Couldn’t Help But Notice (120307)
Way back in May, I pointed out my belief that another income-tax cut will be needed to keep the economy chugging, and asked:
Who will be the first GOP candidate to recognize the opportunity to build on Bush’s economic success, instead of merely basking in its glow, by making further cuts a part of his platform?
We have an answer.
Rudy Giuliani, in an excellent Wall Street Journal subscription-only column (NO! This is not an endorsement), has officially moved to the fiscal-policy front of the GOP presidential candidate pack by saying:
Amid fears of an economic slowdown, now is the time to cut taxes, not raise them.
I think the fears of an “economic slowdown” are way overblown. But a slowdown in the growth of federal revenues to 4%-5% or so a year predicted here (near end of post) instead of the 44% achieved in the past four fiscal years is, I believe, already occurring. The Bush tax cuts, especially those in 2003, fired up the economy and led to the revenue gusher. Another significant cut would do the same, as multiple cuts have done in Hong Kong, Iceland, Ireland, Australia, the US in the 1980s, and elsewhere.
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Ministers in Dayton, Ohio, are all upset because grocery giant Kroger is closing a store:
A coalition of ministers and civil rights leaders are calling for a city-wide boycott of Kroger beginning on Sunday, with a nationwide effort to follow.
Kroger announced last month plans to close its store at 900 Gettysburg Avenue in January, claiming it was not profitable.
hey are calling on pastors to spread the boycott message from pulpits across the city on Sunday. Local representatives of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the NAACP say they have contacted their national offices asking for participation in the boycott.
Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin, whose best idea for dealing with Dayton’s ongoing decay appears to be unlawfully firing city workers who live outside of the city, has a Rhine whine:
“Big companies have no sensitivity to the city. (Kroger) told me, the mayor of Dayton, we just built you a store in Englewood,” McLin said. “They’re just looking at dollars and cents.”
Her Honor the Mayor, and the outraged ministers, are apparently uninterested in addressing the city’s horrid business climate, including a ridiculous earnings tax of 2.25% (FYI for non-Ohioans — the tax is imposed on non-resident workers as well as residents; the city, in this 2001 document, brags about how “75 percent of the earnings tax revenues are paid by non-city of Dayton residents who work here”). They clearly think that Kroger is some kind of public utility, not a business.
Here’s an idea the everyone should consider — How about a shuttle to the nearest Wal-Mart, which is less than 4 miles away from the closing Kroger store? They can “get back” at Kroger, and shoppers will probably save money too.
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Terry Easton believes that the Fed may have quietly defused the mortgage “crisis”:
The most important tweak was barely covered by the financial press and not at all by the major national newspapers.
….. On August 17, the Fed published a change to its regulations “clarifying” the overnight borrowing of funds from the Fed by the nation’s major banks, the so-called “repo” or repurchase agreements. The Fed now allows for “a broad range of collateral”.
The Fed specifically said: “The Reserve Banks accept performing mortgages. This could include sub-prime mortgages.”
I think Easton misreads the change by contending that “doggy” loans can be included. “Performing” above means, in essence, loans on which borrowers are current with their payments.
Nevertheless, this appears to be a clever way for the Fed to put more liquidity in the system, and Easton raises a valid point.









On the complaining Ministers in Dayton. They choose to ignore the reason a business can stay in business… the flow of cash to sustain it. They also choose to ignore the reasons for the climate that caused Kroger to close the store.
Frankly, I’d like to see them open a store and see how long they change their minds because it can’t stay open. I’d suppose then they would blame Wal-mart.
However, I really like your idea Tom. Just shuttle them to Wal-mart. Will they charge for the ride?
Comment by Conservative Culture — December 3, 2007 @ 12:52 pm