Bob Brinker: Tax Moratorium for Business Spending in '09
Thought that might get your attention more than Groundhog Sleeps In With Super Bowl Hangover. What, you didn't know that Punxsutawney Phil - of Groundhog Day fame - is a Pittsburgh Steeler fan? Wake up and smell the Iron City Beer, buddy.
Yes, I know, this seems completely off topic, but bear with me. What if the groundhog came out, took one look at the trillion dollar stimulus bill, and jumped right back in his hole? Or maybe it was global warming that scared him. Or the state of the S&P 500 since he was last out. Maybe he saw Nancy Pelosi.
What's that got to do with business? Everything. Here's a novel thought from Bob Brinker of ABC Radio's Moneytalk program (I'm paraphrasing, here, since I heard it live on the radio):
"What if, as part of the stimulus package, we had a tax moratorium for all business capital spending in 2009? How fast would that stimulate the economy?"Look, once in a blue moon you hear an idea so profoundly obvious that you wonder why it hasn't already happened. This is one of those times. And please, don't give me that left wing, right wing partisan stuff. I'm not into that, not when we're all suffering like this. This is about finance, not politics.
What have I missed here?
Back to our groundhog, Phil: now that he's got everyone's attention, aside from being deleriously ecstatic about the outcome of the game, he seems to be really opinionated about Super Bowl ads. Here's his take on this year's crop:
The Best
- Careerbuilder.com, if you hate going to work -- (one of the funniest Super Bowl ads ever)
- Doritos: crystal ball thrown at vending machine, boss
- Doritos: luck ran out, guy hit by bus
- Bud Light: meeting guy thrown out of the window
- Budweiser: horses in love: "I didn't know Daisy was dating?"
- Teleflora: You never know what your flowers might say; "nobody wants to see you naked"
- Bridgestone: astronauts on the moon; spaceship up on blocks (to Jump Around soundtrack)
- Coca Cola insects & Coke ZeroMean Joe Green redux
- Audi chase scene
- E*Trade babies have officially jumped the shark
- Priceline.comand William Shatner have jumped the shark
- Diet Pepsi (Phil doesn't even remember the ad)
- If You're Not Watching on a Vizio (I was watching on a 60" Pioneer plasma and it was fine)
- McGruber Pepsi