SHRED
SHRED's JournalThis guy, responding to Krugman's latest, "gets it"
I wish the narrative would get off the "fairness" part of raising taxes on the rich and get to the heart of why continuing the cuts at the top are bad for our economy. "Fair" is taken for code for class warfare and is not a convincing argument... it sounds like simple whining versus supported policy.
During this recession, the Fortune 500 companies made record profits. "Trickle-down" economics, if it was real, should have kicked in and saved the economy without one more word said... it didn't.
During this recession, record lows were spent on reinvestment (equipment, people, expansion, and training). And although this violates supply side theory, demand-side people understand that reinvestment will not happen without demand.
So during this recession, record executive paydays and records amount of dollars went to off-shore accounts… via executive personal income… estimated at just under $100 Trillion.
So guess what? These artificially low taxes at the top (along with capital gains rates) let this happen under the guise of not taxing small business at higher rates. But remember, these taxes are PERSONAL income taxes, and speak directly only to the monies TAKEN OUT OF BUSINESS that was never intended for reinvestment or JOBS in the first place. These low taxes ENCOURAGE this money to be extracted... while increased rates would ENCOURAGE reinvestment... which is EXACTLY what we need.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/09/opinion/krugman-lets-not-make-a-deal.html?comments&_r=0#permid=270
I don't think that the damage that TV and radio have done...
...to political discourse in the USA can be overstated. The damage is severe since losing the fairness doctrine especially.
People actually believe Rush and FOX "News".
I am 56 years old and remember the dread kids had in high school when they found out we had to take American History and Civics classes to graduate. This lack of interest in basic governmental structure and function coupled with an overreliance on TV and radio as the two main sources for information have seriously torn our country in half in my opinion.
A few of us developed our critical thinking skills by not going along with, and resisting the best we could, this charade of deception however many people I fear would prefer authoritarianism. A king if you will. Someone along the lines of a Hitler type figure.
Critical thinking takes constant vigilance to maintain. It's not easy. It takes work and correction and the willing to admit when our thinking and feelings are uninformed and misplaced. It is tough on the ego and dare I say most people's pride will not let them go too deep in those realms because it's too painful for one's sense of self righteousness and the comfort that affords.
I fear a vast swath of the population takes the easy way out. The lazy way out. The way that lays back mentally and allows the mind to be filled with the garbage that flows over the mainstream airwaves. The sad part is that after this crap is ingested it is processed and then spewed out as if it is somehow now an original thought, an original feeling, as if the lazy willing victim came up with it on their own.
If I had better writing skills I could convey this even stronger but it all boils down to...when will we wake up?
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Inside Bain's Chinese Sensata Factories
Where Workers Put in 12-Hour Days for $.99-$1.35 an HourBain didn't build that new factory -- the Chinese Government Did
October 20, 2012 |
Mitt romney has made Obama's out-of-context “you didn't build that” quote a central theme of his campaign. It's ironic, as Mitt Romney is going to profit just before the election when Bain-owned Sensata Technologies moves 170 high-tech jobs from Freeport, Illinois, to a plant in China built for the firm by the Chinese government.
Sensata enjoyed record revenues last year – this isn't about making the “hard choices” necessary to save a failing enterprise. The workers in Freeport have been working 24 hours a day, in three shifts. They make $14-17 per hour, with benefits.
According to a report by the Institute for Global Labour and Human Rights, one of Bain's first actions after buying Sensata was to set up “12 Sensata/Bain capital funds 'organized under the laws of the Cayman Islands' so as to avoid paying taxes.” They'll get a small tax break for relocating the plant – the one Mitt Romney insisted did not exist during the first debate – and then use those offshore funds to defer taxes on some of the income the company generates.
MORE:
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/inside-bains-chinese-sensata-factories-where-workers-put-12-hour-days-99-cents-135
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When calling out the RW 'chickenhawk' Romney's of this country...
...the inevitable comeback from their RW sympathizers (and you can set a watch by it) is, "when did Obama serve?" or "when did Clinton serve?" or words to that effect.
They completely miss the main point which is the hypocrisy of advocating war-hawkish positions yet not spending one minute in military service themselves (or going AWOL like W).
They are either this stupid or purposefully trying to change the issue.
Either way the RW in this country are bottom-feeders of the worst kind.
What would it mean to our economy if people like me could retire...
...and "get out of the way"?
And furthermore...if I can't retire then who can?
I suspect there are many others in similar situations.
Here is my scenario:
Townhome in north county coastal San Diego, CA is paid off and ready to rent ($2,000 to $2,500 per month).
I have twenty years in at work and I am 55 so retirement is available at about 54% of pay.
I have another 457 retirement account about $55K in it and the wife will have, in two years, a retirement of $1,000 per month for 10 years.
We also have a CD at around $100K gaining minimal interest at around 2% plus other funds in Roths and conventional IRAs totaling around $60K.
We want to hit the road in our RV for a long while.
Can't retire though. No retirement health plan at work. Health insurance way too costly (preexisting condition).
Fortunately or unfortunately I have lived frugally and acquired too much to risk without insurance.
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The software code used in...
...gaming machines, at casinos, is regulated and transparent.
The software code used in voting machines is deemed "proprietary", by the corporations that own them, and therefore is not subject to inspection.
Do I have my facts correct?
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Chris Hedges on Capitalism’s ‘Sacrifice Zones’
http://vimeo.com/46079178http://billmoyers.com/segment/chris-hedges-on-capitalism%E2%80%99s-%E2%80%98sacrifice-zones%E2%80%99/
Removing voters from the voting rolls,...
...tabulating votes on private machines, and corporate ownership of most of TV and radio.
Why that's a Republican wet dream come true!
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Our parents, church, and school...
...all train us to obey authority figures or else we are punished.
We are brainwashed to "fit in".
Our parents treat us not as people but as property when we are young.
Church threatens us with Hell.
I worked at an elementary school and witnessed a kindergarten teacher drag a kid outside and berate him by saying, "All the other kids are behaving so why aren't you". In other words ingraining into this child that he must succumb to peer pressure yet, in a few years, he was taught "just say no" to peer pressure.
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Gender: Do not displayCurrent location: Encinitas, CA
Member since: Sat Nov 22, 2003, 01:17 AM
Number of posts: 28,136
