There is disagreement

If you hear any government official saying that "there is no disagreement" that a stimulus is needed, they are either misinformed or lying.

CARPE DIEM: With All Due Respect Mr. President......

I'm not saying that I know if we need one or not, I'm just saying that there are plenty of economists out there that say we don't.

Dear Economist & "Stimulus" thoughts

First the amusing stuff : How an economist answers a "Dear Abby" style letter about a 1st date. Its actually a series and there are several very enjoyable posts in it.

Then the (to me) scary stuff:
The Blog of the Director of the Congressional Budget Office has posted its analysis of HR 1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. You know, the "stimulus" bill. Its not stimulus. Its wild government spending. Only 64% of the $816Billion would be back in the economy by October 2010. The rest is spread out until 2019.

Here's the thing that really bothers me about this. Its the Republican's fault. Its former President Bush's fault. You can't come to the American people and say "Holy crap! We've got a problem that we didn't see coming and we need to pour $750Billion into banks & wall street firms RIGHT NOW!" without future repurcussions. Once the "Party of Fiscal Responsibility and Small Government" sells that to the American people there's no reason to believe that the liberal "Tax & Spend" democrats are going to behave any better. This stimulus bill is basically the Democrats answer to the bailout bill.

So, how about a sensible solution. Rich Lowry writes a strong argument for suspending (or abolishing) the payroll tax (this idea is near the bottom of the article). It can be enacted IMMEDIATELY. It puts money in people's pockets IMMEDIATELY. It lowers labor costs to businesses IMMEDIATELY. I'm not saying that it should be the only thing in the stimulus plan, but it ABSOLUTELY SHOULD be in it.
Let's take that as the base and expand the idea to not only keep costs lower so businesses have options around employment, but lets incent hiring with this idea as well.
Tell the government how many employees you had on Jan 1, 2009 (call that number x). Tell the govt how many employees you have on Dec 31, 2009 (y) - so you've added "z" employees to you payrolls. For the next 5 years, as long as you have at least "y" employees, you get a 50% reduction in payroll taxes for "z" employees (not those specific employees, just the number of them).
What ideas do you have for a "stimulus"?

Geithner as Treasury Secretary?

Can someone please explain why a man who didn't pay Self Employment taxes from 2001 - 2004 and who owed the IRS over $34,000 until mid January 2009 (he conveniently paid just before his Senate Committee hearing):

a - isn't in jail

b - is still working as President of the Federal Reserve Bank of NY

c - was nominated by Obama for Secretary of the Treasury

d - is confirmed by the Senate and is now our Treasury Secretary.

"Do as I say, not as I do" should be his official e-mail signature.

Someone help me understand!

Weekend Highs & Lows

Highlite of the weekend was 24 hours alone with my wife. Her folks stayed at our house with the kids. We went out and stayed at their house.

Had lunch at The Fish Joint in Oceanside - absolutely awesome! I should have taken pictures to post. I never thought I'd say this, but Taka is not the best sushi in San Diego County.

Saw Last Chance Harvey on Friday night. Another reminder that "we never go to the movies" should always be rebutted by "we're not missing anything." This movie was abysmal. Emma Thompson and Dustin Hoffman should both be ashamed to have made this. If you've seen "Before Sunrise" or "Before Sunset" with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy then you've seen this movie, only the good version. If I have to post spoilers to keep you from seeing it I will (no, I won't, but still - its aweful, don't go).

J went to dinner with her folks and Brother on Sat night and I got the kids fed/ready for bed/in bed. They were delightful! They are amazing.

Took C to "practice soccer" on Sunday (T came too, but he was just happy to have a ball and open space to run it). It took a bit, but I think we got the "you can't use your hands in soccer" rule figured out. I'm going to have to explain "goalie" to her before her 1st practice or she'll be telling her coach "no, my daddy says that the 1st rule of soccer is you can't use your hands" and then she'll scold the goalie for picking the ball up. If you think that I watched my daughter running around kicking a soccer ball for 45 minutes and didn't think "college scholarship" then you don't know me very well.

I played hockey last night - 2-2 tie. 1 really weird bounce off the post off my back into the net goal and one very solid rebound goal for the bad guys. We gave up 26 shots again. At least I'm keeping busy.

Sea Kittens?

PETA's campaign against fishing

So if we rename them then we won't want to catch them or eat them. If PETA and the state of California's EPA team up they could probably get fishing completely outlawed.

The loud sound you hear is me banging my head against a wall!

hat tip to Kottke

I feel like writing...

...but I have no idea what I want to write about today.
Plans for the weekend:
Time alone with my wife thanks to the in-laws;
Practicing soccer with Charlotte (she's signed up for a league that starts at the end of March and she can't wait to get started);
Hockey on sunday evening/night;
Did I mention time alone with my wife!!!

Weekend Thoughts

*I have the best wife in the world! She took the kids on Saturday & sent me out for a "guy day." She loves me & that makes me the luckiest man in the world.

*I played over 12 hours of poker on Saturday. Played in a tournament at Pechanga - busted out very early and lost a "last longer" wager ($5) with my buddy that joined me. Had a really good Sushi lunch at The Fish Joint in Oceanside. The fish was fresh. There were standard rolls (rainbow / California) and they have a menu of specialty rolls. My buddy ordered the "Surf & Turf" roll and it was very very good. I'd recommend this place if you're ever in O-side looking for sushi. Played a 10+ hour session at Ocean's 11. Played 2/3NL. Total for the day : +$25. It was a lot of fun though and a nice break!
Then I got home (an hour later than I said I'd be home, but at 3am it wasn't like anyone was waiting up for me) and found the front door chained. Um, I was just an hour late.

*I have great kids! I know, I'm biased, but I do. They are fun & sweet & great! No great anecdotes today - they're just great.

*Turns out the Chargers are just a mediocre team and/or Pittsburgh is VERY good. Giving up a TD at the end of the 1st half to an allegedly anemic offense was a killer. I didn't see the 2nd half (was out playing with kids) but I saw the FG and then 10 minutes later driving in the car heard "14-10 Pittsburgh" and I had a pretty good idea that the Bolts were in big trouble. Yes Glen, you told me so and you'll get your $.

*I played hockey last night. It was my 1st game back in a league that I played in years ago. I've been playing goalie in the Thursday night "open sessions" since mid-November to get used to playing again and last Thursday was the 1st time I felt "right" - I was seeing things well and moving well and getting my pads down. Fortunately, that carried over to Sunday and I played really well last night (stat sheet says I stopped 25 of 26 shots). We lost 1-0 and I'm a little ticked about the 1 that I gave up (for hockey people, I cheated for a pass on a 2-on-1 and left half the net open - and the puck carrier noticed it and buried the only goal of the game). The team I'm playing with is a great group of guys/gals. We're going to be pretty good (much better than we were last night) and, more importantly, we're going to have a lot of fun!