PrintSeptember 25, 2009
Graph of the Day for September 25, 2009
"Those who do not live in Fantasyland understand that the only options are:
- To greatly increase taxes on middle- and lower-income groups (a political nonstarter).
- To ‘fund' all of the new spending by selling bonds to the private market at much higher interest rates (thus sucking out private capital and increasing the cost of homeownership, which will lead to slower growth and higher unemployment).
- To have the central bank (the Fed) buy the new debt (leading to higher rates of inflation, making everyone poorer).
- Or for the government to act responsibly and reduce spending."
Richard Rahn, Senior Fellow at the Cato Institute and Chairman of the Institute for Global Economic Growth. From the Copenhagen Institute.
Data sources: Data through 2007 from US Statistical Abstract Table 452; data for 2008 through 2019 from Congressional Budget Office's Analysis of the President's Proposed Budget.
Hoven's Index for September 25, 2009
Percent of those polled by Rasmussen who strongly disapproved of President Obama on his first day in office: 16%.
Percent who strongly disapproved as of Sept. 21, 2009 (8 months later): 38%.
Percentage increase in the number of those who strongly disapprove of President Obama in his first 9 months in office: 138%.
Source: Rasmussen Reports
