O/T: BLOG POST OF THE DAY

[Tim Daneliuk]

We already have.Bush's TARP was about $1T. Obama added almost another $5T in self-stimulation. Neither worked. They simply gave the very people that failed to behave responsibly a get out of jail free card. Among these include the bankers, the people that bought homes as items of speculation, and people living far beyond their means.

How much more shall we spend before folks on your side of the political divide finally admit it does not work?

BTW, what neither your side nor most so-called conservatives get it that what Obama did was NOT Keynesian. It was far worse. A Keynes stimulus would have gone directly into the economy in the form of jobs for the masses. Obama self-stimulation was designed to benefit his favored oligarchs and low rent voter base but it produces no jobs of any note outside the wretched public sector. Now Keynes was wrong on many levels, but Obama's actions are pure political megalomania trying to get people to like him.

[Tim Daneliuk]

Republican version:

- How much do you make?

- Do you make use of government services like secure borders, rule of law, ...?

- Pay nothing anyhow

Democrat version:

- How much do you make?

- We'll take it all and decide what you can have back for things we think you deserve.

[Lew Hodgett]

------------------------------------------------- What a bunch of happy horse crap.

All Romney wants to do is reduce taxes on high end incomes, above $250K, as well as destroy Medicare and Social Security as we know it, not reduce the federal deficit.

Republicans have been trying to get rid of Medicare and Social Security as we know it since their inception.

Lew

[Tim Daneliuk]

This isn't quite right. That's how much incremental *debt* he incurred. Not all of that is self-stimulation.

----------------------------------------------------------------------- Tim Daneliuk

[Han]

Tim Daneliuk wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Bull

[Han]

Tim Daneliuk wrote in news: [e-mail]:

[krw]

Bullshit. Both will kill growth, as we've seen for the last four years.

[Larry Jaques]

(viewable only by wsj online subscribers)

This isn't quite true. Snipping off and disbanding an agency would remove the deficit immediately, but nobody in D.C. talks of necessary things like this. The burden would then be only on the snipped middle income workers, not the class as a whole. This is bad for them, good for the country.

Condolences. She was an interesting writer.

-- I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. --Duke Ellington

[HeyBub]

Sure. In sum, Smith postulate - and to my mind proved - that when each person does what is best for himself, the entire community prospers.

[HeyBub]

That is way too big an implication in your statement. There is NO showing of tax evasion or even tax avoidance in having an account in a Caymen Island bank. Maybe he was attracted by their "free checking" offer.

No one knows.

But your suggestion of a "tax haven" is rank speculation. Further, there is no "tax haven" capability in an off-shore account. The US is one of only two countries that tax foreign earnings (the other is the Philippines). What the Caymens, Bahamas, etc., offer is bank "secrecy." Now one CAN use the secrecy to hide dodgy transactions, but Romney is a Republican. Republicans just don't do that sort of thing.

In fact, but keep this confidential, I have accounts in two foreign banks in different countries! These are my stash of "get out of town money." I receive NO tax advantages in these account; they exist for completely different purposes.

[HeyBub]

Yes. Personally, I favor a per-capita tax. That is one AMOUNT, not a single percentage. Like a movie ticket or a can of jalapeno-flavored chicken nuggets. One money for all. [Currently, that would be about $15,000 per person per year]

[Tim Daneliuk]

Han, I didn't way he made the job situation worse as such. I said his self-stimulation plan didn't work ... because we still have a U6 at, what, nearly 15%?

[Han]

"HeyBub" wrote in news:sJqdnS5kFohKpKjNnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I have a Dutch euro accoun too. Properly mentioned on the relevant documents etc. Comes in handy when I need euros. No need for foreign exchange fees from the credit cards.

[Han]

Tim Daneliuk wrote in news: [e-mail]:

Tim, I have no easy way to check those interesting graphs, showing consistently more job gains under democratic than republican presidents. I just know from the job reports that we are a long way off from making a real dent in unemployment. I retired, but my job has not been filled (grant problems in the lab, so a in effect a reduction in federal expenditures, although I fear that the slack I provied has been taken up). I am happy that the stock market is up as much as it is, also because my retirement income partly depends on that. OTOH, that rise has not provided jobs, and I can't understand why not. Productivity has gone up, I think in part because people work harder and longer for the same wages and salaries.

In many ways we are much better off now than we realize, and those graphs show it. I wish I knew how to translate it into more jobs. Serious suggestions?

[Han]

" [e-mail]" wrote in news: [e-mail]:

But I saw this:

[Han]

"HeyBub" wrote in news:S6mdnWixZOtzp6jNnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

Perhaps you want to explain a little, because that is so far out. A family of 4 making 100K would then have 55K left. Which would mean that in order to keep near their current standard of living, they'd have to make at least 100K/yr more. Lower incomes would have to have a rise in income of (nearly) the same amounts. Unless, perhaps you meant this seriously, unless everyone should not only be paying the same in taxes, they should earn the same amounts. By Heybub decree, which of course supersedes government decree.

Just like a VAT, this type of proposal is a recipe for instant inflation. Moreover, I don't think Boehner and Ryan want to be brought down to a mere 200K/yr. Dream on ...

I apologize in advance for poking fun at your proposal, but to me it is indeed utopian drivel.

[krw]

You're a liar, but everyone seems to know that already.

"As we know it", sure.

[Tim Daneliuk]

Get rid of Obama and elect a pro-growth/pro-business President.

[krw]

Liars figure.

At 15% un(der)employment, you've just won the understatement of the month award! Worse, the number of employed is going down at a pretty steady rate. All thanks to your boy, Obama and his lapdogs in Congress.

[Larry Jaques]

Han, please show me the 7 million new jobs that chart says are attributed to Obama. I don't believe that for a New York second.

-- I merely took the energy it takes to pout and wrote some blues. --Duke Ellington