic and drug addict for 15 years of his life, he now gets high on spreading lies, rewriting history, and spreading right wing propaganda. And in the spirit of this conspiracy spinner, let’s weave a conspiracy of our own, except this one has a basis in fact.
Beck has made several attempts to rewrite history, such as when he claimed that Civil Rights was ushered in by Republicans, which is a complete white washing of history. It was Democrats and moderate Republicans that passed Civil Rights. In reality, the radical right that Beck speaks for were totally against the Civil Rights Act and still are today. They just want to claim ownership of it so they can tear it down. Remember that racists are a large part of the Tea Party and extreme right wing movement that Beck is part of.
Beck has also claimed that racism had nothing to do with slavery which is also a lie.
Southern whites believed African- Americans to be inferior human beings and many still do. Beck seems to have a problem with black people as well. Much of his most controversial rhetoric came about after President Obama took office. Here are just a couple quotes that Beck has made about Obama and the African-American community.
“This president I think has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture….I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.” – on President Obama, sparking an advertiser exodus from his FOX News show, July 28, 2009
“The only Katrina victims we’re seeing on television are the scumbags.” – “The Glenn Beck Program,” Sept. 9, 2005
Glenn Beck has proven himself to be a racist and his followers love him for it. Beck has also proven his hatred for the families of the 9-11 victims even though he created the 9-12 Project to supposedly represent the unity between Americans the day after the tragedy. Beck claims this group isn’t political but it is. The group has been very active in conservative causes and is allied with the Tea Party wing of the Republican Party. Beck doesn’t really care about 9-11 at all. The only thing he cares about is exploiting the tragedy for personal and political gain.
Of the victim’s families, he once said,
“When I see a 9/11 victim family on television, or whatever, I’m just like, ‘Oh shut up’ I’m so sick of them because they’re always complaining.” – “The Glenn Beck Program,” Sept. 9, 2005
In addition to obvious hatred of these families, Beck has also demonstrated his hatred of liberals by cheering for disasters that occur in liberal leaning states. For example, when forest fires raged in California in 2007 and destroyed many homes, Beck had the heartless audacity to claim that the people there had it coming. On his program he stated, “I think there is a handful of people who hate America. Unfortunately for them, a lot of them are losing their homes in a forest fire today.”
Just last year Beck opposed the Muslim community center that will be built 2 blocks away from Ground Zero of the World Trade Center. Beck incited hatred and violence against American Muslims leading to the vandalism of mosques and attacks on Arab-Americans. But Beck has demonstrated his hatred of Muslims before. In 2006, Beck interviewed Rep. Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim U.S. congressman, and had this to say,
“I have been nervous about this interview with you because what I feel like saying is, ‘Sir, prove to me that you are not working with our enemies. … And I know you’re not. I’m not accusing you of being an enemy, but that’s the way I feel, and I think a lot of Americans will feel that way.”
And if you didn’t think it could get any darker than that, it does. Glenn Beck has called for outright violence against liberals telling his followers that they should “shoot them in the forehead”. At least three would be assassins have pointed to Glenn Becks show as the inspiration for their actions.
On July 18, 2010, Byron Williams was stopped by the California Highway Patrol and engaged in a shootout with law enforcement. He later said he was on his way to murder individuals at the Tides Foundation and ACLU and that Glenn Beck inspired him to do it.
In October 2010, Charles Wilson was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for threatening Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA) with “violence” in phone calls to her office. The hate filled threats were in part inspired by Glenn Beck, according to Wilson’s cousin.
And finally, in December 2010, Gregory Lee Giusti was sentenced to a year and nine months in federal prison for threatening to destroy former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home if she voted in support of the health care reform law. Giusti had watched Glenn Beck burn Pelosi in effigy and became inspired.
Beck has a history of inciting violence against Democrats. He has even fantasized about shooting Michael Moore, and be-heading President Obama. The message Beck is clearly sending to his followers is that he wants them to kill liberals, plain and simple.
