Daily Read - 1/29/10

"Nearly half of American households have donated money to help Haiti recover from the recent earthquake. The United States government and other governments around the world, for their part, have sent thousands of relief workers and have pledged $1 billion so far." This NY Times op-ed has some thoughts on Haiti's long-term needs.

To meet the goals Obama set out for trade policy in the SOTU, he would have to "engage in a fight to the death with the liberal wing of his own party, persuade China to allow its currency to appreciate 40 percent, get global economic growth to outperform the salad days from 2003 to 2007, and lower taxes for American companies that do business abroad. And, while he is at it, forget about strengthening the dollar in the foreseeable future." (NY Times, via Yahoo)

Ben Bernanke was confirmed for a second term, upsetting some who thought this was rewarding a "failed policy". However, the Atlantic's Megan McArdle says "what was the alternative? Throwing markets into turmoil as we toss Bernanke aside and start over? What sort of qualified candidates does Senator DeMint think we'll get, after he's punished one of the world's greatest experts on financial crises for, well, being in office when one happened?" (More here)

Keith Hennessey has an excellent post (as usual) about how government efforts to create jobs typically don't provide much bang for the buck, and how this is a big political problem for a President who is expected to do something about our high unemployment rates, in spite of massive deficits.

Peggy Noonan's "The Obama Contradiction" is that "Washington is sick and broken—and it can solve all our problems" (WSJ, here) About the SOTU: "It was a speech that argued against itself: You need us to heal you. Don't trust us, we think of no one but ourselves."

On Tuesday, voters in Oregon passed two tax measures in an effort to close their budget deficit: "Measure 66 increases Oregon's personal-income-tax rate by two percentage points for households earning over $250,000 a year. Measure 67 calls for an increase in the state's minimum corporate income tax, currently $10 a year, and imposes a tax on gross revenues for corporations that don't report a profit." (WSJ)

Measures 66 and 67 were opposed by many, including Nike founder Phil Knight, who says "Measures 66 and 67 should be labeled Oregon's Assisted Suicide Law II" because "These measures would give Oregon the highest income tax rates in the country." "The state in past years was headquarters for The First National Bank, US Bank, Pacific Power, Willamette Industries, Georgia-Pacific, Jantzen, White Stag, G.I. Joe's, Monaco Coach, Meier & Frank, among many others. They are now headquartered elsewhere, are controlled by non-Oregonians or no longer exist. "

Even Paul Krugman (here) thinks the President is using "fiscal responsibility" merely to score political points.

Krauthammer provides an example of bipartisanship in Washington - "a letter from six senators -- three Republicans, two Democrats and Joe Lieberman -- asking Attorney General Eric Holder to reverse the decision" to give Khalid Sheik Mohammed a civilian trial in New York. We have been attacked by terrorists three times within the US during Obama's presidency: "twice with effect (the Arkansas killer and the Fort Hood shooter) and once with a shockingly near miss (Abdulmutallab)."