Why Tax Cuts For The 1% Don’t Help The Economy

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Very simply stated.

If someone has a pre-tax income of $1,000.00 and the tax rate is 30% they would have an after tax income of $700.00

If we lowered the tax to 20% they would have an after tax income of $800.

Their after tax income increased $100.00 without them doing anything different.

Magnify that into millions or billions of dollars and now we’re talking hundreds of thousands or millions more retained without doing anything different.

Why would they risk their capital when there is no incentive to do so? Why not put it in a Hedge Fund which is taxed at an even lower rate? The massive amount of capital retained by major corporations is evidence of this. They are retaining billions of dollars, skimming the cream off the economy so to speak. The money goes offshore never to be seen again.

There are a lot of ways to improve the economy, but cutting taxes for the top 1% and Multinational Corporations isn’t among them.

Let’s Destroy The “Two Party” System

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Say No To GOP

The main obstacle in breaking the stranglehold that the Democrats and Republicans have on our elections is ballot access. They have conspired together to make sure its harder for individuals or third parties to gain access to the ballots. Even well established Political Parties like the Green and Libertarian Parties have trouble getting their information to the public and get on the ballot. The rules are different from State to State and are written by the political parties to maintain their favored status. So any change will have to come from citizens through the initiative process. I’d like to take a page out the right wing operation manual like American Legislative Exchange Council and create an Initiative that had wide grassroot support that could be implemented in all Fifty states. There are many people and organizations that have been and currently are working on ideas that we can bring together and move forward.

There are people on the left that aren’t happy with Obama and people on the right that aren’t happy with Romney. There are people that support third party candidates that can’t gain traction. There are independents and others who feel as though they aren’t represented at all. Many people don’t vote or don’t even register because they don’t think their votes matter. The goal is to make sure we have more and better options for the 2016 election. Let’s make party conventions irrelevant.

Say No To GOPWhat I propose is to cripple the Republican Party and put the Democrat Party on the spot. The Republican party already has deep internal divisions. They have the Ron Paul supporters, the Tea Party, the Evangelicals, neo-conservatives, RINO’s and old school Republicans. The frustration of these factions is real and deep. They have organizations and contacts all across the country. If given the opportunity, I believe they would jump at the chance to put forward their candidates without the constraints of working within the Republican party. These factions will be helpful in putting forward Equal Ballot Access initiatives.

The Republican Party is vulnerable because they are on the wrong side of popular opinion on a number issues:

58 percent say the rich don’t pay enough in taxes

Gridlock in Congress? Blame the GOP

U.S. Congress’ Approval Rating at 21% Ahead of Elections

The Pledge: Grover Norquist’s hold on the GOP

Poll: Most Voters Oppose Citizens United Decision

Grass-roots activists battle attempt to rig Republican delegate rules

Poll: Voters want super PACs to be illegal

Poll: 54 Percent Blame Bush And GOP For Economic Woes

The Republican party has also been caught in voter suppression efforts and fraud. These bad acts should not be rewarded with our votes.

Masters of voter suppression: Republicans employ many techniques to keep low-income voters away from the polls

Courts Block GOP Voter Suppression Laws

GOP Quietly Hires Firm Tied to Voter Fraud Scandal for Work in Battleground States

The other side of this is putting Democrats on the spot. They won’t have any excuses, no where to hide, no one to blame if their governing doesn’t work. They’ll also have factions that may break away including Progressives and Labor or other active Political Parties.

There are already people and organizations that have been working on ballot access issues for a long time, so we don’t have to start from scratch.

Ballot Access News
Range Voting
American Civil Liberties Union
Freedom Ballot Access
Coalition For Free and Open Elections
Third Party Politics
Election Law Ballot Access
Free and Equal
Ballotpedia
FairVote.org
Stop Top Two

Then of course there all of the third parties and individual independents that could be counted on to help nationally, regionally and at the state level.

Right now President Obama is favored 2-1 on winning re-election. The worst possible outcome would be another Republican led House of Representatives whose leaders have already declared they wouldn’t cooperate with the President if re-elected. That would mean at least two more years of no progress on any of the important issues facing our country. Two more years of obstructionism. Two more years of filibusters.

The beauty of this plan is in it’s simplicity. Just don’t vote for any Republicans. It doesn’t really matter who you vote for, as long as it’s not a Republican. Not voting at all won’t help. They need to see that people showed up and voted, but didn’t vote for Republicans. If their numbers are down in the 25% range we’ll see a shift. That is what will give those factions within the party the encouragement needed to join in the equal ballot access effort. This is important to our success in reforms because we need a coalition that covers the widest spectrum of political beliefs. We need to organize around one fundamental belief: Political Parties have usurped power that should be reserved for the people. We need to take that power back. We can disagree on everything else and still get this reform done in the best interests of the country.

There will be some that claim that this will lead to European style “Proportional Representation” when in fact it will lead us closer to the original intent of our Founders. Our Constitution makes no mention of political parties. Ideally, there would be no political parties, office holders would serve only the constitution and be accountable only to their constituents. Multiple parties or a large number of independents without party affiliation would force our elected officials to work together to get things done. Compromise would no longer be a dirty word. It would be more difficult for one group to have unchecked power in the legislative branch. The executive branch would need to build coalitions within the legislative branch to get things done. Our elected officials would more likely represent the same kind of diversity as our population, not dominated by rich, white, male lawyers.

