There has been negative progress for many Americans during the Bush administration. Some people have done better, but I think the house was built of sticks and it blew away. A real economic solution is going to need a house built of bricks, with a foundation that holds up. I don’t know if either McCain or Obama can deliver that. Neither has the economic experience to to the job or the courage to make the hard decisions which will involve cutting spending and finding revenues to pay for what we do spend. But this election was supposed to be about the war, right? ….I guess not.

You know the disconnect line is double talk for old.

Will obama get the Boss to sing Born in the USA and use it to attack McCain?

McCain now supports the Bush Tax cuts where as before he had the same postion as Obama. The BUSH Tax cut ONLY benefited the rich. McCain was right the first time. McCain is flip floping due to pressures from the extreme right. At this point the “straight talker” is not talking so straight.

How does McCain really feel?

I wonder how many posts on the blog will stay on the issue of the economy and not continue the bashing of Obama based on his past relationships.

These tax cuts has had a deterimental effect on our economy. It has only serve to put a little more money in the hands of a few small business owners. It has done nothing to stimulate the economy.

The practices of banks, the housing market and the gas companies need to be reformed.

Obama has proved he knows nothing about economics.
Ob has proved he knows not how to be a Commander in Chief
He will know how to give a speech after we’ve been attacked again and say the chickens have come home to roost.
He does know how to give Clinton the bird which proves he has the maturity of a 10 year old, like we didn’t already know it.
He will prove he knows how to tax the heck out of us and corporations so they can move out of the country.
I’m sick of that elite lefty liberal.
McCain 08
p.s. who was Bloomberg referring to when he said the next president would be an adult.? Surely not Obama.

Obama, and Clinton keep wanting to push the healthcare issue, but are unwilling to adress the main causes of it`s expense. Everytime an unemployed mother has a baby, everytime a gangbanger gets shot, everytime someone has an overdose, everytime an illegal allien goes to the hospital for anything, Working Americans foot the bill. As long as the Democrats keep babysitting this segment of society, any proposed solution is null and void. Jobless rate counts aren`t an accurate measure of the state of the economy, because a large number of the unemployed, wouldn`t take, or keep a job if you put a gun to their head. If you don`t have a job, and want one, then compete with the illegals for their jobs, and prove that Americans will work. If not then starve to death. The best way for the economy to recover, is for everyone to get of their ass and contribute their share to the kitty, instead of waiting for the Government to contribute to them. That will never happen as long as the Government keeps giving away free s-t.

so let’s tax more!

Michael. You know not of what you speak. Us little people have saved thousands in taxes under the Bush tax cuts.
As one example…..1999 Clinton. Married tax was16,800. 2008 under Bush it was 9,000 on 60,000$. There are a lot of factors involved but all I know is my kids families saved a lot on their taxes under Bush. There are more examples but I’m too old and lazy to type them out.
What do you think stimulates the economy? More money taken from you to give to gov’t or you spending YOUR money yourself. Or investing it.
This is a Capitalist Republic, not communism or socialism.
It isn’t govt business how much people earn.

Well said RC MO

I can’t remember where (forgive my ignorance) but i read some statistic recently that gave a large percentage (maybe 40 some percent) of people in this country are on some sort of government assistance.
If you think about it, once that number climbs over 50%, then God help us all. The majority will rule and they will keep electing those that will continue the hand outs. The rest of us hard working Americans that actually contribute will bare the burden. It’s a scary scary thought…..

taxes and un-employment were higher under Clinton. 5% now.
3 times or more higher under Carter.
RC MO, You are right. You can sure tell who the people are that are sitting on their butts with their hands out.
McCain 08

[...] Targets his Republican rival for saying Thursday he sees “great progress economically” as he kicks off his final five-day tour through Pennsylvania. [...]

Obama has it right of course. Yes there has been progress over the past 8 years. too bad the only progress that has been made is by the wealthiest 1% of Americans. Ordinary Americans have seen their income drop. WHy? Because the TAx code (trickle down economics) rewards capital and not work. Look at the litany of problems Obama pointed out. Its because the tax code has been rigged to help the super wealthy. ANd FOX news does a good job of fooling middleclass people by getting them to think they actually got a tax cut under BUsh. Yeah they did. But it was so miniscule it didnthelp. THe economy lost 80,000 jobs just last month so how can anyone claim the tax cuts for the rich are helping?

Oh yeah, when it comes to economics, Obama really knows what he’s talking about ..not. He’s a freaking moron.

“MR. GIBSON: All right.

You have however said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton, which was 28 percent.”

It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling if you went to 28 percent. But actually Bill Clinton in 1997 signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.

SENATOR OBAMA: Right.

MR. GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.

SENATOR OBAMA: Right.

