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Obama‘s jobs plan is ’pure political theater’

Megan McArdle of The Atlantic has been studying President Obama's jobs plan since Thursday and she's come to an interesting conclusion: the whole thing was never meant to be passed and it's "pure political theater."

Here are some of her best lines:

1. "But more importantly, paying for the bill with tax hikes--any tax hikes--is going to substantially reduce the stimulus this bill provides.  Just as government spending boosts aggregate demand, tax hikes (yes, even on rich people), reduce aggregate demand.  Providing stimulus through payroll tax cuts that are financed with tax hikes on other people is like trying to boost your household income by making your wife pay you to mow the lawn."

2. "If the president were serious about providing stimulus, he would pay attention to the work of his old CEA chair, and pay for the jobs bill by decreasing the growth rate of something-or-other in the future by 0.2%.  This is also what he would do if he were serious about getting any part of it through Congress.  Instead he is apparently sending them a less-stimulative bill designed to be maximally embarrassing to the GOP--which by definition means minimally politically viable. "

3. "But say it's true.  If it is, I really wish that Obama hadn't wasted my Thursday evening, and that of 31 million other Americans, listening to a jobs plan that was only designed to produce one job--a second term for Barack Obama.  I mean, I don't blame him, exactly.  But I get a little pang when I realize that I could just as well have spent that time bleaching the grout in the master bath."

4. "... I think it means that Obama has given up on even trying to pass it; this is just political theater.  Maybe you think he had no choice--I disagree, but I can see where others may differ.  But either way, you have to be way more invested in Obama's re-election than I am to take much interest in pure political theater."

There are plenty more if you read the entire article.

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Jonathon M. Seidl

Jonathon M. Seidl

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