Jonathan Alter on College Aid
futureofcapitalism.com

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter tries out a column for Bloomberg News, denouncing the deal to keep tax rates unchanged as "appalling giveaways to the wealthy." He also warns:

The American Opportunity Tax Credit, for instance, is an Obama program worth as much as $2,500 a year for tuition. The compromise extends the program from the Recovery Act. If the compromise fails, millions of students won't be able to go to college.

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Jonathan Alter on Small Business
futureofcapitalism.com

President Obama should issue an executive order requiring all companies with federal contracts to pay suppliers within 30 days rather than the "net 60" or "net 120" that is increasingly common, Jonathan Alter writes in a Bloomberg News column.

Mr. Alter portrays this as a way to look out for "small, vulnerable firms" and "small business." But if that is the idea, the two examples he gives aren't particularly apt:

consider the case of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the Belgian company that is the world's largest brewer. Net 60 is too wimpy for these folks. They routinely stiff their advertising agencies and other vendors for four months: Net 120.

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Norquist on Now or Later
futureofcapitalism.com

In a Bloomberg News column, Jonathan Alter notices the president of American Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, urging Republicans to postpone a grand deficit-reduction deal until after the 2012 election:

"Why would you cut a deal between now and 2012 when you're going to get a Republican Senate?" Norquist asks.

Mr. Norquist is both smart and savvy, so I hesitate to second-guess him, but since he is asking, here are a few reasons:

1. Even if the Republicans win the Senate in 2012, they are unlikely to win a 60-seat majority, so the practical effect under Senate rules won't be that different from their current more-than-40-seat minority status.

Read More...

Jonathan Alter on College Aid
futureofcapitalism.com

Newsweek's Jonathan Alter tries out a column for Bloomberg News, denouncing the deal to keep tax rates unchanged as "appalling giveaways to the wealthy." He also warns:

The American Opportunity Tax Credit, for instance, is an Obama program worth as much as $2,500 a year for tuition. The compromise extends the program from the Recovery Act. If the compromise fails, millions of students won't be able to go to college.

Read More...

Jonathan Alter on Small Business
futureofcapitalism.com

President Obama should issue an executive order requiring all companies with federal contracts to pay suppliers within 30 days rather than the "net 60" or "net 120" that is increasingly common, Jonathan Alter writes in a Bloomberg News column.

Mr. Alter portrays this as a way to look out for "small, vulnerable firms" and "small business." But if that is the idea, the two examples he gives aren't particularly apt:

consider the case of Anheuser-Busch InBev NV, the Belgian company that is the world's largest brewer. Net 60 is too wimpy for these folks. They routinely stiff their advertising agencies and other vendors for four months: Net 120.

Read More...

Norquist on Now or Later
futureofcapitalism.com

In a Bloomberg News column, Jonathan Alter notices the president of American Tax Reform, Grover Norquist, urging Republicans to postpone a grand deficit-reduction deal until after the 2012 election:

"Why would you cut a deal between now and 2012 when you're going to get a Republican Senate?" Norquist asks.

Mr. Norquist is both smart and savvy, so I hesitate to second-guess him, but since he is asking, here are a few reasons:

1. Even if the Republicans win the Senate in 2012, they are unlikely to win a 60-seat majority, so the practical effect under Senate rules won't be that different from their current more-than-40-seat minority status.

Read More...

Alter on Fat Cats
futureofcapitalism.com

Jonathan Alter, writing in Bloomberg View:

business must stop acting whiny and petulant about the president. I'm astonished that so many wealthy people were wounded because Obama generically referred to "fat cats" three years ago on "60 Minutes." They need to grow up and recognize that he needed to position himself as the champion of the middle class to get re-elected.

This was not, as Mr. Alter would have it, a "generic" reference. The full quote was "fat cat bankers on Wall Street." It was a specific reference to Wall Street bankers.

As for Mr. Alter's argument that this language was necessary for Mr. Obama's re-election, the argument breaks down on three levels.

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Alter on Fat Cats
futureofcapitalism.com

Jonathan Alter, writing in Bloomberg View:

business must stop acting whiny and petulant about the president. I'm astonished that so many wealthy people were wounded because Obama generically referred to "fat cats" three years ago on "60 Minutes." They need to grow up and recognize that he needed to position himself as the champion of the middle class to get re-elected.

This was not, as Mr. Alter would have it, a "generic" reference. The full quote was "fat cat bankers on Wall Street." It was a specific reference to Wall Street bankers.

As for Mr. Alter's argument that this language was necessary for Mr. Obama's re-election, the argument breaks down on three levels.

Read More...