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Friday, January 16, 2009
Friday, January 9, 2009
"Laffer-ing" all the way to ruin..or...how voodoo economics has lead this country to disaster
In 1980 George H. W. Bush, while running against Ronald Reagan in the presidential primaries, referred to supply side economics as "voodoo economics". (he changed his mind, of course once accepting the VP nod from Reagan)
He was right....and over 28 years, this kind of economics has led us to ruin as a nation.
But what most people fail to see is that the folks that thought this up, (Arthur Laffer, Jude Wanniski, Grover Norquist, David Stockman, ) didn't just want to cut taxes, they also wanted to gain votes for more political power and that meant that they also had to increase government spending.
Wait a minute....Republicans increasing spending???? I can hear Sarah Palin now, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" But it's true.
That's where we come to the 2 Santa Claus Theory. Traditional conservatives believed in less taxes and LESS spending, and balanced budgets. However, in the 70's, this was seen by some cons as the path to being in the minority party forever. These folks believed that it was government spending that rallied voter support for the dems, so, let's see....why not cut taxes AND increase spending!! Yeah, that will cause voters to like us AND we can still move towards Norquists goal of -
"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."
But, under Reagan, weren't we were told that by cutting taxes, tax revenues would GO UP??? Yeah, we were told a lie....click HERE to see that tax revenues did NOT go up, they went DOWN under Reagan. That's why he left office with a HUGE national debt. (Remember, Reagan said deficits don't matter) So, cut taxes and raise spending...that will cause massive deficits and therefore it will "starve the beast" (destroy the federal government). Which is exactly what folks like Norquist want to happen.
Well, here we are 28 years later, 12 trillion dollars in debt, negative personal savings, double digit unemployment/under employment, no manufacturing base, almost no unions, 47 million without health care, trillions spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.....WAKE UP AMERICANS!!!
Norquist is drooling.....
It's time to bring back what worked from 1935 to 1980....
He was right....and over 28 years, this kind of economics has led us to ruin as a nation.
But what most people fail to see is that the folks that thought this up, (Arthur Laffer, Jude Wanniski, Grover Norquist, David Stockman, ) didn't just want to cut taxes, they also wanted to gain votes for more political power and that meant that they also had to increase government spending.
Wait a minute....Republicans increasing spending???? I can hear Sarah Palin now, "Say it ain't so, Joe!" But it's true.
That's where we come to the 2 Santa Claus Theory. Traditional conservatives believed in less taxes and LESS spending, and balanced budgets. However, in the 70's, this was seen by some cons as the path to being in the minority party forever. These folks believed that it was government spending that rallied voter support for the dems, so, let's see....why not cut taxes AND increase spending!! Yeah, that will cause voters to like us AND we can still move towards Norquists goal of -
"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."
But, under Reagan, weren't we were told that by cutting taxes, tax revenues would GO UP??? Yeah, we were told a lie....click HERE to see that tax revenues did NOT go up, they went DOWN under Reagan. That's why he left office with a HUGE national debt. (Remember, Reagan said deficits don't matter) So, cut taxes and raise spending...that will cause massive deficits and therefore it will "starve the beast" (destroy the federal government). Which is exactly what folks like Norquist want to happen.
Well, here we are 28 years later, 12 trillion dollars in debt, negative personal savings, double digit unemployment/under employment, no manufacturing base, almost no unions, 47 million without health care, trillions spent in Iraq and Afghanistan.....WAKE UP AMERICANS!!!
Norquist is drooling.....
It's time to bring back what worked from 1935 to 1980....
- strong unions (pass the Employee Free Choice Act)
- a trade policy that protects (yes, i said protects) our manufacturing jobs...let's start making stuff again
- do away with the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy, or better yet, roll back the Reagan tax cuts on the wealthy
- update regulation to 21st century technology standards
- have a single payer health insurance policy (how about everyone can buy into MEDICARE)
- increase the minimum wage to a LIVING wage
- FREE higher education for anyone that qualifies
It's time! Here's a nice article on why supply side economics didn't work!
Monday, December 15, 2008
Where oh where have our jobs gone?
