Clipmarks | Stimulus package Clips

US economy sees surprise 3.3% spurt

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 21:23:05 GMT

clipped by: jatfla
clipper's remarks: It's not really a "surprise". I believe that the MSM and certain politicians promoted their suppositions hoping for a Democratic win.

Clip Source: www.breitbart.com

US economy sees surprise 3.3 percent spurt

The US economy outpaced expectations as surging exports fueled a second-quarter growth spurt at a 3.3 percent pace, according to data Thursday that analysts say makes recession less likely.

The Commerce Department revised upward last month's estimate of a 1.9 percent annualized pace of growth in gross domestic product

The figure was much better than the average Wall Street estimate of 2.7 percent and showed a strong acceleration from the 0.9 percent rate of the first three months of the year.

The latest figures, helped somewhat by a massive economic stimulus package, suggest the world's biggest economy had more momentum than previously thought by analysts, many of whom anticipated recession.

"For a recession the economy is certainly growing very quickly," said Avery Shenfeld, senior economist at CIBC World Markets.

White House Predicts $482 Billion Deficit

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 12:02:37 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

The White House predicted Monday that President Bush would leave a record $482 billion deficit to his successor, a sobering turnabout in the nation’s fiscal condition from 2001, when Mr. Bush took office after three consecutive years of budget surpluses.

The worst may be yet to come. The deficit announced by Jim Nussle, the White House budget director, does not reflect the full cost of military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the potential $50 billion cost of another economic stimulus package, or the possibility of steeper losses in tax revenues if individual income or corporate profits decline.

The new deficit numbers also do not account for any drains on the national treasury that might result from further declines in the housing market.

The bleak outlook for the budget will crimp the ability of the next president to carry out ambitious spending plans.

And it adds to fiscal pressures that were already building because of the growth of Medicare and Social Security.

Tags: government, budget, i-deficit, i-increase, i-record

Record Deficit Expected for 2009

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 14:12:54 GMT

clipped by: DanaGarrett
clipper's remarks: The fruit of "conservatism" is record deficits, inadequate revenues and runaway spending. It did under Reagan and now under Bush. Now it's setting a new record.

Clip Source: www.usatoday.com

The White House has increased its estimate for next year's deficit to nearly $490 billion, a record figure

The projected deficit for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1 is being driven higher by the continuing economic slowdown and larger-than-anticipated costs of the two-year, $168 billion fiscal stimulus package

The rising deficit for 2009 marks a sharp turnaround for Bush's fiscal legacy. He inherited a $128 billion surplus when he came into office in 2001.

Curbing the deficit will fall to Bush's successor and the next Congress following a time when taxes were cut and major spending initiatives were undertaken, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, transportation projects, farm subsidies, Medicare prescription drug coverage and a recently passed expansion of veterans' education benefits.

Dems considering a second round of tax rebates

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 06:26:43 GMT

clipped by: willhelm

Clip Source: www.bloomberg.com

Congressional Democrats are considering a second round of rebates to taxpayers, saying the benefits of the first checks sent to more than 100 million households this year are being eroded by rising energy prices.

``We will be proceeding with another stimulus package, and we once again hope we will work in a bipartisan way,'' House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said after House Democratic leaders met with a group of economists to discuss the spreading housing crisis and rising gas prices.

RBS warns of new stock market crash

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 10:28:58 GMT

clipped by: AinzF

Clip Source: www.financemarkets.co.uk

Bob Janjuah, senior credit analyst at Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has warned of a potential new stock market crash this Autumn.

According to Janjuah, he expects to see the economic stimulus package in the US continue to help the Dow Jones rally until July.

After that period, he expects inflationary pressures to effectively “paralyse” the ability of central banks in the US and Europe to help support current financial markets.

This is due to a Hobson’s Choice, a paradox where although more than one option may be presented, only one is a realistic choice. In this instace, of allowing inflation to run rampant, or else try and keep the lid on it by not lowering interest rates.

The result would be a sell off of equities and commodities and a massive influx into cash and bonds.

While Bob Janjuah’s predictions remain speculative, his prediction last year of a collapse in the credit markets - which led to the Credit Crunch - means his commentary carries a lot of weight in the city.

Tags: economy, economics, crash, stock market

Stimulus Much?

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 01:19:42 GMT

clipped by: DrCat2013

Clip Source: news.yahoo.com

Bush weighs new measures to help stimulate economy

WASHINGTON - President Bush is considering new measures to help stimulate the battered economy, the White House said Friday as unemployment and oil prices soared and Wall Street sank.

White House counselor Ed Gillespie said Bush's advisers are constantly looking at options for new economic proposals.

The government's $168 billion stimulus package, passed in February, began getting tax rebate checks to people last month and helped to energize shoppers. "We're beginning to see signs that the stimulus may be working," Bush said at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

But analysts believe consumers still are anxious, and a weakening job market could make people feel less inclined to spend. This, and talk that the economy already has fallen into its first recession since 2001, has led to questions about whether a second stimulus might be warranted.

He said it. Stimulus package my ...

