a liberal's view on the direction of the world
Reagan’s economist Bruce Bartlett’s new book compares the effective tax rate for the top 1% in 1986 and 2008, and finds they paid about 33% in 1986 versus around 20% now. If the top 1% paid Reagan rates , our deficit would by now be $1.7Trillion lower.
If those rates were good enough for Reagan Republican’s , why are they not good enough now??
Categories: Economy, politics.
Since we are now in the middle of the Republican primary season, there are a lot of Obama attacks coming from the leading suspects, usually accusing the President of not creating any new jobs.
As usual, the truth is almost the complete opposite – Obama came to office when our economy was in complete free fall and on the verge of collapse. His actions have pulled us out of the hole . Here is a website with the details of job creation over the past 4 years.
http://my.democrats.org/Jobs-Chart
Categories: Economy, politics.
If we want to see how deficit reduction works in practice , we just need to look at what is happening in Europe.
The strongest economy in Europe, Germany, went from a growth rate of 5% in early 2011 to zero growth now. Spain has just gone to a rate of 22% unemployment. The Eurozone as a whole is on the verge of recession. This weekend , the head of the IMF warned:
“Inappropriate spending cuts could “strangle” growth prospects.”
Well known financier George Soros warned of a “lost decade” for Europe.
We all agree that we must take long term actions to reduce the US deficit. The way to do this without increasing unemployment is to get the economy back to growth first and then tackle the deficit. Obama has the right plan – some more stimulus spending to get the economy up to a 3% growth rate , followed by tax increases on the rich and long term cuts in government spending.
The Republican plan of only cutting spending will result in us falling into the same trap as Europe with another increase in unemployment and another recession.
Categories: Economy, politics.
The distrust shown toward Romney for his delay in releasing his tax rate information has been refreshing. I think many of us are suspicious of any very rich politician who claims to have our best interests at heart.
One suggestion that might help here is to have every statement from every politician start with the phrase ” My effective tax rate last year was ….”. Then we would know how much attention to pay to this statement and how much caution we should have when listening to it. If this comes from a 15% tax rate guy, I would immediately be on my guard – this is clearly a guy who knows how to play the loopholes. If it comes from a 28% tax rate guy, I would be much more open minded – this is someone who pays his fair share.
This rule should apply to all state and Federal elected politicians, and should be required as the first statement in every speech they make , and in every press release and in every piece of legislation that they sponsor.
This is not just a bash Romney suggestion. I also have concerns about, for example, Timothy Geithner, Obama’s Treasury Secretary – clearly very competent, but does he really have our interests at heart , or maybe just Goldman Sachs??
Categories: Economy.
Over the past year , we have seen almost all the European countries enact their own version of deficit spending cuts and austerity measures, and we can now see the results of those policies – the self same policies that the Republicans are trying to install here.
The result has been an almost complete collapse of the European economies – even Germany, which is financially healthy and was growing at 4% annually in January , is now stalled with almost no growth. Spain now has a youth unemployment rate of 50%, and in one survey 80% of Spanish university students expected to have to leave Spain to get a job.
By contrast, our slim 2% growth rate and 9% unemployment actually looks good, which of course,it is not.
So what can we learn:
1. If we cut spending in a recession/very low growth world, we will increase unemployment and risk a depression
2. If we increase spending in the short term, we will create jobs and get the economy growing again. The first stimulus plan took us from minus 6% “growth” to plus 2% – we just need another stimulus plan now.
3. Once we have a solidly growing economy and unemployment back to 4 or 5% , then we can cut spending and get our long term finances in order.
President Obama has the right plan – the Republican “cut spending now” plan will give us the European disease and we will all suffer.
Categories: Economy.
1. The new extra $432 million tax break for the rich and businesses. This is billed as a “manufacturing job creation bill” – but in truth , it gives the tax breaks to any individual or business that makes money from their property that is classed as manufacturing OR agricultural. So this is another huge tax break for the big farmers, and they don’t even have to create any new jobs at all.
2. Capping Family Care. Family Care is a great program designed to keep the disabled and elderly in their homes and not in nursing homes. It is far cheaper to do this than pay for nursing homes and it is strongly supported by its users. By preventing any new enrollment, the state will save its share of the Family Care costs, but it will pass all the costs for nursing home care directly to the old or disabled who can least afford it. This is unfair and mean and should never be supported by a Senator who really cares for her constituents.
3. The Voting Prevention act /Voter ID. This is an attempt to prevent about 167,000 Wisconsin seniors who have no driver licenses from voting. Seniors mostly vote Democratic and so this is blatant attempt to steal power from the people who Sheila Harsdorf is supposed to represent.
4. Education – our best chance of maintaining a competitive local economy is to have a well educated work force – we cannot compete on low wages , so we must compete on high standards of education . Slashing the state budget for education is again a big step in the wrong direction for the people of Wisconsin.