The problem I have with Beck, is that sometimes I can’t tell whether he really believes what he says, or if he just does this stuff for ratings and money. He makes 32 million dollars a year. The idiots of the right wing have literally made him rich. When Beck talks about how much he loves America, he has to use Vicks under his eyes to make himself tear up. And as further evidence that his rhetoric is merely a gimmick, Beck, referring to fans, once said, “If you take what I say as the gospel, you’re an idiot.” And Beck is correct. His fans are idiots. Idiotic enough to believe any word that comes out of his mouth.
But, why? Beck tells his followers exactly what they want to hear and he gives these crack pots a voice that they never had before. Their ideas and beliefs can now be spread nationally. The intellectuals of the Republican Party have lost control of their party to the ignorant who have no sense of history beyond what Glenn Beck has told them and he’s not even a college graduate. If he had not dropped out of school, perhaps Beck would be very different. Beck wouldn’t attack education as much as he does if he actually had one.
Following in the footsteps of his mentor, Cleon Skousen, and picking up the causes of the John Birch Society, Glenn Beck has proclaimed himself the voice of the right wing movement that seeks to distort history and force their beliefs on the rest of us. To them, if you don’t agree with them, you’re an enemy of the state that must be discredited and destroyed.
Beck is losing his audience steadily, but it isn’t enough to stop the right wing. Even if Beck’s show is cancelled, the damage has been done,
Quote from save the republic regarding glenn beck's firing:
" Your critics will claim you were fired, which anyone with a brain knows is not the case as they are desperate for attention and can't help but lie in an effort to bring you down - but they FAIL time and time again"
I,m sure this had nothing to do with beck's firing:
To date (3/30/11), here is a list of statements from a fraction of the total number of advertisers that either pulled ads from or took proactive measures to ensure that their ads do not appear on the Glenn Beck Program in the United States, the U.K., or both. [Note: An advertiser's presence in this list does not suggest or imply endorsement of StopBeck effort. It merely states the simple truth that these companies do not advertise on Glenn Beck's program. For details about individual reasoning, please see the accompanying statement.]
Part 2 of sponsors that pulled their ads from glenn becks show"
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Notes:
Good Luck Glenn Beck, Finding Sponsors For You GBTV Thing:
I wouldn't contact any of the aboe names, they already know that you are bad news.
Good Riddance Loser!!!!!!!!!
Please join 3 Chics Politico in calling John Boehner’s office to ask where the jobs are: (513) 779-5400 (202) 225-6205 (937) 339-1524 (202) 225-4000
1. Ordered all federal agencies to undertake a study and make recommendations for ways to cut spending
2. Ordered a review of all federal operations to identify and cut wasteful spending and practices
3. Instituted enforcement for equal pay for women
4. Beginning the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq
5. Families of fallen soldiers have expenses covered to be on hand when the body arrives at Dover AFB
6 Ended media blackout on war casualties; reporting full information
7. Ended media blackout on covering the return of fallen soldiers to Dover AFB; the media is now permitted to do so pending adherence to respectful rules and approval of fallen soldier’s family
8. The White House and federal government are respecting the Freedom of Information Act
9. Instructed all federal agencies to promote openness and transparency as much as possible
10. Limits on lobbyist’s access to the White House
11. Limits on White House aides working for lobbyists after their tenure in the administration
12. Ended the previous stop-loss policy that kept soldiers in Iraq/Afghanistan longer than their enlistment date
13. Phasing out the expensive F-22 war plane and other outdated weapons systems, which weren’t even used or needed in Iraq/Afghanistan
14. Removed restrictions on embryonic stem-cell research
15. Federal support for stem-cell and new biomedical research
16. New federal funding for science and research labs
17. States are permitted to enact federal fuel efficiency standards above federal standards
18. Increased infrastructure spending (roads, bridges, power plants) after years of neglect