It is a given that if an economy is to grow, demand must increase. For demand to increase, people need to have more money to spend. In order for people to have more money to spend, they have to have GOOD PAYING JOBS!! Why is this a mystery to so many people, especially politicians?
Consider this statistic from the federal government...from 1994 to 2007, net manufacturing employment has declined by 3,654,000. According to the World Resource Institute, manufacturing was 20.3% of our GDP in 1987, and in 2007 it was 11.7%...that's a 43% DECLINE!
By the way, in 2007 the financial services/real estate sector was 20.4% of GDP.
This year alone we've lost millions of jobs and we have politicians who want to see more pink slips come from the auto industry.
We're diving right into another Republican Great Depression. (borrowed from Thom Hartmann)
Wakeup, America! We need to make things again. We need tariffs! We need PROGRESSIVE policies and legislation to begin to counteract the disastrous results of Reagnomics.
People need good, union jobs that pay a living wage...not a minimum wage.
Consider this statistic from the federal government...from 1994 to 2007, net manufacturing employment has declined by 3,654,000. According to the World Resource Institute, manufacturing was 20.3% of our GDP in 1987, and in 2007 it was 11.7%...that's a 43% DECLINE!
By the way, in 2007 the financial services/real estate sector was 20.4% of GDP.
This year alone we've lost millions of jobs and we have politicians who want to see more pink slips come from the auto industry.
We're diving right into another Republican Great Depression. (borrowed from Thom Hartmann)
Wakeup, America! We need to make things again. We need tariffs! We need PROGRESSIVE policies and legislation to begin to counteract the disastrous results of Reagnomics.
People need good, union jobs that pay a living wage...not a minimum wage.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Truly despicable
It's truly despicable that a small cadre of republican senators actively want to sacrifice hundreds of thousands if not millions of jobs all in an effort to cripple the UAW. It's clear beyond doubt that this weeks killing of the bridge loan legislation for the auto industry was nothing more than an attempted murder of good union jobs in the country. It isn't even politically motivated...union busting will NOT bring in more voters to the republican party!!! Even the Dark Lord, Dick Cheney this week knew the writing on the wall...
At a closed-door GOP lunch on Wednesday, Dick Cheney tried to convince Southern Senate Republicans to pass the White House auto bailout bill. If they didn't, he warned, "it's Herbert Hoover time."
Check out the list of senators who voted YES for 700BILLION dollars for the financial industry bailout, but voted NO for the auto workers...
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/12/tarp-yes-auto-no/
Someone get me the transcripts of the hearings with the bankers and financial heads where THESE senators grilled them on THEIR pay, on THEIR EMPLOYEE pay, on how THEY TRAVELED to the hearings, on how THEY are going to restructure their companies to not let this happen again....$700,000,000,000.00 given out without ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS!
With the election of Obama, trickle down Reaganomics HAS to be dead or dying. However, until the next congress, these dastardly senators will do everything they can to maintain life support for policies that are ruining this country.
It's sickening.
At a closed-door GOP lunch on Wednesday, Dick Cheney tried to convince Southern Senate Republicans to pass the White House auto bailout bill. If they didn't, he warned, "it's Herbert Hoover time."
Check out the list of senators who voted YES for 700BILLION dollars for the financial industry bailout, but voted NO for the auto workers...
http://wonkroom.thinkprogress.org/2008/12/12/tarp-yes-auto-no/
Someone get me the transcripts of the hearings with the bankers and financial heads where THESE senators grilled them on THEIR pay, on THEIR EMPLOYEE pay, on how THEY TRAVELED to the hearings, on how THEY are going to restructure their companies to not let this happen again....$700,000,000,000.00 given out without ANY OF THESE QUESTIONS!
With the election of Obama, trickle down Reaganomics HAS to be dead or dying. However, until the next congress, these dastardly senators will do everything they can to maintain life support for policies that are ruining this country.
It's sickening.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
C'mon, Islam...join the 19th century
My title is stolen from a Bill Maher schtick where he comments on how Islam is stuck in the 7th century.
