Obama proposes bank taxes, reforms

A couple of thoughts on the proposals this week. Let's start with this proposed "bank tax". Given the outrage centered around bank bonuses, the tax is supposed to penalize the banks for requiring government help last year (in the form of TARP). The idea is that the banks benefited from TARP and TARP will probably lose money on some portion of its loans, therefore we'll tax all banks to make up any shortfall to the return of taxpayer funds.

Obamanomics- Chrysler Style

Republicans haven't been shy about branding Obama a socialist, communist or anti-business liberal. After all, they love labels. That Obama leans left is no secret, but there really hasn't been a evidence for any of those labels to stick. I use "Obamanomics" not to denote any particular philosophy, but to capture the whole of Obama's actions in the economic realm. What I see so far is wildly inconsistent.

Obama's Stimulus Plan

Since late November, ideas have been steadily leaked regarding the form of the stimulus package. So far, I have refrained from commenting since the final package will look very different from today's talk. What did prompt this post, however, is just how masterful a politician Obama is from the start. As one would expect from seasoned Washington leaders, Obama's aids have been steadily leaking ideas, no doubt to test the water and see what Wall St and Washington think.