We don’t have much time to get this done. There is no budget for this. This is going to be grassroots and it needs to go viral. Post it to all your social networks. Blog about it. Talk to your friends and family offline and on about it. Write letters to the editor or your local newspaper. Call in to your local talk radio show. Post your questions and suggestions below. Share your ideas, success and failures.

Then on November 7th let’s gather together and start working seriously to make equal ballot access in all fifty states a reality. THAT is change we can believe in.

Disclaimer:

Thirty years ago I was a Republican, very involved in Republican Party politics. I quit the Republican party when the “Moral Majority” took over. Since then I’ve been “undeclared”. My views are now to the left of mainstream Democrats. I mostly align myself with the Progressive Caucus of the Democrats, but support elements of the Green and Libertarian parties. If you want to know more specific positions I have you can find them here. You can also read more ideas I have on campaign finance and election reforms here. I have no connection with any organization or political party. I’m not getting paid or in anyway compensated for this or any of my views.

Economic History Lesson For Conservatives

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Conservatives are forever saying that we must cut taxes on the rich in order to spur investment and create jobs. Despite the obvious recent history that should be evidence enough of the fallacy of that theory, they persist. So I’m going to take another approach. I’m going to use a 24 month period of time in our history that had an unemployment rate on average of 3%.

Top marginal tax rate 92%
Capital gains tax 26%
Private sector union membership 35% of total work force.
Corporate tax rate 30% on first 25,000. 52% over 25,000.

“…big-company CEOs in the U.S. earned about fifty times the pay of an average worker. Even then, that ratio was very high compared to other countries. But since then, CEO pay in the U.S. has skyrocketed in comparison to average salaries. By 1990, average CEO pay was about 100 times the average worker’s salary, and by 2000, it was more than 500 times that of the average worker.

In 2004, the New York Times reported comparative ratios of CEO pay to employee averages. In Japan, CEOs earned about ten times that of the average employee. In Germany, the ratio was 11 to 1, in the UK 25 to 1, and in the United States, 531 to 1! It is difficult to see how American companies can justify these huge executive compensations when these other countries, which much smaller CEO pay, have generally managed faster economic growth, greater productivity increases, and greater gains in their stock markets.”

It wasn’t too long ago. 1952-1953. One of the most prosperous periods in American history.

Here’s more from another prosperous period.

1993 deficit reduction: A Lesson on Tax Policy
CLINTON’S ECONOMIC PLAN: The Details; Clinton’s Plan: Austerity and Change

Romney’s Long Record Of Secrecy, Lies And Lack Of Accountability

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While Romney likes to tout is business experience, “rescuing” the Salt Lake City Olympics and as Governor, the truth is much darker. He has done his best to cover his tracks. At each step along the way there are destroyed documents. His version of the story keeps changing as new information comes available. In his wake he has left the government holding the bag on his failed business. Healthy companies looted for cash, loaded with debt and left to fail. The story is of unbridled greed with no regard for the people and communities harmed in the process.

Following in roughly chronological order of Romney’s career are excerpts from the links I’ve found. Also included are videos detailing some of Romney’s low lights. There is a lot here, but there is much more if you take the time to follow the links. But know this; the very reasons that Romney is saying we should vote for him, are the same reason that we should not. Romney represents everything that is wrong with our country. You’ll see a repeating pattern of behavior over 25 plus years. Please read, share and discuss. Continue reading ‘Romney’s Long Record Of Secrecy, Lies And Lack Of Accountability’ »

Stupid is as stupid does. Conservative ignorance exposed.

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Sometimes the level of bullshit rises to a point where it’s not simply enough to call it bullshit.

Chris Angelini, Cris (@ConserValidity)
Posted Sunday 19th August 2012 from Twitlonger

@gemimms @Emperor_Bob Ignorance and stupidity doesn’t change the facts – Educate yourselves

Chris if you’re going to call someone out, using words like “Ignorance and stupidity” you best have your facts straight or you’ll be the one shown to be “ignorant and stupid”.

The politics of Medicare have changed. For decades, Democrats have run Mediscare ads claiming that Republicans would end Medicare as we know it;

Yes, and they were and are right. The Romney/Ryan plan to turn Medicare into a voucher system does end Medicare as we know it. It puts seniors and those with a disability at risk of not being able to afford health care they need, because the insurance they can afford with the voucher may not offer the services, procedures and medicine they need. They’ll be right back to losing everything they own in order to pay for medical costs in what should be their “golden years”.

now we have Obamacare which turns the entire healthcare system upside down, effectively obliterating Medicare; which includes taking $716 Billion in benefits&services;from current recipients of Medicare to finance Obamacare, in order to make Obamacare look like it didn’t add to the deficit.

Imagine that, putting people before profits. I know that’s a difficult concept for conservatives to grasp. The health care system needed to be turned upside down in order to set it right.

That 700 billion dollar in savings also shows up in Ryan’s budget. The difference is that the Ryan proposal takes the money out of health care for other purposes than health care. None of the savings in ObamaCare came out of “benefits or services from current recipients of Medicare”. That is simply a lie or ignorance. Take your pick.

PolitiFact | Ryan’s plan includes $700 billion in Medicare “cuts,” says Stephanie Cutter “Cutter was right about the Ryan plan. We rate her statement True.”

Obamacare cranks down the price controls for hospitals, it guts Medicare advantage, the program that gives 1 out of 5 seniors private insurance options

They propose a voucher system for medicare and then attack ObamaCare for basically doing the same thing? Which is rather bazaar since that is not the case at all.

