Gridlock in Congress
Posted: Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:46 am
....is likely what we'll have come November. Both parties about even, nothing gets done. We've seen this before, but the following is a quote from a noted economic analyst:
"If government action is crucial, then gridlock is not an attractive outcome. Ethan S. Harris, chief North American economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, says that because of an unusual series of “automatic mechanisms” built into the law this year, if Congress is gridlocked, the result could be “disastrous.”
On Dec. 31, he said, not only do Bush-era tax cuts expire, but tax breaks enacted in the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus program will also disappear. In addition, he said, there could be a $60 billion tax increase if Congress can’t adjust another levy, the alternative minimum tax. “Put it all together and there is a potential $300 billion shock to the economy,” he said, and that could bring on a recession.
“I can’t imagine a time in modern history where gridlock has been more of a problem than it would be right now,” he said.
"If government action is crucial, then gridlock is not an attractive outcome. Ethan S. Harris, chief North American economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, says that because of an unusual series of “automatic mechanisms” built into the law this year, if Congress is gridlocked, the result could be “disastrous.”
On Dec. 31, he said, not only do Bush-era tax cuts expire, but tax breaks enacted in the Obama administration’s fiscal stimulus program will also disappear. In addition, he said, there could be a $60 billion tax increase if Congress can’t adjust another levy, the alternative minimum tax. “Put it all together and there is a potential $300 billion shock to the economy,” he said, and that could bring on a recession.
“I can’t imagine a time in modern history where gridlock has been more of a problem than it would be right now,” he said.