economy

President rams rural development down our throats

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February 21, 2012
By David M. F. Schankula

President Obama and his fascist communistic national socialist Islamist imperial brownshirt government thugs are ramming rural development down our throats.

This is a perfect example of this president’s radical ideology and it’s no wonder so many in Frankfort want him off our backs.

Via the “White House”:

We Can’t Wait: Obama Administration Announces Steps to Boost the Rural Economy, Promote Job Creation

WASHINGTON, DC – As part of the Obama Administration’s “We Can’t Wait” efforts to strengthen the economy, create jobs and support business growth, Administration officials announced three significant actions to expand the government’s purchase of biobased products, promote regional rural job creation efforts, and develop a rural healthcare workforce, all of which build on the historic investments the Administration has made in rural America over the past three years. Today’s announcements are the latest in a series of executive actions the Obama Administration is taking to strengthen the economy and move the country forward because we can’t wait for Congress to act.

“My Administration is committed to using every tool available to promote economic growth and create good jobs in rural America,” said President Obama.  “Today’s announcements reflect our continued focus on expanding opportunity for rural Americans and all Americans, including supporting new and innovative businesses, and improving rural health care and education.  And the actions we’re taking today are possible thanks to the feedback and ideas I’ve received from hardworking Americans across rural America, including the participants at the White House Rural Economic Forum.”

Fascism.

Here’s a closer look at the specific ideas of where this President is taking our country to:

New initiatives being announced today include:

• Promoting A Bioeconomy:  President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum today directing the Federal Government to take decisive steps to dramatically increase the purchase of biobased products over the next two years, which will create jobs and drive innovation where biobased products are grown and manufactured.  The Memorandum will also result in a 50 percent increase in the number of new products that are designated as biobased.  Biobased products include items like paints, soaps and detergents and are developed from farm grown plants, rather than chemicals or petroleum bases. The biobased products sector marries the two most important economic engines for rural America: agriculture and manufacturing.

• Rural Jobs Accelerator: The Rural Jobs Accelerator is a national competition that will provide about $15 million for projects that promote innovation-fueled regional job creation.  The competition will combine funding from the USDA, the Economic Development Administration (EDA), Delta Regional Authority and the Appalachian Regional Commission.   Additionally, this approach will require multiple agencies to coordinate technical assistance and grant / loan programs so that potential rural customers have a single access point within the Federal government to mobilize the resources of the government to help a region of the country. USDA will utilize the Rural Community Development Initiative (RCDI) program to support this effort and provide technical assistance and training funds to qualified intermediary organizations to develop their capacity to undertake housing, community facilities, and community and economic development projects in rural areas.  The Federal Funding Opportunity will be released in the next few weeks.

• Rural Health IT Workforce:  The Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Labor signed a memorandum of understanding to connect  community colleges and technical colleges that support rural communities with the materials and resources they need to support the training of Health Information Technology (HIT) professionals that work in rural hospitals and clinics.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that the needed HIT workforce will increase by 20 percent by 2016.

Over the last month, the Obama Administration has made several additional announcements resulting from the White House Rural Council’s efforts, including an initiative to help rural homeowners refinance their mortgages at lower interest rates and a new forest restoration framework to drive economic growth and job creation through timber restoration and harvest.  The new plan would place federal agencies on a path toward increasing federal timber harvests to 3 billion board feet.

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Revisionist History with Mitch McConnell

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February 2, 2012
By David M. F. Schankula

Talking Points Memo:

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has embraced the argument that President Obama was able to pass every bit of his legislative agenda in his first two years thanks to large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress. It’s intended as a counterpoint to the President’s re-election strategy of attacking the congressional GOP as do-nothing obstructionists. But it’s also a revisionist history of the 111th Congress, during which McConnell more than any other Republican in Washington stood athwart Obama’s agenda to great effect.

The White House has “been trying to pretend like the President just showed up yesterday, just got sworn in and started fresh,” McConnell declared Sunday on CNN’s State of the Union. “In fact, he’s been in office for three years. He got everything he wanted from a completely compliant Congress for two of those three years… We are living in the Obama economy.”

This isn’t a new claim for McConnell, but it’s audacious even by Washington’s lax standards. It was McConnell, after all, who led Senate Republicans in serial filibusters — a record-setting number — successfully thwarting large chunks of Obama’s agenda.

They go on to pick Mitch’s claim apart, piece by piece.

