Incenting Businesses
by digby
If he’s saying what he seems to be saying, I’m fairly sure it’s a good thing:
Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the Obama administration will push for letting tax cuts for wealthy Americans expire while extending them for the rest of the nation.
In interviews broadcast Sunday on ABC and NBC, Geithner said the administration also favors protecting businesses from having some taxes restored to higher levels.
The administration wants to “leave in place tax cuts that are very important to incent businesses to hire new employees and to invest and expand in output,” Geithner said on the ABC program “This Week.”
Asked on the ABC show if letting any tax cuts expire would harm the recovery, Geithner said: “I do not believe it will have a negative effect on growth.”
“We think that’s the responsible thing to do,” Geithner said. “We need to make sure we can show the world that we’re willing as a country now to start to make some progress bringing down our long-term deficits.”
Frankly, I don’t think “the world” gives a damn, but obviously “Geithner’s world” does — or pretends to for its own reasons. If he’s saying that they can be appeased by reinstating the tax cuts, then I couldn’t be happier. Perhaps they can even be “incented” not to chase phantom bond vigilantes and confidence fairies.
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