Chamber Poll Makes Case for Stimulus Over Deficit Reduction
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s so-called Jobs Summit yesterday in Washington, D.C., produced little in the way of real solutions to our economic crisis. Instead, there were the usual complaints about regulation and taxes—it opposes both.
But the real news came from outside the summit, where a new poll commissioned by the Chamber unintentionally showed that its own members agree with the AFL-CIO and most progressives that the federal government should spend more money stimulating the economy rather than reducing the deficit—the direct opposite of the Chamber’s position.
Writing in the New Republic, Jonathan Chait points out that in a poll conducted for the Chamber that only 45 percent of small business owners believe the government could improve the economy by spending less and reducing deficits. Chait writes:
Interesting! Small business owners are more conservative than the average American, but they’re also more economically literate than the average American. In this instance, the economic literacy is overwhelming the conservatism to make small business owners more pro-stimulus than the public as a whole. [The Heritage Foundation, which released the poll] concludes, “Small business is the backbone of the U.S. economy, and those who keep those businesses running know better than anyone what they need to stay afloat.” So I guess that means we need to spend more and increase deficits, then.
Bailout Oversight Panel Recommends Eight Changes to Avoid Future Crises
The congressional oversight committee examining how the U.S. Treasury Department is spending taxpayer money in the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) to help bailout the financial system says the nation needs smart regulation to help prevent another financial crisis and protect our economic future.
The Congressional Oversight Panel (COP) released a report today, which discusses how regulation would have helped avert the financial crisis and how it can help avoid future troubles.