Of course, Mitch’s revisionist history isn’t just an attempt to excuse how he and his GOP colleagues have ground Washington to a halt at a time when the country can least afford legislative stagnation.

Mitch’s revisionist history also seeks to revise the economic reality of America. McConnell insists that Obama, having been in office for three years, is to blame for our fiscal house being in foreclosure.

This is not true.

The Center for American Progress:

The federal budget deficit will again exceed $1 trillion this fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office reported today. That news is sure to trigger another round of condemnations from politicians and pundits who have a political or ideological interest in pinning these deficits on the domestic spending policies of President Barack Obama.

Unfortunately for them, today’s report—along with dozens of other similar CBO reports in recent years—actually proves the opposite—that the current deficit is overwhelmingly the result of two factors: events that occurred before President Obama took office and tax cuts.

In fact, higher spending under Obama accounts for less than 20 percent of this year’s deficit, and nearly half of that was additional defense spending—not domestic spending. Bottom line: The narrative that an “Obama spending spree” caused our deficit problem is utterly false.

It should surprise no one that Mitch McConnell and the Republican Party don’t understand these fiscal facts, after all, they are the ones who led the country toward economic collapse.

At the start of 2007, the CBO projected a 2012 surplus of $170 Billion. By the time Obama took office two years later, they had already readjusted that estimate to a deficit of $264 Billion.

That Bush flip flop came primarily from the onset of the economic collapse. Mitch McConnell and the Republicans can pretend they didn’t cause that collapse, and they can further claim that all its net negative effects ended on January 20th, 2012. They can also claim to be the Party of Lincoln, to love their country, and to be on the right side of G-d.

Claiming stuff is easy, and Mitch is pretty good at it. But again, he’s wrong:

Increased spending prior to 2009—especially on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq—also contributed to this year’s deficit, to the tune of $153 billion. That’s because higher spending in 2007 and 2008, mostly relating to overseas military operations, caused the CBO to adjust its assumptions to more realistically project similar spending in 2012.

All told, 35 percent of the swing from a $170 billon projected surplus to a $1.079 billion deficit is directly attributable to events that preceded the current president’s term.

The remainder of the deterioration did happen after 2009, but higher spending wasn’t even close to the main culprit. The real problem was lower-than-expected revenues.

Oh, yes, the continuing gift of the Bush Tax Cuts. Read on.

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REINS Act passes House Committee: The Geofferson Davis ‘People Killin’ Job Creatin’” Legislation moves forward

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October 25, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

Kentucky Congressman Geofferson Davis — relation unclear to the Confederate Slave Advocate President who lead the war to kill 600,000 Americans — got his Republican “jobs plan” one step closer to dying in the Senate today as his REINS Act passed out of Committee.

The plan purports to put the reins on the safety regulations that keep corporations from poisoning and killing us (Get it? Reins? Like a horse maybe, or a ball-gag.) and, because the GOP has nothing actually going for it — no real ideas — “creates jobs.” Because if you die, that creates a job, see.

Here’s the news:

The House Judiciary Committee cleared a bill today that would require Congress to sign off on federal regulations that Republicans say threaten job creation and cost millions to comply with.

….The bill “is an urgently needed antidote to this anti-democratic sentiment,” Smith said in prepared remarks. “It gives the people’s representatives in Congress the final say on whether Washington will impose major new regulations on the American economy, not unaccountable agency officials.”

Bob Deans at the Natural Resources Defense Council writes:

This is the same Congress, remember, that has yet to pass a fiscal 2012 budget, eight months after it was introduced. The REINS Act would permit members to kill needed environmental rules just by dragging their feet a few weeks.

And, what was the justification? Jobs, of course.

“We must put a stop to the reckless and costly anti-free market regulations that are destroying jobs,” said Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., co-sponsor of companion REINS act legislation in the Senate.

It’s a crafty strategy. With 14 million Americans out of work, we’re in the worst jobs market since Ronald Reagan was president. The “job-killing” message resonates.

There is, though, one problem: it’s not true. Government regulations — of all kinds — accounted for just two-tenths of one percent of the half-million Americans who lost their jobs in the first six months of the year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

By global standards, in fact, the United States has the most business-friendly regulatory structure of any major country in the world, according to the International Finance Corporation, the World Bank arm that helps countries improve their business practices and investment climate.

Bob’s got much more so keep on.

The Republican Party is framing every piece of ridiculous legislation they present in terms of “job creation” these days. That’s what sells. The other thing that sells is the Republican Party and it’s sad to see Americans buying into this idea that if they are less safe then somehow, magically, they will be more safe or at least employed. Because who doesn’t want a job? And if a kid’s gotta get poisoned so you can get that job… who cares, right? There are lots of kids and there’s only one you.