Fri, 02 May 2008 19:53:35 GMT

clipped by: missmartini
clipper's remarks: But at least now I know what to spend "my money" on.

Clip Source: www.sfgate.com

10 ways to blow your tax rebate

Gas, video games, meditation, booze. What, you were planning on paying bills? As if

Do you see? Your "economic stimulus" check is meaningless, an empty gesture, a trifling crumb of recompense after robbing you blind via insane gas prices, infrastructure meltdowns, massive failed wars that aren't really wars. Thanks for the bogus check, Dubya, now where can I buy a sliver of our missing national dignity? Oh, that's right.

So then. Here are your bloody nickels, America. Think of it as a "recession whippit," because trust me, its quickie high won't last long. What will you do with it? Pay off the porn bill? Hit the Vegas strip? Stock up on water and freeze-dried meats and a nice Bowie knife in preparation for the apocalypse? Not bad, not bad. Of course, you could also spend it on:

Tags: stimulus package, sfgate, shenanigans

Cartoon Hero Will Save the Day

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:42:32 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: “In the past three months, average consumer spending on energy came to $663 billion, or 6.5 percent of total consumer spending. A year ago, it represented 5.8 percent.” In simple terms: “If gasoline breaks through $4 a gallon by Memorial Day, that would mean spending on gasoline would have risen by $100 billion since the beginning of the year, or roughly the size of the tax rebate checks going out.”
According to Monday’s Providence Journal, “The United States, with the lowest fuel efficient vehicles and longest average commutes in the world, is the only major industrialized country to witness a surge in oil consumption since the severe oil shortages of the 1970s and the 1980s.”

While European nations have taxed fuel to pay for other more efficient forms of transportation, the U.S. has taken an Underdog approach to the problem; swooping in with borrowed cash to pay the ransom oil companies demand on our transportation and heating needs.

Next week President Underdog will begin mai

Clip Source: www.commondreams.org

“There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!”- Wally Cox, the voice of NBC’s Underdog

That’s what the 20th century cartoon hero said every time his girlfriend, journalist cartoon character, Sweet Polly Purebred needed him.

The part of Underdog for the duration of this column — and now that I’ve pictured it in my mind, possibly forever — will be played by our own President George W. Bush.

And as of Monday night, the part of Purebred will be played by the distressed CBS Evening News anchor, Katie Couric. Couric, in a style reminiscent of the troubled Purebred, summoned the celluloid hero to my mind’s eye as she read a news story about the United States economic stimulus package.

Couric reported a substantial rise in the price of fuel since Congress approved the president’s plan. And as oil prices soared this week, it turns out that the average $600 bonus that today’s Americans will be borrowing from their grandchildren won’t cover the cost of this year’s newly inflated gas prices.

7 Ways to Spend Your Economic Stimulus Package

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 22:14:11 GMT

clipped by: rhyno_1974
clipper's remarks: How to spend the money from the government tax rebate. Lots of tech suggestions.

Clip Source: www.sean-o.com

Beginning this week, the IRS will begin distributing Economic Stimulus Payments (or “tax rebates”) to 130 million households. If you made more than $3,000 & filed your taxes last year, you’re getting one. Single people can expect $600. Married folk: $1200 + $300 per child. That’s a significant chunk of change.

“So what do I do with this money?”

Well, the #1 thing to remember is embedded in the name: Economic Stimulus. The only reason you are getting this money is to stimulate the U.S. Economy, which, as you might have heard, hasn’t been rolling so hot lately. So, how do you help jump start the economy?

By spending this money!

Eliminate all thoughts in your mind of using this cash to: pay your credit card bills, reduce your student loans, or put it into savings or investments. Erase, erase! Do not be one of the many fools here, who freely admit to using their checks to pay off debt, knowing it will do nothing to help the Economy.

Tags: economic, stimulus, package, payment, check, tax, rebate

Much to learn in this article....

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:20:22 GMT

clipped by: mooner-one
clipper's remarks: .....all is not well in River City....

Clip Source: us.f375.mail.yahoo.com

The Myths and Harsh Effects of Bush's Economic Class War

The recession of 2001 never ended -- at least not for ordinary Americans.

George Bush came into office. There was a recession almost immediately. Officially it began in March of 2001 and, officially, it ended eight months later.

There is, in addition, a minor Republican industry dedicated to back-dating the onset by five months, to November, 2000, in order to make it a Clinton recession. Or, to inadvertently to say that the very election of George Bush screwed up the economy, he didn't even have to come to power.

Bush came in with a plan for tax cuts. Originally, that was based on the government having a surplus and it was packaged as giving people their own money back. When the surplus disappeared, due to the recession and the tax cuts, he kept pushing the tax cuts as a jobs and stimulus package. The economy went into "recovery" by 2003.

From the HighTower Lowdown

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:58:56 GMT

clipped by: Kauaiguy
clipper's remarks: Got a political bone to pick with the president of America? Need some more ammo? U've got it right here, partner.. Yee haa.. !!!