This morning, I read in the Guardian that ritual "honor killings" have increased 70% in Basra, Iraq.
Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as follows:
Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.
Read the Guardian article here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/iraq-honor-killings-women
This barbarism occurs all over the world in the name of religious faith.
Wake Up, Humans!! Stop believing the lie of religion.
This morning, I read in the Guardian that ritual "honor killings" have increased 70% in Basra, Iraq.
Human Rights Watch defines "honor killings" as follows:
Honor crimes are acts of violence, usually murder, committed by male family members against female family members, who are held to have brought dishonor upon the family. A woman can be targeted by (individuals within) her family for a variety of reasons, including: refusing to enter into an arranged marriage, being the victim of a sexual assault, seeking a divorce—even from an abusive husband—or (allegedly) committing adultery. The mere perception that a woman has behaved in a way that "dishonors" her family is sufficient to trigger an attack on her life.
Read the Guardian article here http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/nov/30/iraq-honor-killings-women
This barbarism occurs all over the world in the name of religious faith.
Wake Up, Humans!! Stop believing the lie of religion.
Friday, November 28, 2008
How about some lovin' for Joe the Auto Worker??
The financial institutions (banks, investment houses, etc.) have spent years getting fat and happy using questionable loans, mortgage backed securities, derivatives, consolidated debt objects...all of which are under the radar and non regulated.
And when these esoteric contracts blow up in their faces, they come to us, the taxpayer, begging for a hand out.
We don't tell them to suck it up, change your business practices, and re-organize out of bankruptcy.....we oblige them to the tune of trillions of dollars.
But when the auto companies can't get cash from these same banks....which every business relies on for keeping inventory and meeting payroll, our government kicks them in the teeth and tells them they need to change how they do business...and, by the way, maybe they should just go through bankruptcy.
Once again, the average worker (Joe the Auto Worker) can just go suck eggs...we're only interested in helping out Jack the Banker.
Wake up America!
And when these esoteric contracts blow up in their faces, they come to us, the taxpayer, begging for a hand out.
We don't tell them to suck it up, change your business practices, and re-organize out of bankruptcy.....we oblige them to the tune of trillions of dollars.
But when the auto companies can't get cash from these same banks....which every business relies on for keeping inventory and meeting payroll, our government kicks them in the teeth and tells them they need to change how they do business...and, by the way, maybe they should just go through bankruptcy.
Once again, the average worker (Joe the Auto Worker) can just go suck eggs...we're only interested in helping out Jack the Banker.
Wake up America!
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Work begins...
With the election of Obama, America has been given a 2nd chance....for everything. We last had this chance immediately after 9/11. Bush had the country (and the world) in his hands...hell, even Iran was holding candle light vigils for 9/11 victims.
And did he ask us to sacrifice? Did he ask us to do everything we could as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil?
No.
He told us to go shopping. That's it. He then proceeded to pull us out of international treaties, invade 2 Muslim countries, and cause the loss of life on a HUGE scale.
We now have a chance to reverse this deadly course our country has taken. Obama, the democrats, and even moderate republicans have an opportunity to heal our nation, repair our international reputation, fix our economy, and give us hope for the future.
But, let's not forget...Obama is NOT "our leader". No American president is supposed to be a leader...our president must listen to the people and represent us accordingly...it is OUR responsibility to make it known to Obama and our government exactly what we want and need.
The work begins now.
Wake up, America!!
And did he ask us to sacrifice? Did he ask us to do everything we could as a nation to reduce our dependence on foreign oil?
No.
He told us to go shopping. That's it. He then proceeded to pull us out of international treaties, invade 2 Muslim countries, and cause the loss of life on a HUGE scale.
We now have a chance to reverse this deadly course our country has taken. Obama, the democrats, and even moderate republicans have an opportunity to heal our nation, repair our international reputation, fix our economy, and give us hope for the future.
But, let's not forget...Obama is NOT "our leader". No American president is supposed to be a leader...our president must listen to the people and represent us accordingly...it is OUR responsibility to make it known to Obama and our government exactly what we want and need.
The work begins now.
Wake up, America!!
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