19. Funds for high-speed, broadband Internet access to K-12 schools
20. New funds for school construction
Contact Eric Cantor:
Tell him to Man Up and Do His Damn Job:
Richmond Office | 4201 Dominion Blvd. Suite 110 | Glen Allen, VA 23060
p: (804) 747-4073 | Toll Free: (800) 438-3793 | f: (804) 747-5308
Culpeper Office | 763 Madison Road #207 | Culpeper, VA 22701
p: (540) 825-8960 | f: (540) 825-8964
DC Office | 303 Cannon House Office Building | Washington, D.C. 20515
p: 202-225-2815 | f: 202-225-0011
21 The prison at Guantanamo Bay is being phased out
22. US Auto industry rescue plan
23. Housing rescue plan
24. $789 billion economic stimulus plan
25. The public can meet with federal housing insurers to refinance (the new plan can be completed in one day) a mortgage if they are having trouble paying
26. US financial and banking rescue plan
27. The secret detention facilities in Eastern Europe and elsewhere are being closed
28. Ended the previous policy; the US now has a no torture policy and is in compliance with theGeneva Convention standards
29. Better body armor is now being provided to our troops
30. The missile defense program is being cut by $1.4 billion in 2010
31. Restarted the nuclear nonproliferation talks and building back up the nuclear inspection infrastructure/protocols
32. Reengaged in the treaties/agreements to protect the Antarctic
33. Reengaged in the agreements/talks on global warming and greenhouse gas emissions
34. Visited more countries and met with more world leaders than any president in his first six months in office
35. Successful release of US captain held bySomali pirates; authorized the SEALS to do their job
36. US Navy increasing patrols off Somali coast
37. Attractive tax write-offs for those who buy hybrid automobiles
38. Cash for clunkers program offers vouchers to trade in fuel inefficient, polluting old cars for new cars; stimulated auto sales
39. Announced plans to purchase fuel efficient American-made fleet for the federal government
40. Expanded the SCHIP program to cover health care for 4 million more children
Thank You For Expressing Your Opinion
And Now On To Some Facts:
President Obama Accomplishments 41-60:
41. Signed national service legislation; expandednational youth service program
42. Instituted a new policy on Cuba, allowing Cuban families to return home to visit loved ones
43. Ended the previous policy of not regulating and labeling carbon dioxide emissions
44. Expanding vaccination programs
45. Immediate and efficient response to the floods in North Dakota and other natural disasters
46. Closed offshore tax safe havens
47. Negotiated deal with Swiss banks to permit US government to gain access to records of tax evaders and criminals
48. Ended the previous policy of offering tax benefits to corporations who outsource American jobs; the new policy is to promote in-sourcing to bring jobs back
49.. Ended the previous practice of protecting credit card companies; in place of it are new consumer protections from credit card industry’s predatory practices
50. Energy producing plants must begin preparing to produce 15% of their energy from renewable sources
51. Lower drug costs for seniors
52. Ended the previous practice of forbidding Medicare from negotiating with drug manufacturers for cheaper drugs; the federal government is now realizing hundreds of millions in savings
53. Increasing pay and benefits for military personnel
54. Improved housing for military personnel
55. Initiating a new policy to promote federal hiring of military spouses
56. Improved conditions at Walter Reed Military Hospital and other military hospitals
57 Increasing student loans
58. Increasing opportunities in AmeriCorps program
59. Sent envoys to Middle East and other parts of the world that had been neglected for years; reengaging in multilateral and bilateral talks and diplomacy
60. Established a new cyber security office
If+probablyx maybe = a bunch of right wing spin.
Cash for clunkers: The final results
Aug 26, 2009 1:37 PM
Final numbers are in for the so-called “cash for clunkers” program, and by most measures, the program looks like a roaring success:
The program closed to new transactions Monday night, and dealers had until last night to enter all their paperwork for reimbursement. For more the effects of the cash for clunkers program, check out our earlier blog.
Have you traded in a clunker? Share your experience in our cash for clunkers forum.
Also see "Cash for clunkers: Top 10 most popular new cars and trade ins."
—Eric Evarts
Why so bitter ilp?