Clip Source: www.hightowerlowdown.org

"The water won't clear up 'til we get the hogs out of the creek." -- Jim Hightower

[Video]

Clip Source: www.hightowerlowdown.org

Checks for $600 won't fix our economy--let's have a real stimulus package

Tags: politics, president, congress, lies

Bill To Open Refuge To Drilling If Crude Hits $125

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 14:04:22 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: "The goalposts of what's reasonable have moved quite a bit lately," Halff said. "One hundred and twenty-five dollars is just $15 away. It doesn't sound quite as farfetched as it did a few months ago."

But environmentalists say they're confident that Murkowski and Stevens simply don't have 60 votes in the Senate to overcome a filibuster that would allow the bill to be heard. It's equally unlikely that a Democratic-led House of Representatives would even consider hearing the legislation, said Myke Bybee, a spokesman for the Sierra Club.

"No amount of oil and no amount of money is worth despoiling the Arctic Refuge," Bybee said. "I don't think there's support for opening up a special place like the Arctic Refuge at any cost, at any amount of oil or at any cost of oil."

Clip Source: www.adn.com

WASHINGTON -- Hoping to capitalize on the concerns of ordinary consumers at the gas pump, Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Ted Stevens introduced legislation Thursday that would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge if the price of oil hits $125 a barrel.

The senators hope that high oil prices, hovering at $110 a barrel Thursday morning, will change the minds of fellow senators who, until now, have been opposed to opening the wildlife refuge to drilling.

Drilling in ANWR would do more than any economic stimulus package, Stevens said. It also would trim the U.S. dependency on foreign sources of oil.

"The money we send overseas for oil could be spent in the United States, stimulate our economy," he said. "I think this country's going to need a real stimulus before this year's over."

Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee, doesn't support drilling in ANWR, and neither do the two Democratic contenders: Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.

Tags: murkowski, stevens, arctic national wildlife refuge, mccain, clinton, obama, sierra club, environmentalists

What's The Plan?

Mon, 24 Mar 2008 23:54:09 GMT

clipped by: sahara
clipper's remarks: I see many comments by Hillary, but no real plan, other than spend the money somewhere else! This does not solve the issue of our deflating dollar!

Clip Source: www.ontheissues.org

Q: Why would you be better fit than the Republican nominee to turn this economy around as we seem to be headed for a downturn, if not a recession?

A: Well, it is the case that the economy is becoming a greater and greater concern because, obviously, it's not working for the vast majority of Americans. I've been out there since March talking about this mortgage crisis and urging much more aggressive action to stem the foreclosures that are beginning to cascade around the country. But at some point you've got to have government action to really tackle these problems. The stimulus package is a start, but it's not nearly enough. What we have to do is have an economic policy that once again creates jobs with rising incomes.

I disagree with the Republicans about the tax cuts for people making more than $250,000 a year. I think we should let those expire and use that money on universal health care and other needs that people have that are really directly related to the state of the economy.

Tags: economy, candidates

The Iraq war and the American People.

Thu, 20 Mar 2008 12:47:57 GMT

clipped by: Packrat61
clipper's remarks: Cafferty says it all here.

Clip Source: caffertyfile.blogs.cnn.com

How dangerous is it if Americans are less aware of Iraq losses?

On the 5th anniversary of the start of the Iraq war, the U.S. has lost 3,992 troops. But it turns out a lot of Americans don’t know it.

A new Pew poll shows only 28% of those surveyed know that almost 4,000 U.S. service members have died in Iraq. Almost half think the death toll is 3,000 or less, and 23% think it’s higher. Last August, more than half of those surveyed knew how many Americans had died in Iraq.

And that’s sad… because if people aren’t paying attention to what’s going on in Iraq, then maybe they aren’t quite as outraged about the almost 4,000 young Americans we’ve lost, or the almost 30,000 U.S. troops who have been badly wounded, or the more than 80,000 Iraqis who have died, or the more than $500 billion the U.S. has spent on the war – money that would have paid for the economic stimulus package with more than $300 billion left over.

Tags: iraq, war

Where Is The Economy's Breaking Point?

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:31:19 GMT

clipped by: JICWyllie

Clip Source: www.cnbc.com

"The only reason the economy hasn't visibly broken is that gasoline prices haven't risen commensurately with oil prices, but that's coming," says Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's

rising gasoline prices threaten to wipe out any benefit that could come from Washington's $100 billion plus stimulus package.

"According to my calculations, for every one penny rise in gasoline, households spend about $1 billion (per year) on energy. If you take gasoline and go from say, $3 a gallon to $4 a gallon, which fact is a risk, you basically take your $100 plus billion tax cut and it goes into energy," Lavorgna said.

If that happens, "What we'll do is take the tax rebate and put it in our gas tanks," said Zandi.

The EIA also said it is likely gasoline will pass $4 per gallon in some markets though the summer average will be under that level.

"It's now a financial market driven by speculation, a developing bubble. So like all bubbles, it can get a lot bigger before it breaks," Zandi said.

Tags: economy, i-risks, energy, oil, i-prices, i-record, i-increase