Editors Blog

Mike Murphy is Publisher. Email him at mikemurphy@achrnews.com.


Murphy's Law: Stimulus Packages

February 02, 2009

Rumors are floating around that President Obama’s administration is going to spend our way out of the worst economic times since the Great Depression.

Maybe that will happen, maybe it won’t.

A proposal is drifting through Washington, D.C., that would increase the amount of tax credits for high-efficiency appliances, i.e., air conditioners and furnaces, from $500 to $1,500.

Except for that nagging issue about my tax dollars funding this proposal, I’m OK with it.

If consumers buy more stuff from you, and you buy more stuff from distributors, and they buy more stuff from manufacturers, and they, in turn, buy more advertising from us, I will be a happier camper.

But, really. The best thing about the proposed $1,500 is that there would be no limit as to how the tax credit would be used. In other words, all $1,500 could be applied against the purchase of a gas furnace, for example.

The old tax credit structure was more like $50.57 for a water heater, $29.19 for pipe insulation, $39.99 for a compressor blanket, $149.79 for a gas furnace - well, you get the idea.

Let us hope that somebody starts spending their way out of this recession in nice round figures - lots of zeros would be nice.
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