My real issue with stimulus checks, however, is that they are a one-time shot to the system. Indeed, if you didn't have excess inventories, they could do little more than cause a bump in consumer prices. The worse thing about them, however, is that they produce no long run change in consumer spending. A permanent tax cut would do that. Permanent cuts allow you to adjust your consumption pattern to buy large ticket items, and that's what we need now. We need people to buy homes and cars, not a crock pot or a Wii.
RE “Trickle down economics has a better chance of success than welfare economics.”
Trickle down is a term that democrats use to ridicule tax cuts , republicans never use the term ,except those that are against tax cuts. I believe the term we use is ‘supply side’. I have discussed this with democrats before and here is the problem.
The problem we have is when republicans promote massive government military spending and tax cuts along with other unconstrained spending. It looks to the ordinary citizen like ‘trickle down’, Joe gets a few dollar tax cuts, but huge companies get to hire more high paid managers, stocks go up and the so called rich get a ‘capital gains tax cut’, then have the government refund their losses in endless bailouts (that Maxine Waters supports, guess why!). It’s a PR nightmare and led to Obama-Pelosi Empire. Everybody wants their handout now and a smart guy like BoB to fix it.
We can argue about what is good for economy. But add republican majority for at least 5 years, tax cuts to millionaires(with us), massive military spending, a crapout economy, voters who dont know who Speaker of house Pelosi is, a President who is hated (up there with Carter 1978) by the majority, a republican Pres candidate McCain who stands for nothing (except the surge), and you got the perfect socialism storm.
GWB used to brag he doesnt care what the public thinks. Well maybe we should care .....