By Steven Tanner

Ask anyone what they think about President Obama’s efforts to stimulate the economy and you’re likely to get one of two responses: (1) It doesn’t go far enough to actually create jobs, or (2) We’re leveraging our children’s future with debt when we should be cutting taxes instead.

If you ask me, both responses are based on false assumptions about the trajectory of Western capitalism.

Everyone would like to see a full recovery back to what we mistakenly perceive as the “normal” state of things. But we’re trying to save an economy built on infinite growth and cheap energy at a time when such frontiers no longer exist – instead of laying the necessary foundations for an austere economic future that will depend on locally driven solutions.

Kumar has spoken; but Harold could not be found for comment.

Kalpen Modi, a.k.a. Kal Penn of Harold and Kumar fame, blogged in his capacity as a White House Associate Director for the Office of Public Engagement.

And he has a lot to say about the new student loan reform.

Let’s back up a bit here. What “student loan reform”?

We all knew that health care legislation had passed, using the reconciliation process. But did anyone realize that student loan legislation had passed, at the same time?

They call it the “Amazon Tax”. It’s the tax legislation that made it through the California Senate.

But Governor Arnold Schwarznegger has vowed to veto it.

Hasta la vista, baby.

Essentially, the tax is a form of sales tax which has already been implemented in the State of New York. It is a tax that seeks to level the playing field for in-state businesses who have to pay sales tax.

Imagine that you’re a mom-and-pop bookstore in California. You collect and pay sales tax on the books you sell. Then, in comes Amazon, the Internet book seller. Amazon claims it does not have a sufficient presence in the State of California and it avoids paying sales tax.

You’ve heard the word “reconciliation” in the news. The Obama Administration heath care reform might be passed using an oft-misunderstood method called “budget reconciliation.”

Well, what is budget reconciliation?

Here are the quick facts:

• It’s a process which allows the government to change law
• It only requires a majority of votes instead of 60
• It applies to laws relating to the budget only
• Both, Republicans and Democrats have used this process consistently over the years to enact healthcare laws
• President Bush used it to enact the $1.8 trillion tax cuts