Fertile Ground

A politico trained in agronomy
Was convinced he could grow the economy:
"To start with manure
'S the best way for sure,
So bullsh*t's incumbent upon-a me."

If there's one phrase that unites Washington these days, it's "to grow the economy."  Passions may boil over whether it's better to direct such growth from "the middle out" or "from the top down;" whether "the job creators" or "America's working families" comprise the more fertile soil in which to germinate the economy's roots; but there is no doubt as to the choice of metaphor.  In the newly redesigned New Republic's Jargonist column, Noreen Malone finds that "growing the economy" is a relative neologism in our old republic, first popularized by Bill Clinton in 1992.  Prior to that, the preferred metaphor imagined the economy as "an engine," on the basis of which the partisans could dispute how many cylinders it had, or whether it was firing on all of them.  Perhaps it is time to bring back Adam Smith's "invisible hand," although, in our hypersexualized era, we may not yet be ready for its inappropriate touch.

DNC 2012

If rhetorically giving 'em hell
Marks a candidate bound to do well,
Then the ultimate dream
Of a Democrat team
Is comprising of Bill and Michelle.

The team of Obama and Biden,
To voters who still are decidin',
Did forcefully ask
To finish the task
They began when to hell we were slidin'.

No disrespect to President Barack Obama, but he leaves this Democratic National Convention with his oratorical skills having been upstaged by the former President and the current First Lady. Mrs. Obama ignited in Charlotte's Democratic partisans a fire they didn't know they had, while Mr. Clinton laid out the economic case for re-election more cogently and stirringly than Mr. Obama himself has managed to do.

Now, as President Obama returns to the daily grind of campaigning against Mitt Romney, he can only hope not to be upstaged as well by the jobs data that came out this morning. Economists expected the non-farm payrolls to have increased by 125,000, while the unemployment rate was expected to remain at an unsatisfactory 8.3%. In the event, the rate fell to 8.1%, but that's bad news because it reflects a lower labor participation rate, against only 96,000 new jobs.

The Master

Said Clinton, in regal rapport
With the Democrats massed on the floor:
"I can better affirm
He deserves a new term
Than Obama himself has before."

Former President Bill Clinton, in nominating President Barack Obama for re-election at the Democratic National Convention, gave one of the greatest speeches of his political career on behalf of the man who bested his wife in 2008. Reaching out to the heads as well as the hearts of of the assembled delegates, Mr. Clinton repeatedly hushed the fired-up crowd to listen to his deconstruction of last week's Republican convention attacks.

The GOP argument, said Clinton, is simple: "We left him a total mess, he hasn't finished cleaning it up yet, so fire him and put us back in." The case for re-election? We're better off than when President Obama assumed office, said his predecessor, and “we believe ‘we’re all in this together’ is a better philosophy than ‘you’re on your own.'"

Whence Came the Deficit?

Uncle Sam, once quite in the black,
Financially fell off the track
Through tax cuts galore,
Recession, and war
In Afghanistan and in Iraq.

The New York Times editorial page gave a lesson in US federal deficit history over the weekend. Countering the notion put forth by Grover Norquist and his Republican pledgees in Congress that the deficit results from "runaway spending" under Obama, the Times demonstrated that a combination of military spending, as well as reduced revenues from lower tax rates and a weak economy, had squandered the surplus left behind by the Clinton administration. The stimulus measures implemented by Obama, though adding to the deficit in the short term, are only temporary.

Treasury Bill

Said Clinton: "If loopholes would close,
And the government's revenue rose,
Then the corporate rate
Could greatly abate,
As Republicans like to propose."

Former President Bill Clinton may have found a way out of the standoff between Republicans and Democrats over a budget deal to raise the federal debt limit. Mr. Clinton points out that, although the US corporate tax rate is 35%, the average rate actually paid is more like 23%. Some masters of tax avoidance pay zero, as in the notorious case of GE. Why not lower the rate to a level that everyone will actually pay, such as 25%, while getting rid of special write-offs and exemptions?