We turned a profit on bailing out the banks, actually. Or close to one, maybe lost a negligible amount when you weigh AIG against the profitable bailouts. The

We turned a profit on bailing out the banks, actually. Or close to one, maybe lost a negligible amount when you weigh AIG against the profitable bailouts. The issue with stimulus via tax cuts (which actually constituted 1/3 of the stimulus bill we did get, you don't hear about that much, because it undercuts the obama as devil-socialist narrative), is that, as pointed out above, you're primarily putting money back in the pockets of rich people. They'll invest it and maybe that will trickle down a little but it's nowhere near the multiplier effect for the economy that direct consumer spending gets you. Poorer people spend the money, that gets it bouncing around in the economy. As a general ideological predisposition, tax cuts for the rich as a primary policy goal could theoretically make sense (although I'd suggest a hard look at the last 30 years first), but as fiscal stimulus for a down economy it just plain doesn't add up.