Stimulitis

Stimulitis

It seems everyone is on board with the idea of enacting an economic stimulus package in the next few weeks. Getting it done will require both parties to give up the opportunity to use the bill to push other pet issues.

President Bush and other Republican leaders have taken the first step, acknowledging that they won't be able to use this as a vehicle for extending the Bush tax cuts set to expire in 2010. But judging from their rhetoric, some Democrats continue to insist that the stimulus package be used to rescue the "beleaguered" middle class or to compensate for years of rising income inequality. But at $145 billion, it's way too little to do either.

The president tried to get the jump on setting the agenda by putting an $800-per-person tax rebate on the table, which, along with a tax break for business investment, would probably exhaust what money is available. The problem is that even if the rebates are targeted at low- and middle-income families, there's some debate about how much of that will get spent quickly. Estimates range from 30 to 65 percent.

A more effective use of the money would be to offer extended unemployment benefits in states with high jobless rates while sending funds to state and local governments that are on the verge of laying off government workers in the face of looming budget deficits.

Sellout, or Sweet Revenge?

So let's get this straight: Asian and Middle Eastern countries earn dollars unfairly by manipulating their currencies and fixing oil prices. Then when the credit bubble they helped to create in the United States finally bursts, they use their ill-gotten gains to buy significant stakes in Wall Street banks and investment houses that are suddenly desperate for capital. It's enough to make anyone sign up for the Lou Dobbs fan club.

Or is it? Could it be that, in fact, these foreign investors were suckered into buying too early, that the value of their new dollar-denominated assets will decline even further, and that it will be years before they will be able to get their money back -- if ever? Will they suffer the same fate as the Japanese with Pebble Beach and Rockefeller Center?

Of course, the foreigners could hire a good attorney and sue, arguing they were misled about the banks' financial conditions by accountants, lawyers and rating agencies. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court just last week decided to bar such "frivolous" litigation, maintaining, among other things, that such suits discourage foreign investment.

Who says there is no justice?

Ticketmastery

For years, Ticketmaster and the major music and sporting venues have had a wonderful partnership. In return for handing Ticketmaster a virtual monopoly in the outsourced box-office business, Ticketmaster agreed to share some of the profit from its outrageous "service fees" in the form of undisclosed kickbacks.

Then those pesky online resellers came along and threatened to upset this cozy arrangement. Fear not, however. Ticketmaster last week agreed to pay $265 million for TicketsNow, the No. 2 player in the resale market. And you can be sure it won't be long before the venues give the newly combined firm the "exclusive" rights to offer a secondary market for their tickets and threaten legal action against competing resellers that deal in their wares.

Call me cynical, but this doesn't exactly sound like a deal that's likely to increase competition, lower prices or expand consumer choice. The antitrust police ought to take a careful look at this one.