Comments on: Treasury Secretary John Snow On “The Deficit” http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/ Big Teeth. Huge Ass. Surprisingly Reasonable. Tue, 14 Feb 2012 14:03:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Donklephant » Blog Archive » No More Tax Cuts http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-4796 Donklephant » Blog Archive » No More Tax Cuts Tue, 27 Dec 2005 11:19:35 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/#comment-4796 [...] Still believe in the miracle of supply side economics? Still believe what John Snow believes? [...] [...] Still believe in the miracle of supply side economics? Still believe what John Snow believes? [...]

]]> By: TM Lutas http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-4766 TM Lutas Thu, 22 Dec 2005 23:38:08 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/#comment-4766 I think that it's legitimate to ding Clinton's financial performance due to the stock market bubble. I think the Bush people might just be overdoing it though. I think that it’s legitimate to ding Clinton’s financial performance due to the stock market bubble. I think the Bush people might just be overdoing it though.

]]> By: Kenneth Almquist http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-4762 Kenneth Almquist Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:58:24 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/#comment-4762 <i>Snow has some support for his view. ``Capital gains receipts were unusually high'' during the last years of the Clinton administration, said Ed McKelvey, senior U.S. economist at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. He estimated that when the budget surplus reached a peak of $237 billion in 2000, capital gains tax payments were about $90 billion higher than the norm for the early-to-mid 1990s.</i> Snow claims that Clinton's budget surplus was a "mirage." McKelvey says that even if you adjust the deficit number to take into account the exceptionally large amount of caplital gains tax payments in 2000, Clinton would have still had a budget surplus of $147 billion that year. Sounds to me like McKelvey rejected Snow's claim pretty soundly. But that doesn't stop Alison Fitzgerald, the reporter writing the story, from pretending that McKelvey is supporting Snow's view. Reporters are obligated to try to get both sides of the story. Snow's views are sufficiently wacky that it is no surprise that Fitzgerald's attempts to find someone who aggreed with him were unsuccessful. But the proper way for a reporter to deal with this type of situation is to report the story honestly, not to pretend that there are people on both sides of the issue in order to create the impression of balanced reporting. Snow has some support for his view. “Capital gains receipts were unusually high” during the last years of the Clinton administration, said Ed McKelvey, senior U.S. economist at Goldman, Sachs & Co. in New York. He estimated that when the budget surplus reached a peak of $237 billion in 2000, capital gains tax payments were about $90 billion higher than the norm for the early-to-mid 1990s.

Snow claims that Clinton’s budget surplus was a “mirage.” McKelvey says that even if you adjust the deficit number to take into account the exceptionally large amount of caplital gains tax payments in 2000, Clinton would have still had a budget surplus of $147 billion that year. Sounds to me like McKelvey rejected Snow’s claim pretty soundly. But that doesn’t stop Alison Fitzgerald, the reporter writing the story, from pretending that McKelvey is supporting Snow’s view.

Reporters are obligated to try to get both sides of the story. Snow’s views are sufficiently wacky that it is no surprise that Fitzgerald’s attempts to find someone who aggreed with him were unsuccessful. But the proper way for a reporter to deal with this type of situation is to report the story honestly, not to pretend that there are people on both sides of the issue in order to create the impression of balanced reporting.

]]> By: sally http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/comment-page-1/#comment-4760 sally Thu, 22 Dec 2005 20:00:54 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/22/john-snow-on-the-deficit/#comment-4760 200 billion in tax cuts. A large across the board increase in spending. A Medicare drug bill which hasn't taken effect, but is estimated to run a much larger deficit, much faster than all of Social Security. The slowdown in the economy did hurt the budget, but despite massive fiscal and monetary stimulus the recovery has been anemic. And the loose cash has pushed housing prices high and kept stocks well above historical averages. A recession could collapse these markets and cause a far greater loss of wealth than the tax cuts saved. And of course fiscal responses to recession are dodgy because of the deficit. Snow and others have taken the position that we've never come out of a recession before that the only reason we have this tepid recovery is tax cuts. Not true. And real average wages fell in the last year. 200 billion in tax cuts. A large across the board increase in spending. A Medicare drug bill which hasn’t taken effect, but is estimated to run a much larger deficit, much faster than all of Social Security.

The slowdown in the economy did hurt the budget, but despite massive fiscal and monetary stimulus the recovery has been anemic. And the loose cash has pushed housing prices high and kept stocks well above historical averages. A recession could collapse these markets and cause a far greater loss of wealth than the tax cuts saved.

And of course fiscal responses to recession are dodgy because of the deficit.

Snow and others have taken the position that we’ve never come out of a recession before that the only reason we have this tepid recovery is tax cuts. Not true. And real average wages fell in the last year.

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