I would have gone to the Old Media/New Media session, but since just about everybody else that’s blogging is there, I chose differently. No, it wasn’t because I met P-Mac; he is a great guy. It’s the earmarks issue that caught my eye. Since the Wisconsin Eye cameras aren’t here, I’ll try to walk the line between giving enough information and giving too much information. The panel consists of Steve Moore, Rep. Rich Zipperer, Rep. Robin Vos, and Alderwoman (and mayoral candidate) Jill Diddier from Wauwatosa.
First up, Steve. He believes John McCain will be the real deal on economics (Moore has beaten up McCain on stuff like Global Warming). He shows a chart showing the markets over the last 40 years, and points out that the markets crashed (7% loss per year in real terms) between the late 1960s and about 1980.
The economy has grown 94% of the time, which lulls people into thinking the economy will grow no matter what. The late 1970s prove different (14% inflation, 20% interest rates).
Note on how poorly the bipartisan stimulus package will do; the number of jobs continued to drop until the 2003 tax cuts despite the 2001 stimulus package. Worse will be an Obama or Clinton Presidency.
As for spending; the only time nondefense spending was held down was between the 104th and 106th Congresses. The Pubbies bought into bringing into the pork.
One thing I didn’t know about the Bridge to Nowhere; it would be longer than the Golden Gate. Another tidbit; we could have bought each of the 40 residents it would serve a Lear jet for less money.
The Dems claimed they would cut earmarks in half; only thing is, it only dropped from 15,000 to 12,000.
I HAVE to get a pic of that last chart.