How Obamacare strengthens Medicare Advantage

“…and it creates the “Independent Payment Advisory Board” –this is a 15 member commission of unelected bureaucrats, whose decisions (UNLIKE ANY OTHER PART OF OUR GOVT) are not subject to judicial or legislative review (so even congress can’t over-rule them). Which is going to command Medicine: tell doctors how to practice, how they should be organized and eventually start to make case by case decisions on what treatment patients are allowed to receive. President Obama says Medicare is going broke, we got to do something and there is no other option – so let’s delegate all of these decisions to 15 technocrats.”

Ah yes, the BIG LIE. The only thing right in that whole statement was the number on the board. The fact is that for profit insurance companies are much more likely to refuse coverage.

The IPAB: The Center Of A Political Clash Over How To Change Medicare – Kaiser Health News

Independent Payment Advisory Board Will Help Reduce Health Costs — Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

First of all, the Romney/Ryan plan does not affect anyone 55 or older at all.

That’s a nifty bit of politics thinking that people won’t object to others being screwed as long as they aren’t getting screwed themselves. Fortunately, most people aren’t as narcissistic as conservatives that can only think of themselves, their money and what’s in it for them. You can always tell when you’re talking to a conservative because they only want to talk about the money, not the people involved.

The aim of the Romney/Ryan is to bring costs downthrough competition and make seniors more price conscious if they have to go out and buy their own health insurance with Government subsidizes.

What if the voucher isn’t enough? What if the insurance they can afford to buy doesn’t cover what they need? What about pre-existing conditions? Is the option to sell everything they have to pay for expensive procedures, equipment, medication or other health services? Is the plan to have them spend themselves into poverty then they can turn to medicaid (if its available)?

But one of the Big Government Democratic charges is that seniors are helpless and aren’t up for that, this is beyond their capabilities and they will end up having to pay more; is that right? NO, the model is the Federal Employee’s Health Benefit Program which covers all federal Workers, including members of Congress. The premium support payments, the subsidies you are talking about, rises over time with healthcare costs. The idea is- just by having seniors pay at the margin, if they want the most generous benefits, they’ll instead start to push down on healthcare costs. Economic History unequivocally proves this will happen and that’s really what the system needs.

See that, that’s how we know Chris is a conservative. Not a word about quality of life. Not a word about quality of care. All about the market, as if suddenly competition is going to drive down prices. The problem is that nobody knows for certain what is going to happen in the future. A long hospitalization or long term care would be catastrophic. If competition hasn’t brought down insurance and healthcare costs yet, how is going to magically happen because of vouchers? The elderly and disabled aren’t profitable. What is the incentive for insurance companies to provide affordable premiums when competition hasn’t had any affect on premiums or healthcare? It doesn’t matter to the insurance companies whether they get a government voucher or if its a direct pay. Seniors and disabled are preyed upon by all sorts of con artists. They are targeted deliberately. Insurance companies are notorious for their taking advantage of the elderly and disabled.

You have now got a very clear choice: 1) See if we can reduce costs through voluntary incentives or 2) Let unelected bureaucrats, override your doctor and say no to your hip replacement saying you are too old. The latter plan, which is the Obama plan, is going to be a loser with everyone.

Seriously this is the most absurd argument or statement yet; “reduce costs through voluntary incentives”. Who is going to voluntarily cut their prices? What kind of incentives are going to be offered to insurance companies or medical professionals that will have them cut their prices? They already cry because Medicare doesn’t pay enough, yet the market is going to magically fix that? If the market was going to force lower prices it would have already happened. Prices are out of control and the Romney/Ryan voucher system will do nothing to stop that.

“The Independent Payment Advisory Board is an expert body charged with developing and submitting proposals to slow the growth of Medicare and private health care spending and improve the quality of care. The President nominates the board’s 15 members, who require Senate confirmation, for staggered six-year terms. The board must include physicians and other health professionals, experts in health finance, health services researchers, employers, and representatives of consumers and the elderly. To prevent control by special interests, health care providers may not constitute a majority of the board’s membership.”

They aren’t going to be deciding if Grandma gets a hip replacement or not. That’s just right wing fear mongering.

That’s why interestingly; this week, Democrats who have loved this issue for years, could not wait to get away from it to talk about Romney’s tax returns. The fact that Democrats don’t want the Medicare fight is a seismic change.

I know conservatives would love to think that. Truth is that Romney/Ryan are on the wrong side on Medicare. The fact is that the more informed people are on the Romney/Ryan voucher program for Medicare the less they like it. Most people want Medicare left alone, ObamaCare ensures that Seniors and people with disabilities will have access to health care. The Romney/Ryan plan destroys Medicare and adds uncertainty.

As far as Romney and Ryan refusing to release tax returns, until they do it’s going to be a question in voters minds. What is it they are hiding? Romney has failed to release a single complete return. There are legitimate questions regarding who he has done business with. What kind of loopholes he has taken advantage of. Why did he have that Swiss Bank account and did he take advantage of the 2009 amnesty for tax dodgers? It must be a pretty big deal if they would rather keep information hidden rather than release them to the public.

The job of a Presidential Campaign is to lead, Romney and Ryan doing so is the right thing and the only responsible option.

Responsible? If lying is responsible then I guess you could say Romney/Ryan are responsible. They can’t even get their lies straight.

New Romney ad pushes debunked claim against Obama

The One Thing That EVERY Business MUST Have To Be Successful Is…

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Customers.

