Candidates Sense Recession, Offer Money

As the presidential campaign moves toward the stupidly named “Super Duper Tuesday” voting, candidates in both parties are touting their plans for keeping America from falling into a recession. Government can do things to prevent recessions from turning into depressions, and things in the US in 2008 won’t be quite as bad as some think. Still, it seems Richard Nixon was right; everyone is a Keynesian after all.

Senator Barack Obama just came out with a $70 billion plan. Adam Tanner of Reuters wrote that the Obama plan “includes worker tax credits, a one-time pension supplement and help to homeowners facing foreclosure. The plan would include an immediate $250 tax credit for workers, which could double if the economy worsens, a one-time $250 supplement to Social Security payments, a $10 billion fund to help homeowners facing foreclosure and a $10 billion fund to assist states facing budget shortfalls amid lower tax revenues.”

Senator Hillary Clinton earlier had offered $70 billion on Friday. Jeff Mason at Reuters reported, “Clinton's plan would provide $30 billion for an emergency housing crisis fund for states to help low-income families unable to make mortgage payments; $25 billion to help low-income families pay their heating bills; $10 billion to extend unemployment insurance for people unable to find jobs; and $5 billion for alternative energy programs.”

On the GOP side, Mitt Romney said, “We need tax stimulus of the nature that will propel growth and at the same time provide capital for our markets given the credit crunch,” then suggesting that savings for families earning less than $250,000 a year go untaxed. He also wants to support American car makers (well, his dad did run American Motors back in the 1960s). “We need to honestly and directly address and rectify the enormous product cost and capital cost disadvantage that currently burden the domestic automakers," Romney said in the speech excerpts provided to Reuters. “From legacy costs, to health-care costs, to (fuel efficiency) costs, to embedded taxes, Detroit can only thrive if Washington is an engaged partner, not a disinterested observer."

All of which is great, but the problem is that by the time the next president takes the oath of office, the slow growth may well be over. The only man who can get a stimulus package in place in time to do any good is George W. Bush. He is said to be thinking about it. One can only hope.

© Copyright 2008 by The Kensington Review, Jeff Myhre, PhD, Editor. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written consent. Produced using Fedora Linux.

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