The Marsha Chronicles
On the matter of U.S. House Republicans turning on the Wall Street bailout bill Monday, we get our daily dose of analytical sophistry from Tennessee’s own economic scholar-in-residence Marsha Blackburn, who buys into the dubious notion that we can solve the credit crisis by suspending part of the tax code. In a radio interview on WTN this morning, Blackburn pointed to taxpayer alarm over the prospect of a bailout that raises the federal debt limit to $11.3 trillion. I’m as alarmed as the next person, but Blackburn is delusional if she thinks we can solve a liquidity problem in credit markets in the short run by cutting taxes, spending and debt. But that’s her plan:
“Why don’t you reduce that debt limit and require every department to go in and make a 5-percent across-the-board cut. That’s 100 billion dollars…just by cutting out the waste. And then you come in and you say all right, cap gains suspension. We’ve got a liquidity issue. Suspending cap gains for a two-year period of time. Every economist that we have talked to, every small business owner that we have talked to, thinks that that deserves attention.”
Shock of shocks—business owners think eliminating the capital gains tax would be swell! Economist Michael Ettlinger offers up several reasons why this is a loopy idea. It’s also a silly one politically: With quick action needed to restore market confidence, it makes minimal sense to suggest measures that have zero chance of passage during a campaign season. The plucky Blackburn sums it up: “We just gotta buckle down and get this taken care of.” (How hard is it to conjure up Tina Fey saying that?)
Comments
This is an outrageously sexist post.
Posted 09/30/2008 at 12:07:15 PMI just spent ten minutes analyzing this post because of Woods' charges of sexism. I found none. Actually, that's not true. Mr. Barry did use gender-specific words like "she" and "her" and fore that I admonish him. How dare you, sir! Even "plucky", which in this context seems a little derisive, appears pretty gender neutral. Myt question is how did someone find this post even a little sexist, to say nothing of "outrageously sexist". I guess when you have no legitimate defense to the topic being discussed, you have no other recourse but throw out vague, unsubstantiated charges. If he had surmised that she didn't know what was going on due to her ovaries or because she is inherently dumb due to said ovaries, that would be sexist. I guess I should cut Woods some slack because she's probably a woman and we all know how little they know about politics. (See, that's sexist.)
Posted 09/30/2008 at 12:26:18 PMThis is one of the most bogus, or asinine, ideas in the history of primate thought.
The issue is that the value of these troubled "assets" is worth, at the very least, less than what is owed on them.
You can't cut the capital gains tax for an asset sold for a loss, because you pay taxes on the GAIN.
Unless Marsha is calling for a capital gains tax credit, in which case my mind is blown.
Of course, she may be claiming that any tax cutting is good for the economy, but this thing about tax cuts paying for themselves that some of these Republicans believe is one of the greatest lies of our era. It's TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE, and the Republicans are destroying the country with it.
Posted 09/30/2008 at 04:03:45 PMHon. Nashvillean writing from London.
Marsha Blackburn appeared last night on our premier news and comment programme, Newsnight. She had a pretty defined slot and trumpeted these thoughts in it. Our Rottwieler (or news anchor Jeremy Paxman) was pretty subdued.
Whatever happened to TN as a Democratic heartland??
Posted 10/01/2008 at 03:12:09 AMCongressman Marsha represents the Tennessee 7th, a district cherry-picked to include the most ossified conservatism in the state: the eastern suburbs of Memphis to Williamson County to the area around Fort Campbell. And she made her bones by being an informant for the Tn Tax Revolt crowd during the income tax fight in the state legislature, so she's the queen of politically expedient short-sightedness.
When she ran in the old sixth district, Bart Gordon mopped the floor with her.
Of the 9th CDs, seven are represented by fairly mainstream policians. (Steve Cohen is a genuine lefty.) And while I didn't vote for him, Senator Corker has been a voice of reason this last week.
But yeah, Marsha's bonkers.
Posted 10/01/2008 at 09:30:09 AM