What is the one thing every business must have in order to expand?

Customers.

What is the one thing every business must have in order to hire more people?

Customers.

How do tax cuts for the rich create customers

They don’t

How does deregulation create customers?

It doesn’t

How does government spending create customers?

With government purchases, payrolls, and benefits that puts money back into the economy for working class and poor families to spend.

If you want to hear hypocrisy, just tell a conservative that we’re going to close or downsize a military base in their district. Boy will they howl, not because of the military importance as they claim, but because they know what that military payroll means to the local community, businesses and private sector jobs.

80% of all US companies with employees have 10 or fewer employees. I’m sure they appreciate the tax cuts, it means more profits for the owners. The tax credits for hiring new people would be helpful if demand warranted new hires. The regulations that most effect these small businesses are at the local and state level. They could benefit from relief of some of those regulations, but Federal regulations on these small businesses aren’t as onerous as conservatives try to make us believe.

I think most of those small businesses given the choice of slightly lower taxes and fewer regulations or more customers, would pick more customers. Taxes and regulations don’t mean a thing if your business doesn’t have any customers. If you’re paying taxes, you’re making money.

That 80% of businesses are on Main Street not Wall Street. The problem with many politicians in D.C. is they are bombarded by lobbyists for Wall Street corporations. They mistakenly believe what is good for Wall Street is good for us all. It isn’t. In fact, more often than not, what’s good for Wall Street, Multi-National Corporations and the top 2% of households is bad for everyone else.

The tax cuts that were given to the top 2% and Wall Street corporations didn’t spur the economy. They didn’t invest it in businesses or expansion. They didn’t hire more people. Think about it, they kept more money for doing absolutely nothing different. Trillions of dollars that could have and should have been used to create jobs, expand education opportunities, rebuild and expand infrastructure, support local and state governments to keep and hire police, firefighters and teachers. Instead, that money was sucked out of the economy into the pockets of the uber-rich and multi-national corporations, estimated to be over 2 trillion

When they talk about the policy failures of President Obama, they should look at their own policies of tax cuts for the rich and multi-national corporations. Cuts that were suppose to create private sector jobs. They should look at their own failure to pass a single jobs bill since 2010 when they ran on the promise to create jobs.

The Republican Party and their millionaire candidates for President and Vice President are still pushing the ideas that have failed, not only here in America but around the globe. They’ll refer to Ayn Rand (Paul Ryan’s personal hero), Adam Smith, Milton Friedman and Ludwig von Mises. They’ll be backed by billionaires like the Koch Brothers and Sheldon Adelson. “Free” market supporting organizations like the conservative Heritage Foundation and Cato Institute will beat their drums for lower taxes for the rich and deregulation. Sound familiar? It should because it’s all the same crap that they have been preaching seemingly forever. The same crap that hasn’t worked anywhere at any time to help anyone other than the ruling class.

The 98% are the real “job creators”. Without us, the 2% have nothing. We should act like it. Don’t fall for the snake oil that Paul Ryan is selling. Don’t support US House and Senate candidates that support the Ryan budget. Don’t support candidates that still believe in the fairy tail of trickle down economics. Don’t support candidates that don’t understand the difference between the businesses on Wall Street and the business on Main Street. Don’t support candidates that would cut the safety net that is only 13% of the Federal Budget in order to preserve lower taxes on the 2% and Multi-national corporations. Before they make any cuts to Social Security and Medicare, demand that they eliminate corporate welfare first. Demand that they close all loopholes that allow the very rich to avoid taxes on billions of dollars. People paid for their Social Security and Medicare benefits. How do large corporations and entire industries pay for their entitlements when 55% of them pay no federal taxes at all?

What has been proven to work is raising taxes on the rich, lowering the taxes on the working class and investing in America and Americans. That’s what Presidents Reagan and Clinton did.

What Paul Ryan, Mitt Romney, and the Republican Party want to do is slash government spending which will cause more unemployment, more foreclosures, more bankruptcies, more demand for public assistance, more cut backs at the local level to police, fire and education. But that doesn’t matter to the vulture capitalists. That doesn’t matter to those two millionaires that grew up privileged and never had to worry where the next meal was going to come from or where they were going to sleep safely out of the elements. They propose this while not even knowing if or when it pay off the debt or even balance the budget because as Ryan says “…we haven’t run the numbers on that specific plan.” That’s because Romney refuses to offer any number or specifics. I suppose we’re supposed to trust a man that won’t disclose his tax returns, destroyed documents for the period he was Governor and when he headed the Salt Lake City Olympics. A man that retired retroactively from Bain in order to have plausible deniability of any of the rotten dealings of the company during that period. That annual hundred grand per year is just chump change I imagine so he didn’t have to actually do anything to earn it. The CBO analysis shows that the Ryan budget would have virtually no effect on the deficit in comparison to no changes at all. So the Paul Ryan budget is all about political ideology, not sound economics. We can do better than that. We are better than that.

The best way to end deficits and pay down the debt is with a robust economy and wide tax base. You don’t get there from here by cutting spending. You get there by increasing tax revenues from the richest and investing that money back into America and Americans. Creating more opportunities for everyone. That is what the Billionaire party is against. They want us to believe that government is the problem. That “uncertainty” created by the government is the reason that the rich and large corporations have not expanded or created any new jobs. Which we’ve already debunked. They aren’t expanding because they are making more money without expanding. They can take those tax cuts and invest them in Hedge Funds that they only pay 15% income tax on. The game is rigged for the rich and they are desperately trying to keep it that way.