Don't worry, I am confident that public pressure will cause Cantor and Boehner to pull their heads out and avoid a government default, and i am confident that you will get your welfare check next month.
While I have enjoyed crapping in your oatmeal, it is time to retire for the day. Good bye for now my right wing friend.
Cash For Clunkers' Lasting Impact
It was great for car dealers. But was it good for the economy?
(Page 1 of 2)
The Cash for Clunkers program, in which the government is offering Americans up to $4,500 if they trade in gas guzzlers and purchase more-efficient new cars, wound down, with an 8 p.m. Monday deadline for filing applications.
Has it been a success? For America's struggling car dealers, it has been a runaway success. The $1 billion in government grants promised initially was committed in a week, so Congress responded by adding another $2 billion of funding. As of Monday afternoon, the Department of Transportation said 625,000 applications have been filed, for $2.58 billion in rebates. According to J.D. Power, August U.S. car sales are likely to top 1 million, up 2 percent from August 2008 in a year when year-over-year sales figures have fallen sharply. As environmental policy, Cash for Clunkers has perhaps been less successful. My colleague Nina Shen Rastogi has argued that it's an expensive way to get gas guzzlers off the road.
And, the most important question of all: How effective has it been as economic stimulus? Since the onset of the crisis, top White House economics adviser Larry Summers has argued that stimulus efforts should be "timely, targeted and temporary." As the crisis deepened, Summers went one letter earlier in the alphabet to alliterate that stimulus should be "speedy, substantial and sustained." Judging by the results so far, Cash for Clunkers meets five of Summers' six criteria--all but "sustained."
Through stimulus--tax cuts, government spending, gimmicks, rebates, etc.--the government attempts to purchase economic activity with borrowed money. But not every stimulus works quickly or spurs the same amount of private-sector activity. Many of the transportation-related projects in the stimulus package passed earlier this year, for example, are designed to be funded over a two-year period. They're neither timely nor speedy. Tax cuts and rebates can be implemented more quickly, but they're not always targeted. Scholars who have studied consumers' use of rebate checks in 2001 concluded that "households spent 20-40 percent of their rebates on non-durable goods during the three-month period in which their rebates were received and roughly another third of their rebates during the subsequent three-month period." If a similar formula were to hold in this environment, distributing $3 billion in tax rebates would lead to $1.9 billion in retail spending over a six-month period, or about $300 million per month.
Cash for Clunkers, by contrast, has had a much bigger impact. According to Paul Taylor, chief economist at the National Automobile Dealers Association, the average new car sold in the United States so far this year has cost $29,106. Those 625,000 cars sold through Cash for Clunkers, then, probably account for about $18.2 billion of retail sales. They've also spurred a lot of secondary economic activity--taxes paid, dealership advertising, overtime wages for dealership employees.
Of course, many of those auto purchasers were already in the market for a car. And it's possible that the incentives have just lured people who would have bought cars later this year into the showrooms earlier--thus stealing sales from future months. The real measure of the effectiveness of the program would be the degree to which it caused people who weren't even thinking about buying a car to take the plunge. Based on the types of cars being purchased and his assessment of purchasers, NADA economist Taylor believes that as many as 40 percent of the cars purchased under Cash for Clunkers were bought by people who would not have bought a new car in this calendar year. For a significant number of buyers, he argues, the rebates of $3,500 or $4,500--depending on the car purchased after the trade-in--changed the calculation of whether it made sense to purchase a new car.
If we use Taylor's estimate, about 250,000 extra cars were purchased (40 percent of 625,000). And if each cost $29,000, those sales generated about $7.3 billion in revenue in the space of a few weeks. That's a pretty good return on $2.6 billion in government spending. Let's be more conservative. Say only 20 percent of the clunker traders were extra demand, and the cars they bought cost $25,000 each. That's still an extra $3.125 billion in sales for dealers. What's more, the sales represent only a portion of the economic impact. Ford, for example, announced that it is increasing production of some models.
