Polling from NBC/WSJ shows that the American public prefers spending to tax cuts by a 30% margin. It's a reminder that despite all the effort the GOP has put into promoting tax cuts as the solution to everything, people actually have a reasonable attitude towards fiscal priorities. As a matter of fact, they're right -- as the CBO and independent forecasters agree, increasing food stamps and unemployment insurance are the quickest and most cost-effective ways to do economic stimulus. Refundable tax credits and a payroll tax holiday are okay, but other than that tax cuts are a cost-ineffective way to stimulate the economy.
This might be a good moment to note how weird the Blue Dogs are. As Kagro X points out, they're making all this noise about fiscal responsibility when their re-election prospects depend on the stimulus package being maximally effective. Is this just some way to look like moderates? Or the old Southern racial politics thing where 'spending' has been so deeply coded as 'giving your money to black people' that nobody can see their way out of it?
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If you believe that the earth is flat and it becomes obvious that it's round, some people will deny its so, some will take pride in their ignorance, some will pander to ignoramuses. They will all be wrong. The best you can hope for is that they'll stay home out of fear of falling off the edge.
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