The Rapacity of Obacity

( teh morning snark )

A stimulus idea I could get behind...

From Greg Mankiw at Harvard, via David Frum's The New Majority site:

I would institute an immediate and permanent reduction in the payroll tax, financed by a gradual, permanent, and substantial increase in the gasoline tax. I would make the two tax changes equal in present value, so while the package results in a short-run budget deficit, there is no long-term budget impact. Call it the create-jobs, save-the-environment, reduce-traffic-congestion, budget-neutral tax shift. I recognize that some state governments are now struggling in light of the macroeconomic crisis. For the next two years, I would let each state governor have the authority to divert a portion of the payroll tax cut in his or her state and take the funds instead as state aid. Those governors who think they have valuable infrastructure projects ready to go would take the money. When designing a fiscal stimulus, there is no compelling reason for one size fits all. Let each governor make a choice and answer to his or her state voters.

http://www.newmajority.com/ShowScroll.aspx?ID=9027f788-1ff7-476d-b3f1-2e9dd474f19a

Bwaaaaahahaha. Let all those whining greenie car owners suffer while I pedal my way to financial stability!

[exits cackling an evil cackle]