So the Republican Party is following Kentucky’s lead. I can’t stress this enough:

Mitch McConnell obfuscates America’s economic recovery in the Senate, Hal Rogers chokes it off as the head of Appropriations in the House, Rand Paul drives the country further toward crazyville, Ed Whitfield works meticulously to destroy the EPA from his own leadership position in the House and Geofferson Davis is pushing this “REINS” Act, the national Republican Party’s #1 “Jobs Creation” idea which creates no jobs and makes the entire country less safe.

Sitting on a porch on this beautiful Kentucky evening in the color of fall leaves, it’s easy to question what’s wrong with us, why we send these people to our Capital to represent us.

The harder question, though, is why America puts up with us. A state of 3 Million people is dictating the future of this country, of 300+ Million Americans. We have no say in Presidential politics, but between the House and the Senate, we own you.

Beat the regulator drumbeat, Kentucky:

I can’t believe they taking Warren’s wealth
They took my rings, they took my rolex
I looked at the brotha, said ‘Damn, what’s next?’

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Mitch McConnell wants cops, firefighters, teachers laid off

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October 24, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

Mitch was on CNN yesterday and either he had a hard time expressing the correct Republican talking points, or the Republicans are working on some groovy polling data.

First he said that cops, firefighters and teachers should all lose their jobs as far as he’s concerned because layoffs are a “local” issue and even though the President’s “Jobs Plan” would keep them employed, the federal government has no place in ensuring the safety and education of its citizens.

Mitch then — and this was particularly groovy — pronounced “government regulations” the #1 Problem Facing America.

Seriously.

If you’re a regular reader, you already know this song and dance. If corporations were allowed to pollute our air and water at will, if they were allowed to abuse their workers and their customers, then the entire economy would recover and everyone would have a job.

With reasoning like that, sure, regulations become the #1 Problem Facing America, our “top economic concern”…

“I’m sure Americans do — I certainly do — approve of firefighters and police,” the Kentucky senator told Crowley — leaving out teachers. “The question is whether the federal government ought to be raising taxes on 300,000 small businesses in order to send money down to bail out states for whom firefighters and police work — they are local and state employees.”

Crowley hit the minority leader, who famously declared his goal to make Obama a one-term president, with recent polling data (75 percent of the public backs Obama’s plan to aid localities) and a survey of businesspeople by the Labor Department, who who blamed lagging economy on “poor demand” vs. onerous regulation by a 25-to-1 margin.

“Federal regulators are crawling all over the private sector keeping us from coming out of this recession,” McConnell said.

“Are you focusing on the wrong problem?” she asked.

Look at his big head!

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The Wealth of Nations… Half the American work force living on $26,000 or less

one comment
October 21, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

Based on payroll taxes reported to the Social Security Administration, a full 50% of the entire American workforce is making less than $26,000 a year.

Let’s be clear. $26,000 is the median wage in America.

That means most people in America are barely scraping past the poverty level. And it’s not like everyone’s making 26k… it’s just that half the country is making $26,000 OR LESS.

Over the past ten years, the number of millionaires has increased by 20%.

Combining this information with another fact, the reality of our opulent America grows more stark.

From 1917 to 1981, the average American income rose by… wait for it… $26,000.

From 1981 to 2008, the average income grew another $12,000… but 96% of that growth went to the top 10%.

The rest — just 4% — was divvied up amongst the lower 90%.

And if you look further at that past 10 years the income of the lower 90% of this country decreased.

The wealth of our nation is concentrated at the top and the fact that more and more people are taking a “handout” isn’t the result of laziness or selfishness… or, at least, it’s not the result of the laziness and selfishness Republican pundits and their Tea Party co-conspirators are talking about.

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Obama’s Jobs Press Conference

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October 6, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

Some highlights:

****ON TAXING MILLIONAIRES****

Now, what’s true is we’ve also got to rein in our deficits and live within our means, which is why this jobs bill is fully paid for by asking millionaires and billionaires to pay their fair share. Some see this as class warfare. I see it as a simple choice: We can either keep taxes exactly as they are for millionaires and billionaires, with loopholes that lead them to have lower tax rates in some cases than plumbers and teachers, or we can put teachers and construction workers and veterans back on the job.