Conservative Narcissism: I don’t owe anyone anything.

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“We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” ~ Benjamin Franklin – At the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

It’s a good thing that America’s founding fathers like Dr. Franklin understood that in order to survive, then thrive, the citizens of the new nation had to depend on each other, stick together, because acting alone, independently, would mean certain failure.

The lengths Romneyites are going to trying to convince people President Obama’s remark on American business success is a socialist attack on business is stunning. It would be funny, but they really think that business success is the result of hard work. Nobody is arguing that effort is a key to success, but to think that is all it takes to be successful belies the facts. It’s an insult to all those hard working business people who fail through no fault of their own. If only individual effort is responsible for success, shouldn’t it follow that only lack of individual effort is responsible for failure? What’s disturbing about this is that Romney himself has said the same exact thing about the Government’s contribution to business success

You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don’t seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together. ~ Henry Ford

In one exchange I asked: You think anyone could take their successful American business that they built from the ground up could do the same thing anywhere in the world? You don’t think that the “land of the free, home of the brave” has anything to do with the success of American businesses? You don’t think generation upon generation of American’s hard work, sacrifice and tax contributions has anything do to with today’s American business successes? We don’t owe anything to that common heritage? Nothing that came before us today matters at all? The lives lost fighting for the freedom we enjoy today doesn’t mean anything at all? We don’t owe a damn thing to anyone at all for our individual success?

In all seriousness they responded: “Bottom line, American businesses are successful not due to some collective effort of the society, rather that success is due to the hard work, investment, and risk taking of the INDIVIDUALS involved in a business. All this “collective” nonsense is jibber jabber.”

Two hundred and fifty years of American history reduced to – All this “collective” nonsense is jibber jabber.

How Inequality Hurts the Economy

The way a team plays as a whole determines its success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club won’t be worth a dime. ~ Babe Ruth

In a very real sense economies are like a team. Governments are one member of the team. In addition there are suppliers, shippers, buyers, trade groups, professional services and many more greater and lesser entities that are team members. This goes beyond the obvious infrastructure, banking and currency, trade agreements, education and adjudication that play a part in every business success, without which business wouldn’t be possible at all. They don’t even give their own family a tip of the cap for the role they played in raising them to be contributing adults. They ignore that the leading indicator of success increasingly is determined by how successful their family is. The “American Dream” Is Now A Myth

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. ~ Helen Keller

The greatest undertakings and accomplishments throughout all time weren’t the result of a single hard working businessperson. Christopher Columbus received government funding. Lewis and Clark was government funded. The Panama Canal, every Airport and Harbor are all government funded projects. The interstate highway system, The Grand Coolie Dam, The Tennessee Valley Authority all lynch pins to American commerce. No, successful business person, you didn’t build any of that and without it your chance of success would be greatly diminished if not impossible.

Nine Government Investments that Made Us an Industrial Economic Leader

Growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together. ~ James Cash Penney

We are a consumer driven economy. The reason why tax cuts for the rich, corporate welfare and a deregulation don’t work to turn around the economy is because they do nothing to increase demand. Before any business hires new employees, orders new equipment, builds new facilities, is if they have an increase demand for their product or service. Doesn’t matter if it’s the corner auto repair shop or a multi-national widget maker. So how do we increase consumer demand? We prime the pump with government spending. The stimulus would have been much more successful if we hadn’t wasted 40% of it on tax cuts.

This is why the idea of “uncertainty” being the reason why the richest and corporations aren’t investing in job creation is nonsense. The only thing they need to know is if there is a demand for their product or service. Also we’re experiencing a world wide recession. The austerity measures taken by other countries have hurt our economy as well. So we have persistent unemployment, leading to cut backs in both the private and public sectors. Cutting taxes for the rich is exactly the opposite of the action that should be taken. Why cutting government spending now would be disastrous.

My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together. ~ Desmond Tutu

The even darker, more sinister, and evil part of Conservative Narcissism is that because they don’t believe anyone contributes to their success they believe they don’t owe anyone anything in return. They have health care, they don’t care if anyone else does. If you’re unemployed, that’s your problem. The same if you’re sick, homeless, disabled, hungry or elderly. Even though they benefited from taxes paid by previous generations, they don’t feel they have any obligation to future generations. Their money is theirs and taxes are theft. May as well put a gun to their head and take their hard earned money from them with the threat of death. They say “I don’t owe anyone anything. I got mine, you get yours.” The Compassionate Conservative Lie

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success. ~ Henry Ford

The last time in American history that there was a budget surplus was during the Clinton administration. The idea was pretty simple really. Cut taxes for the vast majority and raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993. Of course at the time there were all kinds of dire warnings of the disaster that would beset the country if these ill advised liberal policies were to take affect. See if any of these sound familiar:

“Clearly, this is a job-killer in the short-run. The impact on job creation is going to be devastating.” —Rep. Dick Armey, (Republican, Texas)
“The tax increase will…lead to a recession…and will actually increase the deficit.”
—Rep. Newt Gingrich (Republican, Georgia)
“I will make you this bet. I am willing to risk the mortgage on it…the deficit will be up; unemployment will be up; in my judgment, inflation will be up.”
—Sen. Robert Packwood (Republican, Oregon)
“The deficit four years from today will be higher than it is today, not lower.”
—Sen. Phil Gramm (Republican, Texas)
“The President promised a middle-class tax cut, yet he and his party imposed the largest tax increase in American history. We hope his higher taxes will not cut short the economic recovery and declining interest rates he inherited… Instead of stifling growth through higher taxes and increased government regulations, Republicans would take America in a different direction.”
—Sen. Robert Dole (Republican, Kansas)

