The Audacity of Audacity

President Barack Obama’s strategy to fix America’s ailing economy can be accurately described with the following sentence:

When all else fails, double down.

Obama’s half-baked plan to pump another $50 billion in new stimulus money into old infrastructure is deceptive; marketing this package by highlighting the purported incentive of a tax write-off, known as a bonus depreciation, is a political farce designed to increase Obama’s popularity with Republicans and the small business owners who are struggling to survive this horrible economic climate.

Small business owners aren’t investing in new plant equipment because they don’t need the additional capacity, not because of the cost of equipment. Consumers aren’t pining to spend money because they are more focused on paying off credit cards and mortgages. There simply isn’t enough demand for goods right now to justify business owners upgrading their operations. The promise of shiny new equipment won’t be enough to bait small business owners into falling for this latest stimulus exercise. In the end, an upgrade is aesthetically pleasing, but I can guarantee the bottom line will evoke a gut-wrenching reaction.

Besides, the write-off that is being pushed as an economic necessity already exists, and has existed since roughly 2003, and it didn’t cause a sudden increase in capital spending.

As far as I can tell, this behemoth of a bill contains some pretty misleading numbers. There are $200 billion in capital investments in this proposal, an additional $100 billion for permanently extending the research and development tax credit, another $50 billion in up-front infrastructure spending, and a $30 billion small business lending fund. I bet you are thinking, “Wow, that's $380 billion dollars!” Wrong. The research and development tax gets extended every year, and like every other bill the administration has pitched, it will be paid for on the back end.

Call it "the audacity of audacity."

The Obama administration has already been given the chance to bring their promise of change to the American people. Their agenda of more taxes, increased regulations, and mandates obviously isn’t working. This stimulus bill shows an appalling disconnect between the Obama administration, small business owners and the will of the people.

I admire the president’s audacity…trying to shape this additional stimulus package as an offer Republican’s can’t refuse simply because the phrase “tax write-off” is included in the dregs of the bill takes some chutzpah. Unfortunately, that is the only thing that I admire about this $50 billion dollar political exercise--the president has the audacity to pitch it…again.

At this point, what else can the White House do? The looming Republican takeover of the House draws nigh, and his approval rating is sinking faster than a concrete bagel. I guess he is banking on sly marketing, clever slogans, and Reggie Bush-like evasiveness to sneak this latest boondoggle through. Not this time.

Despite turbulent economic times, Americans did not call for the rapid expansion of government; rather, they asked for a sensible solution to create balanced budgets, make the necessary cuts, and an easier way for people like you and me to do business without a bunch of unnecessary bureaucratic processes. Instead we are given a regurgitated and refurbished stimulus bill that no one wants. Now, that's what I call "audacity."

You can reach Micah at mgrant@cagop.org