Things Republican Politicians Do That Drive Me Crazy

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Michigoose

Steve Benen wrote this up today and I am at a total loss as to what the Senate Republicans think this is going to accomplish. Hiding reports doesn’t make the facts go away, and while I understand that you can probably find as many economists to disagree with the report as ones that agree with it, it seems to me that a better solution would be to publish a rebuttal.

In mid-September, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service published a detailed report, documenting the fact that reducing taxes on the wealthy does not, in fact, generate economic growth. Instead, the CRS found, the trickle-down model appears to be “associated with the increasing concentration of income at the top.”

[snip]

But in this case, the CRS presented Republicans with inconvenient truths. A spokesperson for Mitch McConnell said the officials at the research service “decided, on their own, to pull the study pending further review.” While that may be true, the question then becomes how much pressure the CRS officials were under to make this decision “on their own.”

And what is it that Republicans didn’t like about the CRS analysis? McConnell aides offered a series of complaints, including the report’s use of the phrase “Bush tax cuts.”

Apparently, in Republicans’ minds, to say “Bush tax cuts” is to use an inappropriate “tone.”

But putting all of that aside, we simply cannot have a functioning federal system in which neutral, independent offices are ignored, pressured, and/or censored when Republicans don’t like what they have to say. We’ve now seen this recently with the Bureau of Labor Statistics and Congressional Budget Office, and democratic norms dictate that GOP officials cut this out.

Here is the original report, republished by Senate Democrats on their web site.

Filed under: Congress, Economy, GOP, income inequality | 22 Comments »

Morning Report 11/1/12

Posted on November 1, 2012 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

 

Last

Change

Percent

S&P Futures 

1409.0

2.2

0.16%

Eurostoxx Index

2523.4

19.8

0.79%

Oil (WTI)

86.5

0.3

0.30%

LIBOR

0.313

0.000

0.00%

US Dollar Index (DXY)

79.9

-0.015

-0.02%

10 Year Govt Bond Yield

1.71%

0.02%

 

RPX Composite Real Estate Index

194.1

-0.3

 

 

Markets are up slightly as we recover from Sandy.  Transportation into NYC is still spotty, so expect lower-than-normal liquidity.  Bonds are down 1/2 a point and MBS are down small.

The US markets were closed Monday and Tuesday.  The last time the US markets were closed two consecutive days for a weather-related reason?  The Blizzard of 1888.

Can FEMA cover the losses from Sandy?  With the expected flood insurance claims, maybe not. 

We have a slew of economic data this morning, starting with ADP Employment Change.  This is supposed to mirror the payroll survey the government puts out.  It showed nonfarm private employment rose 158k in Oct, while Sep was revised downward from 162k to 114k.  ADP has made some changes to their methodology, so this number will be hard to predict / volatile for the near term.

Challenger and Gray reported announced job cuts increased 41% in Oct, largely a result of lackluster earnings reports so far. C&G don’t differentiate between domestic and overseas job cuts, so the impact on the US will be less.  The Markit Final PMI fell to a 37 month low.

Nonfarm productivity came in better than forecast, while unit labor costs unexpectedly fell. Initial Jobless claims came in at 363k.  Consumer Confidence, ISM, and construction spending will be released at 10:00.

Today is the first Thursday of the month, and that means retailers are reporting same store sales.  Generally, they are up across the board, which was pretty much to be expected.  Apparel did the best, while department and drug stores were generally down.

What will be the economic effect of Sandy? According to IHS Global, it could take 1.5% of 4Q GDP. But what about all of the construction workers that will be hired to rebuild?  More of a Q1 event, though overall, not enough to offset the balance sheet effects. Refer to the Broken Window Fallacy.  This will undoubtedly be motivation to prevent the fiscal cliff from occurring, although there seems to be a consensus that everything should be kicked down the road with the exception of the entirely symbolic tax cuts for incomes over 250k.

 

Filed under: Morning Report | 20 Comments »