If you’re in a funk about the current state of the economy and the government’s approach to it, you might want to skip the closing paragraphs of Lawrence Kudlow‘s latest column:
According to Rasmussen, fewer than half believe their homes are worth more than their mortgages. Only 23 percent expect their home values to go up this year. And with the market still at fall 2008 levels, people are obviously much less well off than they used to be.
And there’s more. Today, only 29 percent rate their finances as good or excellent. The night before Lehman collapsed, 43 percent rated their finances as good or excellent.
And on the political front, while people are rejecting Obama, they are also rejecting both political parties and the entire political process. According to Rasmussen, 73 percent don’t expect any deficit reduction before the 2012 election.
Folks want any deal to include mostly spending cuts, but expect it will include mostly tax increases. And if tax increases are agreed to, 62 percent say the money will be spent on new programs rather than deficit reduction.
On top of all that, economist Alan Reynolds reminds us that the president’s so-called jobs plan proposes large and permanent increases in the highest income-tax rates in order to “pay for” a small and temporary cut in payroll taxes.
Reynolds goes on to say that permanently higher tax rates on income to pay for temporarily lower tax rates on payrolls is not stimulus by anybody’s definition.
And of course, taxing millionaires and billionaires — especially the Warren Buffett plan to raise the minimum tax rate on capital gains — demonizes success and makes war on capital formation. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie calls this a demoralizing message.
So for now, I’ll stay with my take: We’re still on the front end of a recession.