Of course, it's possible that car sales will simply revert to their pre-Cash for Clunkers numbers in September. But that won't mean the program was a failure. Fiscal stimulus is supposed to be a bridge between a period when people aren't spending to a more prosperous future, when, with a growing economy and (presumably) an improving job market, people will start spending more on their own, without special inducements.
Car purchasers are different from purchases of other types of goods. The timing of a purchase is almost entirely discretionary. People can keep a junker on the road for an extra year or two by repairing it, driving less, or simply putting up with a poor driving experience for the sake of saving money. It's very expensive to replace a car. Doing so requires the sort of big financial commitment--the assumption of a multiyear lease or car loan--that is not taken lightly in times of economic stress. In a climate where people are buying school supplies on layaway many consumers need some extra prodding to make large purchases. In August, the Cash for Clunkers program clearly provided the necessary encouragement for a large number of consumers.
Study says 'Cash for clunkers' impact was underestimated
Never miss a McClatchy story
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Log in logout By Randolph Heaster | Kansas City Star
Search online for "Cash for Clunkers," and here's one thing you'll find: stories about its negligible overall impact on the economy.
Wrong, says Maritz Automotive Research Group. The Toledo, Ohio, independent automotive research company recently surveyed participants in last summer’s federal program designed to stimulate new-car sales and get gas-guzzlers off the road. On Tuesday, the company shared its results.
One key finding: 90 percent of those participating in Cash for Clunkers said they would not otherwise have bought a new car.
According to federal government data, 677,000 purchases were made through Cash for Clunkers from late July through August. Maritz’s research showed that 542,000 were incremental new car or truck sales, meaning those purchases would not have occurred without the incentives. Previous estimates by industry analysts put the incremental sales figure between 125,000 and 346,000.
The government’s Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, offered vouchers of $3,500 or $4,500 to owners of older, gas-guzzling vehicles who traded them in for new, fuel-efficient models. The program, which was expected to last several months, was so popular that it ran out of its $3 billion in funding in two months.
“Our findings not only provide strong evidence that many more vehicles were sold as a direct result of the incentive program than were previously estimated, but they also debunk the myth that Cash for Clunkers mortgaged future car and truck sales,” said Dave Fish, a Maritz vice president. “In fact, the program resulted in sales of vehicles to people who don’t normally buy them.”
While auto sales dipped in September after Cash for Clunkers ended, Maritz noted that the most likely reason was a shortage of vehicles on dealer lots. After seasonal adjustments, monthly auto sales from October to December showed higher rates than before Cash for Clunkers started.
Cash for Clunkers brought additional people into the new-car market — those who normally buy used cars, Fish said.
Maritz’s study did not change minds at Edmunds.com, the popular car buying Web site that analyzed Cash for Clunkers sales last year. Edmunds.com estimated only 125,000 incremental sales from the program.
Edmunds.com chief executive Jeremy Anwyl said his firm examined auto sales data and patterns from last year, while Maritz surveyed consumers.
“I think what’s missing from their study is what would have happened without Cash for Clunkers,” he said.
Automakers often try to generate summer sales with big discounts and zero-percent financing.
“Last year, the government did that for them,” Anwyl said.
While crapping in your oatmeal has been fun, it is time to retire for the day.
Good bye for now, my right wing friend.
We are all on a ship together, the Republicans goes around and ask the poor and middle class for their life jackets, but they don't ask the rich folks for theirs. Meaning, let the poor and middle class sink and swim on their own, but we the Republicans will do all we can to help the rich. It is not fair, it is not right to ask the poor and middle class to sacrifice, but not the rich. Because they want to protect the rich they are willing to cause the US to default on paying it's bills, to cause the economy to go into depression. The Republicans are sabotaging this country, this economy in hopes of 2012. It won't work this time. You can not ask people who are already suffering to suffer more, but the people who are doing just great, well we will leave them alone. You will protect those who are doing just great. While some have no home, the Republicans want to protect those with five or six homes, mansions, jet planes. No where in the Bible does it say take from the poor and give to the rich.