What effect if any does the hope that Oboma...

Julio

will come in and fix our current economic mess have on PM's? jws

dlimb2

VERY VERY Last resort!!!

mhammerman

Maybe 30:1 or so.

Edited for potentially political commentary.

cohodk

Here is what he proposes. Where is the fix?


Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) -- An $825 billion economic-stimulus measure drafted by the U.S. House of Representatives would provide $550 billion in new government spending along with $275 billion in tax cuts for families and businesses.

A summary of the measure released today said it would provide about $90 billion in infrastructure spending, $87 billion in aid to states struggling with surging Medicaid costs and $43 billion in unemployment and job training programs.

Other provisions would provide $20 billion for federal nutrition assistance, $15.6 billion to Pell Grants, which help low-income families send their children to college, and $6 billion to expand broadband access in underserved areas.

Individuals and families will get at least $140 billion of the tax cuts, including credits for workers worth up to $1,000 per family or $500 per individual. The bill would also expand tax credits for the working poor, including making more families eligible for a child tax credit.

The tax section contains a provision allowing businesses to convert losses into cash by claiming a refund of taxes paid in previous years. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and companies that received aid from the Troubled Asset Relief Program are not eligible for the tax break, according to a summary of the bill.

The three-dozen tax provisions also would give businesses incentives to invest in equipment and remove a requirement that first-time homebuyers repay a special $7,500 tax credit enacted last year to stimulate the housing market.

“This recovery package will provide tremendous tax relief, health care and job training benefits for families struggling to make ends meet while also giving businesses the boost they need to create jobs,”

Cnitas

<<Other provisions would provide $20 billion for federal nutrition assistance, $15.6 billion to Pell Grants, which help low-income families send their children to college, and $6 billion to expand broadband access in underserved areas. >>

Well, that ought to do it right there. </sarcasm>

DeepCoin

I take it compassion for the poor is not your strong suit.

mhammerman

pell grants

lessee 15,600,000,000 divided by say 2000 buks a head (average disbursement) would mean
7.8 million poor children that can go to college.

So...there were 2.6 million freshmen in '05; we can accomodate an additional 5 million poor students? That should prove interesting.

total fresman enrollment for degree granting institutions 2005

Deadhorse

<< <i>I take it compassion for the poor is not your strong suit. >>




Perpetuating a welfare class is not compassion.

Cnitas

<< <i>I take it compassion for the poor is not your strong suit. >>



This has nothing to do with compassion. These stimulus bills are supposed to get our economy back on track. Giving a few 3? 5? thousad dollars in cash to college kids who are 25k+ in debt and financing the cost of college does not do a darn thing to get our economy moving.

Broadband in underserved areas...hmm. Well, if it was profitable to put in the infrastructure, wouldn't the private market install it? Instead govt will pay to have it installed, then give money to the cable/phone companies to subsidize their losses. Who pays for that? Oh yeah, the taxpayers...cause they have lots of extra cash right now. Wealth redistribution at its greatest.

Money for food programs? Well, I suppose we got to get ready for the food lines since the other part of the package won't help anything.

2ndCharter

I take it compassion for the poor is not your strong suit.

Give me a break - sounds like compassion for government bureaucrats who will dispense a few pennies to the poor is your strong suit, though.

fishcooker

The $7500 handout to people who already bought houses, with the understanding they would have to pay back $7500, is quite a turn of events. It obviously doesn't help the housing market because these people got in homes after the mortgage requirements tightened.

Perhaps we'll all get $7500 off our houses! Just poof and it's there.

cohodk

A better breakdown of the details....

Details of the House's version of the $825 bln economic stimulus package have been trickling out throughout the day. Reuters.com summarized some of the key points as follows:

HIGHWAYS, RAIL, TRANSPORTATION: $30 bln for highway construction; $31 bln to modernize federal and other public infrastructure with investments that lead to long-term energy cost savings; $19 bln for clean water, flood control, and environmental restoration investments; $10 bln for transit and rail to reduce traffic congestion and gas consumption...

STATES, EDUCATION: $79 bln in state fiscal relief to prevent cuts to key services; $39 bln to local school districts, public colleges and universities distributed through existing state and federal formulas; $15.6 bln to increase Pell grants for college students...