We can fight to protect tax cuts for folks who don’t need them and weren’t asking for them, or we can cut taxes for virtually every worker and small business in America. But we can’t afford to do both. That’s the choice that’s going to be before the Senate.

There are too many people hurting in this country for us to do nothing and the economy is just too fragile for us to let politics get in the way of action.

We’ve got a responsibility to the people who sent us here. So I hope every senator thinks long and hard about what’s at stake when they cast their vote next week.

 

****ON REPUBLICANS PLAYING GAMES****

[W]ith respect to working with Congress, I think it’s fair to say that I have gone out of my way in every instance, sometimes at my own political peril and to the frustration of Democrats, to work with Republicans to find common ground to move this country forward — in every instance, whether it was during the lame duck session, when we were able to get an agreement on making sure that the payroll tax was cut in the first place, and making sure that unemployment insurance was extended, to my constant efforts during the debt ceiling to try to get what’s been called a grand bargain, in which we had a balanced approach to actually bringing down our deficit and debt in a way that wouldn’t hurt our recovery.

Each time, what we’ve seen is games-playing, a preference to try to score political points rather than actually get something done on the part of the other side.  And that has been true not just over the last six months; that’s been true over the last two and a half years.

Now, the bottom line is this:  Our doors are open.  And what I’ve done over the last several weeks is to take the case to the American people so that they understand what’s at stake.  It is now up to all the senators, and hopefully all the members of the House, to explain to their constituencies why they would be opposed to common-sense ideas that historically have been supported by Democrats and Republicans in the past. Why would you be opposed to tax cuts for small businesses and tax cuts for American workers?

My understanding is that for the last decade, they’ve been saying we need to lower taxes for folks.  Well, why wouldn’t we want to do that through this jobs bill?  We know that we’ve got roads and bridges and schools that need to be rebuilt.  And historically, Republicans haven’t been opposed to rebuilding roads and bridges.  Why would you be opposed now?

 

****ON MITCH McCONNELL****

So the bottom line is this, Ben:  If next week senators have additional ideas that will put people back to work right now and meet the challenges of the current economy, we are happy to consider them.  But every idea that we put forward are ones that traditionally have been supported by Democrats and Republicans alike.  And I think it’s important for us to have a vote on those ideas, because I believe that it’s very hard to argue against them.

And if Mr. McConnell chooses to vote against it, or if members of his caucus choose to vote against it, I promise you we’re going to keep on going, and we will put forward maybe piece by piece each component of the bill.  And each time they’re going to have to explain why it is that they’d be opposed to putting teachers back in the classroom, or rebuilding our schools, or giving tax cuts to middle-class folks, and giving tax cuts to small businesses.

 

****ON CONSUMER PROTECTION AND THE GOP’S PROTECTION OF WALL STREET****

[W]hat we’ve seen over the last year is not only did the financial sector — with the Republican Party in Congress — fight us every inch of the way, but now you’ve got these same folks suggesting that we should roll back all those reforms and go back to the way it was before the crisis.  Today, my understanding is we’re going to have a hearing on Richard Cordray, who is my nominee to head up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.  He would be America’s chief consumer watchdog when it comes to financial products.  This is a guy who is well regarded in his home state of Ohio, has been the treasurer of Ohio, the attorney general of Ohio.  Republicans and Democrats in Ohio all say that he is a serious person who looks out for consumers.  He has a good reputation.  And Republicans have threatened not to confirm him not because of anything he’s done, but because they want to roll back the whole notion of having a consumer watchdog.

You’ve got Republican presidential candidates whose main economic policy proposals is, we’ll get rid of the financial reforms that are designed to prevent the abuses that got us into this mess in the first place.  That does not make sense to the American people.  They are frustrated by it.  And they will continue to be frustrated by it until they get a sense that everybody is playing by the same set of rules, and that you’re rewarded for responsibility and doing the right thing as opposed to gaining the system.

So I’m going to be fighting every inch of the way here in Washington to make sure that we have a consumer watchdog that is preventing abusive practices by the financial sector.

 

****ON THE GOP “Jobs Plan”****

[W]hat I’ve tried to do is say, here are the best ideas I’ve heard.  Not just from partisans, but from independent economists.  These are the ideas most likely to create jobs now and strengthen the economy right now.  And that’s what the American people are looking for.  And the response from Republicans has been:  No.  Although they haven’t given a good reason why they’re opposed to putting construction workers back on the job, or teachers back in the classroom.