Not only was the entire national deficit eliminated after raising taxes on the wealthy in 1993, but the economy grew so fast for the remainder of the decade that many conservative economists thought that the Fed should raise the prime interest rate in order to slow it down.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Some blame President Obama for being divisive. They say he’s waging class warfare or playing the race card. They say he’s punishing success and purposely making people dependent on government. They say he has destroyed the economy. The amazing thing is that supposedly he’s done all of this in just three short years. But what has happened is three years of record corporate profits and record accumulation of corporate cash reserves. Still very sluggish economic growth, better than some parts of the world, but not as good as would be expected with that kind of profit. Is it class warfare to point out that the top 2% have prospered while the rest have suffered? Is it class warfare to suggest that we could have similar success as we saw post 1993 where everyone benefited from a more progressive tax structure that gave job creating consumers money to help grow the economy and create jobs? Is it class warfare to suggest that the government can help jump start the economy by investing in America and Americans? We can be a better country. But only if we recognize and act on the fact that we need each other, support each other and believe in each other to bring about a better future for us all.

Tax Cuts: Myths and Realities

When Conservatives Win, Real Americans Lose.

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All across our nation we are seeing cuts to police and fire departments, teachers being laid off and public schools closing. Our roads and infrastructure is falling apart and falling behind the rest of the world. We are seeing attacks on science and defense of bullying in our schools. The cost of higher education is getting more expensive, burdening young folks with extraordinary debt before they can even join the profession of their choosing. Corporations are making historic profits and sitting on mountains of cash. We are subsidizing the most profitable corporations in the world while they outsource jobs and hide profits offshore. The richest pay a lower effective income tax rate than the average family. Our health care is the most expensive in the world and no longer the best. Our air, water and earth is increasingly at risk. Our prison population is exploding with non-violent, but not white collar criminals. Public employee pensions are being cut, social security and medicare are under attack. Even Veteran Benefits are no longer sacrosanct although our military budget is more than the next 15 countries combined. We can’t even end a war against a third world country after 10 years of fighting. We won’t even guarantee pay equality for half of our population. Wall Street is doing great while small businesses on main street are struggling to stay afloat. Union membership is down to 7% of the entire workforce, lowest in 70 years. Federal income tax is lowest since the 1950′s. We are probably looking at somewhere between 15% to 20% unemployed and underemployed.

The sad truth is that things don’t have to be this way. Even sadder is that conservatives either don’t care or they want it this way.

Conservatives only response is “lower taxes, smaller government, cut spending and less regulation”. That’s it. They’ve been saying the same things since their failed attempt to overthrow the US Government and President FDR in 1933. If you’re not familiar with this bit of US History, many people aren’t, then take 40 minutes and watch this informative, factual video. The Fascist Plot to Overthrow FDR

It’s very clear how those policies would be beneficial to the very rich, industrialists, Wall Street Bankers, Multi-National Corporations and the like. Anyone in that very elite group, including Governor Romney, would want such freedom to do whatever they please without government interference or requirement to contribute to society. But their real trick has been to fool so many people into believing that those policies would be better for everyone. This theory has been called many things, Trickle Down and Voodoo Economics are two. They are derived from the Austrian School of Economics. This school of thought dates back to the 1700′s. Adam Smith shared similar views in his book The Wealth Of Nations.. In a nutshell, the theory is that free markets are self regulating because people serving their individual best interests must come by serving the best interests of others. It’s a great theory that doesn’t work for the same reason Communisim doesn’t work, it underestimates the human capacity for greed, appetite for power and willingness to win at all costs. But it sounds good and that’s how they make government the bad guy. It’s the government holding down the average Joe, not the rich and powerful. We hear it all the time, “When was the last time a poor man hired anyone”? If the government just got out of the way, the rich and multi-national corporations would be hiring like crazy and unemployment would be non-existent, wages would go up and everyone would be able to achieve their dreams with just hard work. Right? It’s a capitalist utopia, that doesn’t exist, can’t exist and won’t ever exist. I know there are some that earnestly, truly believe in that theory. But it’s never succeeded anywhere in modern times. Some would argue that it’s never been given a chance or that there were periods where it worked for a time. I believe that people like the Koch Brothers KNOW it doesn’t work and they could care less. Their sole desire is amassing profits and exerting control through political and financial means. They aren’t patriots. They only care about what the country can do for them in protecting their assets and interests around the globe.

Now since you’ve read this far I’d like to ask you to stop and really think about what conservatives are proposing and how it will make things better for you and our country.

If lower taxes were going to help the economy, don’t you think that the lowest taxes since the 50′s would be low enough? Not only are they enjoying historically low taxes, many of their companies are receiving tax dollars as subsidies. Not only that, they get preferential treatment of some types of income. They pay significantly less tax on passive income like dividends or interest than people do on wages. All those tax cuts for the rich did was make the rich richer. The so called job creators didn’t create jobs in the US with those tax cuts. The REAL job creators, small businesses on Main Street, they didn’t get the benefits of those cuts like Multi-National Corporations did.