ENERGY: $11 bln for research and development, pilot projects, and federal matching funds to modernize electricity grid; $8 bln for loans for renewable energy power generation and transmission projects; $6.7 bln for renovations and repairs to federal buildings...

HEALTH CARE: $87 bln to states, increasing through the end of FY 2010 the share of Medicaid costs the Federal government reimburses all states by 4.8%, with extra relief tied to rates of unemployment; $30.3 bln to extend health insurance coverage to unemployed beyond 18 months provided under current law; $3 bln to fight preventable chronic diseases, the leading cause of deaths in the United States, and infectious diseases...

BROADBAND, TECHNOLOGY: $6 bln to expand broadband Internet access for businesses in rural underserved areas; $20 bln for health information technology to prevent medical mistakes, provide better care to patients and introduce cost-saving efficiencies...

HOUSING: $4.2 bln to help communities buy, rehabilitate foreclosed, vacant properties to create affordable housing; $1.5 bln to help local communities build and rehabilitate low-income housing using green technologies; $5 bln for public housing repair and modernization, including critical safety repairs; $6.2 bln to help low-income families reduce their energy costs by weatherizing their homes...

ENVIRONMENT: $800 mln to clean up hazardous and toxic waste sites that threaten health and the environment.

WATER RESOURCES: $4.5 bln for environmental restoration, flood protection, hydropower, and navigation infrastructure; $6 bln for loans to help communities upgrade wastewater treatment systems; $2 bln for loans for drinking water infrastructure.

sumrtym

Honestly, instead of the corporate giveaways, I think the only thing to get the economy moving again is to put ALL that money into infrastructure repair (water, sewer, bridge, etc.). These things are becoming a MAJOR concern as they age, need replaced, and would take care of a lot of the unemployment whether it's a job in your chosen field or not.

Deadhorse

I still believe we need to build another canal. Since the Panama Canal is now in the hands of the Red Chinese, thanks to the peanut farmer, we need to build a new one.

It would provide tons of jobs for several years and would solve one of our most pressing issues beyond an oversea connection between coasts.

We simply connect San Diego, that largest port on the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico, near the Houston Ship Channel, the largest port on the Atlantic side.

We connect Brownsville, Texas and San Diego and we immediatly solve our border issue in one swoop!!

Now that would be infrastructure money well spent. A boon to the economy and a huge savings by cutting off the illegals and the drugs and it would add to our national security as well. No more OTMs sneaking in as 90% of them are from middle eastern countries as it is. It's a win-win, but it probably makes too much common sense.

mhammerman

"It's a win-win, but it probably makes too much common sense."

Actually, we could do it along the Rio Grande and slide off into San Diego and it would be done...and, we could charge people a wad to use it; no more Panama Canal. As stated, it would end the otm's and the illegados and the cross border drug trade. So, in addition to having an excellent, convenient route, you would also reduce the need for AT F and immigration so we would actualy have a huge revenue center instead of a multitude of cost centers.

Excellent idea, DH.

mrearlygold

Bear

No full recovery until 2015.

Till then, lack down down

the hatches.

BBN

<< <i>I take it compassion for the poor is not your strong suit. >>



Compassion for the poor belongs in the private sector by charity groups and religious organizations. You should already know that when the govt' gets their hands in anything they screw it up. They took poverty and turned it from a misfortunate situation to a generational culture.

ajbauman

Wow... a few interesting tid bits to work off of here

DH... nice idea, but as stated, too much common sense for us to persue. Plus the Panama Canal is only 48 miles... The US Mexican border is 1,969 miles. Maybe we could just build two large ports and expand our rail lines to carry the cargo across the US that way.

Compasion for the poor... I don't have problems with people whom are poor, I just don't see why I should have to support them with my tax dollars. I subscribe more to the "survival of the fitest" mentality. I believe it is the propping up of the poor and mediocre that has put this country in the entitlement mentality that it now finds itself in.

Govenment spending is out of control and will inevitably lead to a huge deflation of the $, if not total destruction of it.

Which brings me to the original poster's question...

I think that in the short term, a quarter or 2, there will be Obama euphoria. The markets will recover somewhat and PMs will trend down.

After everybody realizes that we are still in a whole heap of trouble, even with a new "historic" president, I expect the market to tank and PMs to skyrocket.

But what do I know??

I do know that I sold my shorts on the market today and will stay out of shorts for the next 3 - 6 months.

There is my opinion!