If you ask them, well, okay, if you’re not for that, what are you for? Trade has already been done; patent reform has been done.  What else?  The answer we’re getting right now is, well, we’re going to roll back all these Obama regulations.  So their big economic plan to put people back to work right now is to roll back financial protections and allow banks to charge hidden fees on credit cards again or weaken consumer watchdogs, or alternatively they’ve said we’ll roll back regulations that make sure we’ve got clean air and clean water, eliminate the EPA. Does anybody really think that that is going to create jobs right now and meet the challenges of a global economy that are — that is weakening with all these forces coming into play?

 

****ON THE “DO-NOTHING CONGRESS”****

And so, Bill, the question, then, is, will Congress do something?  If Congress does something, then I can’t run against a do-nothing Congress.  If Congress does nothing, then it’s not a matter of me running against them; I think the American people will run them out of town, because they are frustrated, and they know we need to do something big and something bold.

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Ben Chandler kicks ass today…

5 comments
October 5, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

A month after President Obama’s Jobs speech and his somewhat tepid expression of support, Democratic Congressman Ben Chandler today released this press release — a refreshing (and Awesome!) development:

Congressman Ben Chandler
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES – KENTUCKY’S 6TH DISTRICT
_____________
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 5, 2011

Rep. Chandler: Congress Must Act Now to Create Jobs

WASHINGTON (October 5, 2011)—Congressman Chandler today called on Congress to take up and debate legislation that will put Americans back to work and help small businesses in Kentucky succeed. President Obama sent the American Jobs Act to Congress last month.

“The American people’s top priority is job creation, and strengthening small businesses, rebuilding America and putting people back to work is a crucial part of growing our economy,” Congressman Chandler said. “This legislation is paid for in full and includes elements – the payroll tax credit, rebuilding our schools, a focus on improving infrastructure, and long-term deficit reduction – which I think both sides of the aisle can agree will get our country on the path to economic recovery. There is no time to waste: Congress must act now to create jobs, strengthen our middle class, and expand our economy.”

In Kentucky alone, the American Jobs Act will deliver tax cuts to 70,000 businesses, put 5,900 people to work rebuilding local infrastructure, support 6,100 teacher and first responder jobs, and offer $1,330 in tax relief to a typical household. The legislation is fully paid for and is based on bipartisan initiatives.

The American Jobs Act will result in hundreds of thousands of construction workers going back on the job to rebuild America’s roads, bridges, rail lines, schools, and airports. American infrastructure now receives a grade of “D” from the American Society of Civil Engineers, with 119 bridges in Central Kentucky carrying nearly half a million people every day in need of repair. The legislation also includes an initiative to put construction workers on the job rehabilitating and refurbishing hundreds of thousands of vacant and foreclosed homes and businesses, which will strengthen our neighborhoods.

###

Our 6th District Congressman today did something wonderful and we send him love and support!

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5 Facts about the Top 1% — and that dirty commie bastard Ronald Reagan

2 comments
October 4, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

ThinkProgress breaks it down.

ClickForward to read all five…

Take it away Comrade Ronnie:

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Occupy Lexington — Noon, 9.29.2011, come on down!

4 comments
September 28, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

Dear Lexington…

Thursday is your day.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know that for over a week hundreds have camped out in New York City at Wall Street demanding them fancy folks who wrecked the country pay the price that’s due them.

Obviously not everyone can head up to NYC to join in, so across the country simultaneous protests and encampments are springing up.

Here in Lexington, that starts at Noon, Thursday, September 29th.

Who: The 99% in Solidarity with Occupy Wall Street
When: Beginning at 12:00 Noon, September 29th — until ???

We are union members, students, teachers, veterans, families, the unemployed and underemployed. We are all races, sexes and creeds. We are the young and the old. We are the majority! We are the 99 percent. And we will no longer be silent.

As members of the 99 percent, we will occupy Lexington @JP Morgan Chase as a symbolic gesture of our discontent with the current economic and political climate and as an example of a better world to come. Therefore we invite the public, our fellow 99 percent, to join us in a peaceful protest BEGINNING on THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29th at NOON in front of the JP Morgan Chase Bank building 201 East Main Street, Lexington, KY.

This is a call for individuals and families, community and advocacy groups to stand in solidarity.

***This protest will go on as long as we can maintain it. They have been occupying Wall Street for over a week with many arrests but they have not given up. We will not give up!***

 

If you can be there at Noon… be there.

If you can’t be there until 3PM… come then.

If you have to work til’ 5PM… then come after work.