5. Focus on Energy shutdown. Almost all Wisconsin’s fuel is imported from out of state , so every dollar spent on energy is a dollar lost to Wisconsin. Focus on Energy provides incentives to be more energy efficient, use less energy , and create local energy sources. Every dollar spent on Focus has a return of about $6 to our state economy. We should keep this program and scrap the Voter Id bill and divert that $7.5 Million from Voter Id to Focus.
No one who cares about a just and fair society would ever have voted for these bills – please tell Sheila that now, and vote for Shelly Moore on Tuesday.
Categories: Economy, politics.
The Tea Party and now the Republicans are pretty clear about what they want – government is bad and the less we have of it the better. No social safety nets, no help for the weak or the poor or the disabled , no taxes for the rich and a two tier society – the very rich and the rest of us as disposable workers. Some of them actually say this, and most of their actions point to this vision. And in Wisconsin, Walker and Harsdorf are following this same plan.
So, the election next Tuesday is not just about how to balance a budget, but it is about what kind of society we want to live in.
One where it is more important to fund our schools than to give tax breaks to the rich?
One where we protect the sick , weak and poor , even if it means increasing taxes on the rich?
One where we make sure everyone is heard and not have 167,000 senior voters in Wisconsin banned from voting because they don’t have a drivers license?
One where we value a peaceful neighborhood, or one where we all carry concealed handguns?
I know which place I want to live in and so I ask you all to please vote for Shelly Moore on Tuesday and start to bring sanity back into our political system
Categories: Economy, politics.
World markets slumped today as people realized what the Republican forced cuts will do to the US economy and jobs.
If any of this was about improving our economy or creating jobs, the markets would have soared. They didn’t.
So now we have most economists and all the world markets telling us that the Republicans are driving us into a deep hole. We will see the economy shrink and unemployment climb, and then this winter we will start the whole cutting process all over again. If we really want a second Great Depression, we are now on track for it.
President Obama said the right words today and I hope he can pull it off – we need more stimulus and we need to roll back the Bush tax cuts on the rich – then we can still pull ourselves out of this Republican inflicted hole.
And don’t forget, the State Republicans are following exactly the same agenda – if you want an economic recovery, vote for Shelly Moore and stop Walker and Harsdorf from any further damage to our local economy.
Categories: Economy.
The country and the state seem to have jumped in a time machine back to the Great Depression. Essentially all economists say that cutting government spending will reduce jobs and slow down the economy. Is that really what we want? Didn’t the Republicans say they were here to create jobs, not to destroy them?
So, now that Obama’s stimulus plan is over , we see the first reports coming in of an almost no growth economy in the first half of this year, and so what do we do – we decide to cut spending some more and slow the economy down even further.
And why are we doing this? Because the Republicans think it is more important to cut taxes on the rich than it is to create jobs for the rest of us. I know we will hear the complaints about our taxes, but in the Western world , we have one of the lowest overall tax rates of any country.
What should we be doing? We should be boosting the economy with another round of government spending and we should be moving to a balanced budget by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for the rich.
And we should do the same at the state level – rollback the $430 million in tax cuts for rich farmers and manufacturers and use that money to maintain programs that help people and children.
The only way we will get that is by dumping Walker and Sheila Harsdorf and taking back the State Senate.
VOTE Shelly Moore.
Categories: Economy, politics.
Sheila Harsdorf and the JFC have now signed off on their budget bill for the next 2 years. This is a mean and greedy budget which once again tries to balance the budget on the backs of the sick , the poor and children, while giving huge tax breaks to the rich.
There are 3 items in particular which I think should be changed immediately, before the Governor signs this bill , and , if you agree, I hope you will contact Sheila and Walker ASAP.
1. capping Family Care. Family Care is a great program designed to keep the disabled and elderly in their homes and not in nursing homes. It is far cheaper to do this than pay for nursing homes and it is strongly supported by its users. By preventing any new enrollment, the state will save its share of the Family Care costs, but it will pass all the costs for nursing home care directly to the old or disabled who can least afford it. This unfair and mean and should not even be considered by people living in a caring society.
2. The new extra $432 million tax break for the rich and businesses. This is billed as a “manufacturing job creation bill” – but in truth , it gives the tax breaks to any individual or business that makes money from their property that is classed as manufacturing OR agricultural. So this is another huge tax break for the big farmers, and they don’t even have to create any new jobs at all.
This whole idea should be scrapped and the money returned to the education budget and the Family Care budget.
3. Focus on Energy shutdown. Almost all Wisconsin’s fuel is imported from out of state , so every dollar spent on energy is a dollar lost to Wisconsin. Focus on Energy provides incentives to be more energy efficient, use less energy , and create local energy sources. Every dollar spent on Focus has a return of about $6 to our state economy. We should keep this program and scrap the Voter Id bill and divert that $7.5 Million from Voter Id to Focus.
Overall , this is a shameful budget – it attacks those least able to defend themselves – the sick, the disabled, the poor, and children and pours the money once again into the pockets of the rich. No one who cares about a just and fair society would ever have voted for this budget – please tell Sheila that now, and vote for Shelly Moore July 12.
Categories: Economy.
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