Obama's tax cuts helping the recovery

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Ricter, Mar 29, 2011.

  1. Ricter

    Ricter

    Consumer Confidence in U.S. Fell to a Three-Month Low in March
    (Bloomberg – Shobhana Chandra)

    Confidence among U.S. consumers dropped more than forecast in March as fuel costs surged to the highest level in more than two years. The Conference Board’s confidence index fell to a three- month low of 63.4 from a revised 72 reading in February, figures from the New York-based private research group showed today. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a drop this month to 65.

    Sentiment may remain suppressed as higher prices at gas stations and grocery stores take a bigger bite out of Americans’ incomes. A pickup in the job market and savings from tax cuts make it less likely that household spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, will falter.

    “Consumers are concerned about fuel costs,” Lindsey Piegza, an economist at FTN Financial in New York, said before the report. Even so, “people are less worried they’ll lose their job,” and “there a feeling the economy is holding steady,” she said.

    Americans’ inflation expectations for the next 12 months jumped to 6.7 percent in March, the highest since October 2008, today’s Conference Board data showed. A separate report today showed home prices fell in January by the most in a year, raising the risk that home sales will keep slowing. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of property values in 20 cities fell 3.1 percent from January 2010, the biggest year- over-year decrease since December 2009, the group said today in New York.

    Estimates for consumer confidence ranged from 59 to 73.5 in the Bloomberg survey of 69 economists. The measure averaged 98 during the expansion that ended in December 2007.

    The group’s measure of present conditions increased to 36.9, the highest since November 2008, from 33.8 a month earlier. The gauge rose as 15.1 percent viewed current business conditions as being “good,” up from 12.4 percent a month earlier. The share of consumers who said jobs are currently plentiful fell to 4.4 percent from 4.9 percent. Those who said jobs are hard to get was little changed at 44.6 percent from the prior month.

    The gauge of expectations for the next six months dropped to 81.1 from 97.5. Fewer Americans said they plan to purchase cars, homes and appliances in the next six months. The percent of respondents expecting more jobs to become available in the next six months decreased to 19.9 from 21.2 the previous month. The proportion expecting their incomes to rise over the next six months declined to 15.3 percent from 17.4 percent.

    “Consumers’ inflation expectations rose significantly in March and their income expectations soured, a combination that will likely impact spending decisions,” Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board’s consumer research center, said in a statement. “While the short-term future may be uncertain, the economy continues to expand.”

    Michaels Stores Inc., an arts-and-crafts retailer based in Irving, Texas, is among companies monitoring how consumers may respond to the higher costs for fuel and food. “We think that the customer will be under pressure because of gasoline prices, food prices,” John Menzer, chief executive officer, said on a conference call with investors on March 24. “We have to really look at value, value throughout our store.”

    Today’s report is consistent with other confidence data. The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index dropped in the week ended March 20 to the lowest level since August. The final reading of the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan confidence index fell in March to the lowest level since November 2009. Employment Gains

    The economy has added jobs for five consecutive months through February, when the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level since April 2009. A report due on April 1 may show March payrolls grew by 190,000, and the jobless rate held at 8.9 percent, according to the Bloomberg survey median.

    Americans increased spending in February by 0.7 percent, more than forecast, as incomes climbed, figures from the Commerce Department showed yesterday. More than half the gain last month was due to higher prices, indicating household spending will contribute less to the economy this quarter than in the last three months of 2010.

    Regular fuel rose to $3.59 a gallon on March 28, the most since October 2008, according to AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring organization. Food costs increased 0.6 percent last month, the most since 2008, consumer-price index data showed on March 17.
     
  2. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    "Obama's tax cuts helping the recovery"

    But the Bush tax cuts were evil, despicable, unfair and hurt the economy?

    :D OMG!

    You may want to contact Gabby to see where he bought his full size anatomically correct Obama doll, so you can get one for yourself.
     
  3. Yannis

    Yannis

    OBAMA ON THE HOOK
    By DICK MORRIS & EILEEN MCGANN


    "With each of his policies, Obama takes a gamble. If they work, he's OK. If they don't, he's on the hook for the outcome. Consider the extent of his exposure:

    * His involvement in Libya makes him responsible if Gaddafi stays in power and slaughters his own people and/or renews his connections with international terrorism. Obama will be equally responsible should Gaddafi be toppled and an Iraqi-style civil war erupts between his deposed supporters and the new government. As General Powell said "you break it, you own it."

    * His support for the rebellion in Egypt and his action in forcing Mubarak from power makes him responsible should the Muslim Brotherhood take over the nation and use it as a basis for promoting terrorism and battling Israel, undoing the Camp David accords.

    * Obama's anti-oil drilling policies make him vulnerable should oil prices resume their upward march, particularly so if the Saudi monarchy is toppled and prices surge. In that event, he will be subject to blame for encouraging the wave or revolutions on the one hand and neglecting our domestic energy resources on the other.

    * Attorney General Eric Holder's weakening of our domestic anti-terror efforts and his curbs on investigatory tactics make Obama responsible for any major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.

    * Should the economy enter a double dip recession, it will be Obama's recession. No longer will the public blame Bush, but they will realize that it is Obama's policies which have led to disaster.

    That's all a lot for a president to have on his plate. But Obama keeps helping himself to more responsibility without clear exit strategies and with only a hope and a prayer standing between him and disaster. He is now so dependent on the actions of other players -- Egyptian Muslims, Libyan rebels, Saudi insurgents, domestic terrorists, and global economic forces -- that he is no longer in control of his own destiny.

    He is now truly the hostage of events. Not a good place for a president facing re-election to be."
     
  4. Hello

    Hello

    I dont think there is much Obama can do at this point to stimulate the economy besides spending more money, and blindly trying to inflate our way out of this mess, which has basically been the policy from day 1.

    Rightly or wrongly the Obama admin is percieved as anti business, and these companies sitting on hoards of cash are not going to put it into the economy under him. I liked the idea that was on the 60 minutes piece about letting all the companies who moved money offshore, to move their money back into the united states tax free, 1 time, with a a condition that they will get a one time tax break on that money provided they hire on "X" amount of people based on the amount of money they want to move back onto american soil.

    Whats the hurt in that? The money is going to sit there, and the U.S. wont see a dime if it just sits there anyways, we may as well give them a 1 time break provided they create some jobs for americans with the money.

     
  5. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    "The danger to America is not Barack Obama but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools such as those who made him their president."
     
  6. Yannis

    Yannis

    Lucrum: Interesting... where did you get that?
     
  7. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    [​IMG]
     
  8. Tsing Tao

    Tsing Tao

    making the statement that the employment picture is improving goes to show how ignorant the MSM is.
     
  9. Ricter

    Ricter

    Do you also disbelieve the report on consumer confidence?
     
  10. Lucrum

    Lucrum

    Circulating email from a friend, it is supposedly a statement made by a Czech.

    I haven't done the Snopes thing. As far as I'm concerned it doesn't matter who or where it came from, it's still just as true.
     
    #10     Mar 30, 2011