Caller Rick asked Brinker his opinion on the tax rebate proposal on the purchase of homes. Then Rick said: "....and the statement that I think the big problem right now is just the confidence in the market because of the administration?"
Brinker said: "The confidence in the market because of the administration? [Rick tries to answer, Brinker raises voice and talks over him] What are you talking about? When you say confidence in the market because of the administration, what in the world are you talking about?"
Rick said: "Well, my statement is people who want to make purchases now, I'm identifying on the retail side, they are afraid of the administration -- they haven't had a good two weeks. We were waiting to get rid of the Bush administration and then we sat around and waited for Obama because he was the candidate of change. When the reality is, he is more of the same."
Brinker said: "Rick, Rick, Rick, that kind of mentality is complete nonsense. [Rick tries to speak; Brinker talks over him.] All you're doing here is, you're reciting somebody's talking points. You are not thinking for yourself. This guy has been in office for a total of a couple of weeks. He has inherited one of the biggest financial debacles of all time. [Rick keeps talking in background, Brinker talks over him.] And he's in the very beginning process of trying to do something about it and he should be given a reasonable period of time to try to get things done. And I don't understand where you're coming from."
Rick said: "Let me explain it to you then. Maybe I didn't explain it right. We're waiting for a stimulus package, and like you said, the word is stimulus package. And then the bill that was brought before the House and the Senate wasn't a stimulus package. It was a goodie list. If they want to stimulate the economy, do the things you're talking about."
Brinker said: "Well, you're just agreeing with me. [Rick: "Absolutely."] But you see, what you said is not true. Because what the House passed, and I don't like the House Bill as it stands, is they combined the stimulus package with the Trojan Horse -- that you call the goodies list. Now what I say is, strip out the goodies list and let's go with the stimulus package......But To place what the House did on the back of a new president whose barely been if office is absolutely unfair."
Rick said: "I agree that it's unfair. The only thing I would say though is, this is when we need him to lead. The..."
Brinker said: "Well, give him a some time. Give him a little chance for crying out loud. I will speak frankly with you, I have never -- and I know where a lot of this is coming from and it's where I would expect it to come from -- I have never in my life....You know 70% of this country likes this president and they are hopeful he will do a good job. [Rick: "I do too."] Alright, because it's good for America. Now here's the reality. I have never in my lifetime a Rushhhh to judgment to discredit a new president as I have in this case. I certainly didn't see it for George W. Bush in his first two weeks. I did not see the Rushhh to judgment to discredit the man. I have never seen a Rushhh to judgment of a president as I have for this president.
I know where it's coming from, and it's what I would expect from THESE people. But the Rushhh to discredit this man before he's given ANYTHING resembling a reasonable period of time to do what he's trying to do in a VERY tough set of circumstances is very obvious to me. I think it's obvious to a lot of people."
Rick said: "Point taken. Tell me what's going to happen with the $15,000 tax credit in housing."
Brinker said: "Well, I like it. It's not my proposal, it's an offshoot. It's a derivative of the proposal that I've discussed -- that's been discussed by Dr. Bill Wattenburg. That proposal which is the one I really like -- that's the pure one is to put in tax incentive for the purchase of foreclosed properties. Now this is okay. It goes beyond that because it applies to all primary residence purchases. I can live with that. I can live with the amount -- $15,000......10% up to a $150,000 property."
Rick asked: "Is it taxable the next year?"
Brinker said: "No, you don't have to pay this back........No, I think it's a good proposal, Rick. And I would only ask that people give the guy some reasonable period of time......First of all, he's walking in....Look, here's what he's doing, and I don't use this loosely. This guy is coming up to the plate with two outs in the bottom of the ninth with his team trailing 9 to nothing. I mean, this is not the job he ran for, I've said that before. He didn't announce for this job. This is what he got when he got elected. Now the reality is he deserves a fair chance. I'm going to give him a fair chance. I there are people out there, Rick, and I don't include you -- but I know there are people out there who want him to fail because they want to get their own party in --their strictly partisan. By the way, THESE people, Rick, DO NOT CARE about this country!"
[Honeybee sez: This is perhaps the most biased political hate-speech I have ever heard Bob Brinker deliver on his program. He attacked another radio talk-show host (who is much more popular than Brinker), but doesn't have the courage to be upfront about the man's name.
Then he attacked a large segment of Americans who DO CARE about this country, and that is WHY they oppose this stimulus package -- or large parts of it. "Those people" that Brinker spoke so condescendingly about (including the talk-show host that Brinker falsely accused) are not hoping for Obama to fail, they are hoping for this dangerous TRILLION-DOLLAR spending package to fail because they are convinced it will damage our country perhaps beyond repair!
Brinker wants to give Obama "time." Well, guess what, Obama and Pelosi are the ones who wanted this package passed IMMEDIATELY, in spite of the fact that Obama promised this "russhhh" to pass bills would not happen on his watch. And in spite of the fact that no one in the House or Senate had time to read the package -- even if they wanted to wade through 1100 pages.] Youtube video
Here is more up-to-date info on the stimulus package: Today, Terry Savage wrote an article for the Sun Times. Here are some excerpts:
"What stimulus?
It's not that it's all a waste of money. The real problem is that there's no direct link to jobs, growth, incentives and multipliers in so many of the spending allocations.
Income Tax Credit: $400 for individuals, $800 for couples. The tax credit phases out for singles with income over $75,000 and couples earning over $150,000.
Problem: You won't see the money until you file taxes next year, unless your employer is willing to readjust withholding schedules!
Car Buyer Sales Tax Deduction: Deduct state and local sales and excise taxes even if you don't itemize.
Problem: Applies only to new cars, and may not be enough to make much difference.
First Time Home Buyer Credit -- Refundable tax credit of 10 percent of purchase price up to $8,000 for purchases in 2009. Phases out at incomes over $75,000 single, $150,000 couple.
Problem: Credit maxes out at $80,000 home price, too low a limit Must be repaid if house is sold within 3 years.
Pell Grants Increased by $500: Max grant is $5,350 in 2009.
Problem: Nice headline, but not enough to help these poorest students, and where's the stimulus effect?
Higher Ed Tax Credit: Spend up to $4,000 on higher education, and get a $2,500 credit.
Problem: Limited to those already spending college money, doesn't make borrowing -- or repayments -- easier.
COBRA Health Insurance Help: Employer will pay 65 percent of costs to extend your health care coverage after you're unemployed.
Problem: Very helpful to those who lose jobs, but may still leave them with significant monthly cost. And, again, where's the stimulus?
There's nothing really wrong with these ideas. But even lumped together they don't make a significant dent in our economic problems. They don't deal with the thousands facing foreclosure, or the threat of bankruptcy. And they don't work together to get the economy going again."
Read full article at Sun Times
[Please notice the new "News and Links" section about halfway down the right column. I will be adding interesting items and useful links there regularly.]
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