Looks like Geithner's plan wasn't too well received by the market - what do you think this means for 2009?

Sensei answered 10 months ago …

It means that "the smart money" (whoever they are) knows that the result of the so-called "Stimulus Package" will be that things will unfold as they would have without it.

Left-wing political ideology notwithstanding, they know that borrowing hundreds of millions of dollars to spend (sorry, the Prez says they're "investments") on "community action centres" (read: ACORN - who were essential in getting him elected) will not create the jobs or stimulate the necessary consumer spending to resolve the current financial crisis. (At least he got the "crisis" part right.)

It means they know that, while the idea of "greening" America may be a good idea (whether you believe in "global warming" or not), it has no place in legislation that is designed to spur economic development. How does the building of wind-farms in 2011 help us now?

It means they know that people who don't pay taxes cannot be given tax cuts. (Just ponder the concept for a moment and you'll see how ludicrous it is.)

It means they realize that a better solution might have been to lower the bottom tier tax levels by, say, 5%, thereby reducing the tax burden on people who PAY taxes in a meaningful and permanent way and establishing a psychological determinant that doesn't follow from a one-time cheque (like Bush did last year) which will be used to pay down debt or invest in CDs. Moreover, if that "stimulus" doesn't work out, it's very easy to reverse it back. And it doesn't carry the "poison" of being labelled "tax breaks for the "rich" (whoever they are.)

It means they know that infrastructure projects, while important and necessary, aren't the kinds of things that will put people to work in the next 30 days. These projects take time to design and develop. Moreover they require "permissions" like building permits and zoning changes. And how do you propose to repair a bridge in Buffalo in the middle of February? Or a road repair in Yakima? Yes, these projects should be done. But not as a part of THIS piece of legislation.

And even if you don't agree with the last point, who is going to do the work? Former bank personnel? Former stock brokers? Lawyers, accountants and other professionals who have lost their jobs? Do you think there are enough skilled road crews and bridge construction crews to do all this? As totally incompetent as he is, even I don't think you could take an immoral, unethical thief like Jeffrey Immelt and tell him to go help fix the Brooklyn Bridge.

And the hits just keep on coming. The "smart money" knows all that and crushed the DOW by almost 400 points. They know that Obama was for "Change", and they realize that the more things change, the more they stay the same.