Smaller Government and less regulation? Well I guess having to slash police and fire departments, lay of teachers and closing schools is smaller government. They don’t talk about that though. They talk about the Food and Drug Administration, Department of Education, Department of Energy, Environmental Protection Agency and other regulators of Corporations. I can see why Corporate America would like to rid themselves of those troublesome entities. They get in the way of their profits. Do you trust them to police themselves? Even with the level of regulation we have now, we see proof almost daily that they can’t be trusted.

Cutting spending. This goes along with rest. But it’s important to look at where they propose to cut spending. They want to cut spending on the elderly, the disabled, the sick, the unemployed, the homeless. They want to cut spending on education and job training. What they won’t cut is the military budget which is about half of the annual budget. They won’t cut subsidies to corporations that don’t need them and giving them an unfair advantage over unsubsidized corporations. When the government spends money, whether it’s benefits, wages, purchasing, building, that money goes into the private sector. It gets spent on main street. Cutting government spending will lead to more small business closures, bankruptcies, foreclosures, layoffs etc… The reason conservatives claim we must cut spending is because of our National Debt. But if we were really concerned about the debt why would we cut taxes? Unlike most other countries, the US debt is owed to mostly Americans and American entities. China holds 9% in low yield treasury notes, they can’t “foreclose” on the US. When we need to raise more capital we sell securities on the open market, which carry a very low interest rate right now because the demand is high. If we’re going to take on more debt, now is the time when the cost of funds are so low.

I believe that “Real Americans” in the true tradition of our country have a pact with one another and our country. From the very beginning our forefathers had to have each others back. They depended on each other for their very lives. We come to the aid of one another in times of disaster. We band together through our government to do great things from building Dams, Interstate Highways, land on the moon and so much more. That’s the spirit of Real Americans in my mind. We take care of and defend our own. Government is the tool of the people, an extension of who we are as a people and country. Corporatism is the enemy of Government of the people, by the people and for the people. Conservatives are the servants of Corporatism. We are in the midst of a great battle for the future of our country. This isn’t about political parties. This isn’t about individuals or personalities. This is about saving our government and our country, for our children and generations beyond.

Mixed Bag: Senator Murkowski, Student Loans, Taxes and Education

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The following are excepts from a Facebook conversation. Please feel free to join the conversation.

Lisa Murkowski – Today I voted against the Student Loan Bill which would solve one problem by making another worse. Raising taxes on employers will only decrease the chances that they’ll be able to add jobs and hire college graduates. I’m hopeful we’ll find a better, bipartisan way.
Press Releases – Press Office – United States Senator Lisa Murkowski
www.murkowski.senate.gov

Senator with all due respect I’m so tired of that nonsense. It’s clear there is no connection between taxes and jobs. What creates jobs is demand for goods and services. With people saddled with high student loan costs they have less to spend in the economy. Your vote just made the banksters happy. Who do you represent? What is your solution that isn’t more welfare for corporate America and Millionaires?

This is a slap in the face of working class families. The children of the rich don’t have to worry about student loans. They don’t have to work their way through college. They don’t need to be concerned about getting a job when they graduate, they can afford to buy a car, buy a home, get married, start a family all without the burden of hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loan debt. Shame on you Senator.

Keith Hartley It amazes me that anyone can think that the “rich” dont pay taxes when the top 10% provide more than 70% of it, and taking all of their money each year would fix even the deficit let alone the problems in the american school system.

We currently have the lowest tax rates since the 1950′s. We give away billions in subsidies to large corporations, many of the largest pay zero federal income taxes like Exxon and GE. The rich benefit most from preferential tax treatment of dividends and interest. They pay as little as 15% like the billionaire hedge fund managers. Even Romney only paid 17%, about half that of a typical working class family. Increasing the marginal rate by 2% over a million and another 2% over a billion is not too much to ask. Closing loopholes that allow large multi-national corporations to avoid taxes is not too much to ask. US businesses benefit the most from a well educated work force. Our economy is in desperate need of Math and Science majors, as well as the many fields in Medicine. We are falling behind world wide because other countries are more committed to higher education. If cutting taxes created jobs we wouldn’t have the unemployment problem we have today. Our economy was much stronger in the 50′s when the top marginal rate was 91%.Top Marginal Tax Rate History

Small business owners need customers and clients, not tax breaks. They only pay taxes when they make a profit. If you don’t understand that, then you’ve never operated a small business.

We’re not going to cut our way out of this mess conservatives got us in. We have to invest in America and Americans.

Keith Hartley…no comparison to be made between a corporation and a self employed small business owner. Small business owners employ a high ratio of people to a given amount of profit, corporations do the opposite of that. self employed business owners pay a far greater tax rate then either individuals or corporations do. ALL of the tax plans that have come around from this admin have been to pit the so called “poor” individuals against the so called “wealthy” individuals and let the corporations off easy.”

So we agree, we need to increase taxes on the 1% and multi-national corporations. We can do this by closing loopholes. Taxing all income the same. Remove the cap on income subject to social security and medicare. (Cut the social security and medicare tax by half. Every business or individual earning less than $103k would receive an instant pay raise). Raise the marginal rate over a million by 2% raise it another 2% over a billion. Institute a minimum tax on income over a million dollars.

Keith Hartley“…are you seriously on about oil subsidies? they amount to literally pennies when compared to the size of the deficit. What about hybrid car subsides? what about ethanol subsides? what about so called “green energy” subsidies? they line the pockets of corporation at the cost of the individual citizens of this country.”