If you’ve got time free on Thursday evening… come on down.

Whenever you decide to join… come in peace.

Now, some folks — both Left and Right, sadly — have mocked Occupy Wall Street. There’s plenty one could say about protests and protestors and, well, there was a pretty good counterview on this topic in an open-invitation to join the Occupation earlier today, so here’s that:

To be fair, the scene in Liberty Plaza seems messy and chaotic. But it’s also a laboratory of possibility, and that’s the beauty of democracy. As opposed to our monoculture world, where political life is flipping a lever every four years, social life is being a consumer and economic life is being a timid cog, the Wall Street occupation is creating a polyculture of ideas, expression and art.

Yet while many people support the occupation, they hesitate to fully join in and are quick to offer criticism. It’s clear that the biggest obstacles to building a powerful movement are not the police or capital – it’s our own cynicism and despair.

Perhaps their views were colored by the New York Times article deriding protestors for wishing to “pantomime progressivism” and “Gunning for Wall Street with faulty aim.” Many of the criticisms boil down to “a lack of clear messaging.”

But what’s wrong with that? A fully formed movement is not going to spring from the ground. It has to be created. And who can say what exactly needs to be done? We are not talking about ousting a dictator; though some say we want to oust the dictatorship of capital.

There are plenty of sophisticated ideas out there: end corporate personhood; institute a “Tobin Tax” on stock purchases and currency trading; nationalize banks; socialize medicine; fully fund government jobs and genuine Keynesian stimulus; lift restrictions on labor organizing; allow cities to turn foreclosed homes into public housing; build a green energy infrastructure.

But how can we get broad agreement on any of these? If the protesters came into the square with a pre-determined set of demands it would have only limited their potential. They would have either been dismissed as pie in the sky – such as socialized medicine or nationalize banks – or if they went for weak demands such as the Buffett Rule their efforts would immediately be absorbed by a failed political system, thus undermining the movement.

So yes, sure, you can make up a ton of excuses for not getting involved and for not coming down to the JPMorganChaseManhattanBearStearnsWashingtonMutual Bank tower on Main Street and joining the crowd.

But you could also just come down. Bring a chair. Bring a book. Bring a sign. Sit outside, meet your neighbors, have a ball.

Here’s the scene from day 11 up in New York.

It’s messy, it’s chaotic, but it also looks fun. Like an adventure. Something different — a curiousity and a spectacle. So, dear Lexington, come on down.

This is a peaceful event and as the facebook invitation says, families and people of all ages are welcome and are likely to be there.

And there should be absolutely no reason for any scenes or stories like this:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

(And to be clear: the good Lexington folks who work at this Chase building are not the responsible party. The ire is focused at Wall Street in NYC and at the tippytop folks up at JPMCBSWaMu HQ and their ilk. So everyone should be all smiles and friendly waves.)

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Pay Your Taxes, Super Wealthy.

one comment
September 28, 2011
By David M. F. Schankula

The Center on Budget Policy and Priorities explains why the Bush Tax Cuts must expire if the Supercommittee has any real interest in producing a balanced plan and righting the deficit:

The new congressional committee on deficit reduction (the so-called “supercommittee”) not only can consider revenue increases, but must consider them — as well as spending cuts — if it’s going to produce a balanced plan.

There are five main reasons why.

  1. Spending cuts alone can’t do the job. The key fiscal policy goal is to reduce deficits sufficiently to stabilize the debt relative to the size of the economy. The only way to accomplish this without severe cuts that would hit low- and middle-income Americans hard — in areas ranging from Medicare, Medicaid, and possibly Social Security to basic assistance for the poor — and weaken core government functions like education, scientific research, and ensuring safe food and water, is through revenue increases.
  2. The 2001-2003 tax cuts are a significant contributor to projected deficits. Letting some or all of those tax cuts expire would make a significant contribution to reducing the deficit.
  3. Higher-income people can and should share in the sacrifices needed to reduce long-term deficits. Low- and moderate-income households shouldn’t be forced to bear a disproportionate share of the burden through cuts in Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, and programs targeted on people who are poor or near-poor.
  4. Taxes are low both in historical terms and in comparison with other countries. By either standard, the United States has significant room for increasing tax revenues.
  5. Higher taxes are not an inherent barrier to economic growth. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has said that tax increases used to reduce budget deficits can improve long-term economic growth and job creation. The experience of the 1990s shows that claims that reasonable revenue increases will sink the economy largely reflect politics and ideology, not solid analysis.

Read onwards.

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