Letters to the Editor
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Mr. Leonard,
you wrote: Nor does making tax cuts (which primarily benefited the well-off) permanent.
Well, it depends. If the tax cut comes in the form of a trillion dollar tax cut by eliminating social security taxes for all wage earners making 60K or less per year, you're talking about a benefit that does not go to the well-off. And you don't have to dick around with rebate checks. The tax cut could go into effect tomorrow.
The vast majority of Americans get most of their compensation in the form of wages - and the entire amount is subject to the social security tax which is (all together now) THE MOST REGRESSIVE TAX THAT WE LEVY! Most Americans have no concept of how their w-2 breaks down - and how all taxes are not recreated equal - and why this is important.
Perhaps Mr. Leonard could give a primer on taxes.
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Of course if they do what they did in 1980
Driving inflation and the Prime rate to 21.5% we might as well spend it now like drunken sailors.
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Bush and Bernanke push corporate socialism
The financial types made, packaged and sold huge numbers of poor mortgages. As they traded these shoddy assets back and forth amongst themselves they, (Wall Street) paid themselves $25 billion in bonuses for 2006 and $32 billion for 2007 whilst watching their equity evaporate.
Now Bernacke and Bush recommend a stimulus to replace the missing equity capital in the financial system. How can this not be called socialism? Or is socialistic tinkering with the system to protect the rich called a stimulus package while providing health care is oh so unAmerican.
The nation's debt has skyrocketed from six to nine trillion dollars under Bushco and as a legacy for his last year he will oversee spending a couple hundred billion dollars we don't have to bail out his cronies.
Meanwhile a useful international socialism versus unrestrained capitalism scorecard to watch is the Pound and the Euro continuing to soar against the dollar even while Europe provides (oh heavens to fiscal Betsy) a social net for the health and retirement of their workers.
We get to inject billions into the economy in an act of corporate socialism; Wall Street takes out $57 billion and yet jiggering the system to help the poor with medical bills and heating costs remains a danger to the American psyche.
As the accountants say: "Go figure."
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so we get this rebate of 1000-1600
and in return we get to work at very poorly paid jobs for which we paid a lot to be educated to do, crap schools for our kids, and we continue to pay for government programs that just don't work unless you've got tons o'cash, while the geniuses in power run the country straight into the ground. Oh and the corporations will give all of their money directly to the politicians, media, courts and CEOs to help prevent working people from having any power at all in what is supposed to be a democracy. That sounds fabulous. I'm really gonna enjoy that money that I have to pay to the people who ripped me off in the first place.
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My Economic Stimulus Package
Part 1: An immediate end to the Iraq war and all contracts with Halliburton and other mercenary groups.
Part 2: An end to all of Bush's tax breaks for rich people (rich = over $1 million in yearly income). Any rich person who has a problem with it can personally testify on Capitol Hill and explain exactly how paying taxes will make them stop being rich. Citizens can vote "American Idol" - style as to if they believe the explaination. If not, the rich person's tax bill is doubled.
Part 2: A flat tax, not on individual income, but on corporate profits. Every incorporated organization pays 10% of every dollar of net income on its financial statement. No exceptions, no loopholes. This would also apply to companies that incorporate outside the US but have American citizens as its founders, executive officers, and/or board members.
Part 3: Nationwide decriminalization of marijuana and prostitution, saving taxpayers billions of dollars in law enforcement costs.
Part 4: Mandatory prison terms for anyone who knowingly hires illegal foreign workers within US borders.
Part 5: A new provision in the Tax Code that allows taxpayers to write off the interest paid on credit cards, as is already done for school loans and mortgages. Many citizens would never pay taxes again.
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The buck stops where?
Why is taxing rich people a bad thing?
Why are poor people (<$30,000) paying taxes?
Why are jobs still being outsourced?
Why does the richest country in the world have any debt at all?
Why can't America get its act together?
Why? Why? Why? Why? Why?
It seems to me the fundamentals of the American economy are unstable. This is a crisis of leadership and the top guns are doing a piss poor job of explaining why they allowed the mess to get as far as it has. It is quite apparent the political apparatus is what needs the jump-start; the economy has followed where it has been led.
This crisis therefore is the fruit of the electorate labour. Who was elected and the platform they stood upon is what was desired by the populace. The answer is simple: ELECT THOSE WHO WILL GET THE U.S. OUT OF THIS FINANCIAL MESS.
That prerequisite is why this mess may never be properly cleaned up.
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The R word
I'm betting the first time the Republicans will allow the word "Recession" to escape their lips will be about a year from now, when a Democrat is sworn into the presidency.
Until that day, the official story, as uttered by George Bush today, is that the economy is fundamentally as strong as Hercules, you betcha! The story will be strong, strength, vibrant and healthy, just needs a breather a little bit, a very slight nudge, hardly more than a jumbo jet needs the barest puff of wind to stay afloat, and then the new administration will come in and the tale will be doom and gloom and how liberal policies, even the middle of the road barely liberal at all policies of the current front runners, just don't work. They will repeat this story forever, into eternity. It will never stop.
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Been here before
Back in 1997 when the influx of capital stopped for Asia, the result was devalued stock markets, falling asset prices, a drop in the value of currency, a rise in private debt and recession. Sound familiar?
The solution then was to send in the IMF to Thailand, Indonesia, South Korea and other Asian countries to 'cut back on government spending to reduce deficits, allow insolvent banks and financial institutions to fail, and aggressively raise interest rates.'
Now it is the US pushing the world toward recession - and the solution is to hand out money to every American?
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Thank you, jedimaster...
for finally saying what I have been thinking but did not know how to articulate as well as you did: PROTECTIONISM!
What good is a tax refund advance going to do for the US economy if people use it to by more crap from overseas? Producers in China are probably drooling right now over the prospect of all this American money coming their way as we buy more of their cheap stuff.
We need to buy AMERICAN, even if it costs more, if we are to have any hope of bringing back manufacturing jobs to this country. For the companies that have stayed here, and kept jobs here, this is the time to reward them for their loyalty.
Now *that's* patriotism!