I’m talking about subsidies for all kinds of industries from oil to pharmaceutical. But oil is a good example. They make a record profit, some not paying a penny in federal income tax. Instead of creating jobs with the windfall they buy back stock. They are sitting record amount of cash. We would have been better off collecting the tax and investing it in America. If we are going to subsidize industries it should be those that are sustainable and less damaging to our environment. Oil doesn’t need the subsidies, alternatives do at this point.

Keith Hartley“You think that increasing spending on education will help the quality of education in America? how about getting the government out of education all together. The abysmal quagmire that is the united states lernin’ standards started during the carter admin when he started the department of education. Pretty soon schools realized that they could get more money by making school less difficult.”

If spending more money doesn’t make a difference then why is the cost per student higher for private schools than public schools. They are able to hire the best teachers. They have the lowest teacher to student ratio. They produce the best results. But this particurlar issue isn’t about cost of education. It’s about cutting the interest rate on student loans. Not writing off the debt. Not bailing them out. Just extending the interest rate cap for a year. Is that so unreasonable of a proposition considering the billions that we spend in other areas?

Keith Hartley“Those proposed tax increases do NOTHING to do anything to help anyone. Taxation is the problem. If it was, raising taxes could fix the problem whether or not anyone likes it. Whether the idea sounds good to you or not, there isnt enough money in the economy to close the deficit without destroying something along the lines of 50% of the economy.”

Are you a Ron Paul supporter? I already showed you the fact that the economy was better when the top marginal rate was 91%. I’m not suggesting we go anywhere near that amount, just modest increases and changes to the tax code.

Keith Hartley“I absolutely AM not someone that advocates tax breaks are the answer to our problems. the fix will be several hundred billion in spending cuts and a few hundred billion in revenue increases. these revenue increases could be achieved by – as you referenced above, eliminating the tax breaks for Democrat favoring General Electric, which hasn’t paid taxes since it was bailed out a few years ago.”

So you would be ok with allowing the Bush tax cuts expire for Millionaires? How about eliminating corporate loopholes and subsidies? I’m not a Democrat and I don’t care if it’s GE or BP not paying taxes on record profits. Bottom line is the top 1% are starving the country.

Keith Hartley“This is a very important difference between corporations and the wealthy…I will be one of the “wealthy” one day. I will have achieved that by doing a better job, working harder, paying for my own school and paying the debt off early that so many dems cant seem to do. It will piss me off when I am paying more taxes to support companies like solyndra and general electric so that they can be exempt of taxes or be paid to keep their doors open when I could instead be spending it on food, wine, vehicles etc. and be putting money into the pockets of others.”

“I’m going to be wealthy one day” Yes, that’s the American Dream alright. Do you have any idea home many American’s dream turned into a nightmare because of the Banksters on Wall Street? Through no fault of their own they lost their jobs, life savings, homes and businesses. Do you know the only thing that many of them have left? Social Security and Medicare. The things that conservatives want to turn over to private industry. These were good people who did everything like you said. Worked hard and produce better and faster. The company profits soared and their purchasing power declined. When the dust settled all they had left was the Government safety net. Yes there is a difference between corporations and the wealthy. Corporations get subsidies and the wealthy get preferential tax treatment on certain kinds of income. You think having money in your own hands instead of paying it in taxes is a good thing, But you don’t think people paying less interest on student loans, putting more money in their hands, is a good thing. How do you resolve that contridiction?

Keith Hartley“You really think that small business owners only pay taxes on profits? unless you can afford to pay someone to provide you with warren buffet tax evasion techniques you pay a larger minimum amount of taxes than anyone else does, FAR more than someone who makes the same amount of money in a year and works less than you.”

Have you ever owned or managed a company? I don’t think so. What drives hiring and firing of employees is demand. Taxes typically affect prices as it’s rolled into the overhead cost, like insurance. It’s not tax evasion, it’s taking advantage of tax loopholes and getting preferential treatment on certain types of income. I’m all for closing the loopholes and taxing all income from any source the same. That won’t be enough. We need to raise taxes on the richest of this country. We have always had a progressive income tax. We’ve allowed it to become less progressive and the country’s economy has suffered for it.

The US Debt

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Our spending problem is the bloated Military Budget, Corporate Subsidies, tax advantages for the rich, and preferential treatment of some types of income over income earned by labor.

We also have an income problem. We have the lowest federal tax rates since 1950. Tax cuts made the rich richer, the poor poorer, and the middle class in insurmountable debt. Lower taxes didn’t create jobs or strengthen the economy, at least not in the U.S. We need new tax brackets for each millionaires and billionaires.

The rabid right is willing to destroy the economy, push us into default on our debt in order to further their political goal of preventing election of Obama to a second term. That has been their sole goal from day one, at any cost to America or Americans.

Cutting government spending now will be disastrous for the private sector. “Why cutting government spending now would be disastrous.” http://bit.ly/bvTEuS

There are other alternatives as well: Budget of the Congressional Progressive Caucus: Fiscal Year 2012: Read the People’s Budget http://bit.ly/g7aep8 and my own 2 cents Nobody asked me, but here’s my solutions. http://bit.ly/bvTEuS

The best way to solve our debit and deficit problems is to revitalize the economy and create good living wage jobs. What has this congress done to improve the economy or create private sector jobs? Nothing, because that’s not in GOP’s best political interest. Our unemployment is high because the rabid right wants it that way.