For Boyd

The Budget

If you’ve turned on the news, even Sports Center only, you’ve heard about the pending debt crisis.  The President signed a bill today that allows the federal government to sell bonds (create debt) in order to pay the bills.  Contrary to popular belief (or what I suspect Fox News says), this is not a “blank check” on 2 different levels.

1)  It’s a specified “check” with a maximum value in the neighborhood of $2.4 trillion.

2) This pays for debts incurred by previous administrations and Congresses, in addition to this current group on The Hill right now.

No matter who started it, the fight is real and the effects are about to get serious.  This first round of deficit cuts will have minimal impact.  The $1.2 trillion “up front” cuts actually cover a 10-year budget period.  Most of the cuts are backloaded and would likely have been altered by future Congresses anyway.  The really troubling part is the mandatory spending caps for FY2012-14.  That could really hamper our efforts to recover from an increasingly likely double-dip recession.

The larger issue is the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction and its power.  If comprised of 12 moderate voices – assuming there are 12 left in Washington – it could work.  Party leaders on both sides, though, are almost certain to appoint lawmakers loyal to the party leaders.  That means virtually nothing meaningful would gain a majority of votes.  THAT means automatic $1.2 trillion cuts across the board starting in January 2014.  Which means an end to life as we know it.  We’ll be livin’ Little Orphan Annie style by 2015 if that happens.

Here’s a statement on the issue from my office.  I think it sums up my frustration pretty well.

(This legislation) asks middle class families to shoulder the burden of the debt crisis while corporations, billionaires, and millionaires are asked to do nothing. Meanwhile, regular working people in Arkansas have just been told that they need to work harder and expect fewer of the services that we all rely on for economic security.

There is a major risk that the agreement will hurt economic growth and the nation’s ability to create jobs. In a poor state like Arkansas, pulling back low-income programs not only threatens the economic stability of families, but hurts our economic prospects. In Arkansas we see the benefit of programs like Medicaid every day. A Walton School of Business study, for example, showed that each Medicaid dollar spent in Arkansas creates $6 in economic activity. Cuts to Medicaid represent an immediate and severe cut to the state’s economic well-being.

Over the past 10 years marginal income tax rates have been at the lowest levels (relative to income) since the 1950s.  If low taxes create jobs, why do we have an unemployment rate nearing 10%?  The Clinton Era tax code asked those at the top to pay 3% more than they pay now, and it was an era of unprecedented growth.  That’s not to say high taxes increase job growth; it’s to say that higher taxes do not stifle it.

The deficit is not a driver of a bad economy, it is the logical outcome.  As unemployment rises, income tax receipts decline.  Basic Econ 101.  So people without work tend to rely more often on government support programs like Medicaid and SNAP and unemployment insurance.  Ergo, government spending increases.  It’s the nature of a recession.  It does not create one.  Cutting off those payments and taking money out of the economy, though, WILL create a recession.

Bottom line is this:  Get the damn job done, Congress.  Put together a real jobs program.  Get manual laborers back to work.  Let’s build some shit.  Quit crying and start doing.  I’m sick of partisans spending their entire time blaming the other side for the downfall of America.  If we could get 535 unemployed Americans in Congress for about a week while putting Mitch McConnell and Harry Reid on government assistance for a week, I think we’d be in pretty good shape.

Someone call ABC!  I have a new reality show idea!

New Poll

No, this is not a college football poll.  This is a CNN/ORC poll on how Americans feel about the soon-to-be-passed debt deal.  Personally, I think the headline of the link is an affront to spoiled children everywhere.

 A majority of Americans disapprove of the deal struck Sunday by President Barack Obama and congressional leaders that will raise the country’s legal borrowing limit, and three out of four believe elected officials have acted like “spoiled children.”

What say you, BlogHawg Nation?

 

 

Showtime

Thank you, Stave, for the link.

August = Previews, Rankings, and Lists

It’s August, which means footballs will soon by flying through the air.  I guess it also means it’s time for BlogHawgs to begin to wake from our months-long slumber.  Look for more activity in the coming weeks, ranging from football to politics to pop culture – you know, the kind of stuff that made us not famous at all.

You have undoubtedly seen the pre-season ink the Arkansas Razorbacks have received.  There is no doubt that Bobby Petrino has taken the team to another level with its talent, and that talent seems to be playing very well together.  About this time last season Adam and I spoke (in hushed tones of course) about a potential Ewing Theory season for the Hogs in 2012.  (Think T-Martin and Tennessee in 1998.)

Clearly the national press has noticed.  The College Football Pundit holds the Hogs in very high regard.  As you’d expect, he also holds the SEC in very high regard.

Summer is still in full force (Is it hot?), but it’s time to start to focus on the fall.  Which means the Dad Life is about to take a back seat.