MR. GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

SENATOR OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year — $29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair.
And what I want is not oppressive taxation. I want businesses to thrive and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want to make sure is that our tax system is fair and that we are able to finance health care for Americans who currently don’t have it and that we’re able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools.[snip]

MR. GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up. [snip]”

So Obama doesn’t care what the outcome is as long as, in his feeble minded opinion, its fair? Yep, he’s a moron.

Tax and spend, Obama is very disconnected from it all. Most liberal in congress, this is why we can not get anything done. Take a look at Illinois….. and see what condition it is in. Congress is controlled by Democrats, tax and spend and spend more. one day our who paycheck will got to the pockets of the Liberal Democrats………..They promised alot of fixes and have not yet delivered that they LIED to the American people Wake Up. Change Change Change Change what Broken Congress.

Go McCain 08

Ah, so the answer to solve the economic woes of people is to take more of their money away? The answer to government waste, is to create more government programs? I say we add no new taxes and we don’t cut taxes until we balance the current budget. In other words, cut spending where it isn’t needed. If the average American and dare I say it, the average American company has to cut expenses, the government should too. Perhaps the government should take a page from religious organizations: 10% of your time or your treasure a year. That’s all my church (A Roman Catholic one) asks for and if you wish to give more then you are welcome to do it. The government should ask for no more than that.

Just a thought, it will most likely never be done.

Comment by Michael in Atlanta
April 18th, 2008 at 2:36 pm
McCain now supports the Bush Tax cuts where as before he had the same postion as Obama. The BUSH Tax cut ONLY benefited the rich. McCain was right the first time. McCain is flip floping due to pressures from the extreme right. At this point the “straight talker” is not talking so straight.

How does McCain really feel?

______________

As I recall..I’ve heard John McCain say many, many, times that he voted against the Bush Tax Cuts..because he wanted cuts in spending also…how about alittle common sense. He paid a political price for standing up to his convictions to cut spending..Cut spending…so I don’t see how you can compare the two…I haven’t heard Obama talk about cutting spending.

Obama talks about cutting govt spending and wanting people to take more responsibility for their future a lot… at least for a Democrat. His health care plan just wants to make it cheaper for average American and involves cutting wasteful spending by streamlining the process. The best thing he did was make all the govt spending easy accessible to common people by putting it up on a website as a way to force govt to be more efficient. While I must admit that I don’t understand economy (so cannot comment on his economic policies), at least his vision for this country sounds right and fair…

If there is anyone who thinks this economy is thriving, tell me how.

The Tax cuts have done nothing to improve the current economy.

How much money do you think we could save if we did not have to finance the war in Iraq?

A billion dollars a month.

How much more money would all taxpayers have if they did not have to pay a dollar a gallon more for gas that last year?

Obama made these comments at a supposed town hall meeting/rally in Ere, PA. I say “supposed” because you had to have a ticket to attend. Is that usually how it’s done? All the ones I attended were open to the public and on a first come basis. Maybe that’s how Obama controls the questions?

McCain is in fine shape, but have ya’ll heard? Obama is broken but still runing. I guess Hillary did a job on him, had him crying mercy!

What you think about Obama insulting one of the United States Senators by comparing him to a terrorist thats a cop killer! If I was that Senator I would take this insult onto the floor of the House!

Obama said he would not raise taxes on people that made less than $250,000 but then said he would raise th capital gains tax. What if part of your $250,000 income is from capital gains? This is the type logic he uses.

Not such a good report of Fox, its slightly different but thats politics. You take (part of) interview out of context and blow it up. Goes around comes around.Gets heated today, boy lots ging on. You can see McCain actual interview here and others,

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video_log/

Michael “The Tax cuts have done nothing to improve the current economy.”

Increase taxes on business increases COST to business.

Who pays for these costs? YOU and ME

Increase taxes make our US products more expensive for EVERYONE, here and abroad.

Increase cost to businesses means US businesses are LESS COMPETIVE and sales go down.

Sales go down, folks LOSE JOBS.

Is the economy in a slump, YES

Does the economy go through periodic slumps (corrections), YES no matter who is President. The market corrects itself and works best without Government intervention.

If you increase taxes then the current slump would be WORSE.

Also, when jobs are LOST did you ever see a poor person create jobs? Poor people do not create jobs, businesses do.

You need to encourage businesses to GROW, BE COMPETITIVE on a GLOBAL basis and one way to encourage this is to have a BUSINESS FRIENDLY tax system.

jr

Other news, this goes far and only March

Obama said that as president he would indeed ask his new Attorney General and his deputies to “immediately review the information that’s already there” and determine if an inquiry is warranted — but he also tread carefully on the issue, in line with his reputation for seeking to bridge the partisan divide. He worried that such a probe could be spun as “a partisan witch hunt.” However, he said that equation changes if there was willful criminality, because “nobody is above the law.”

The question was inspired by a recent report by ABC News, confirmed by the Associated Press, that high-level officials including Vice President Dick Cheney and former Cabinet secretaries Colin Powell, John Ashcroft and Donald Rumsfeld, among others, met in the White House and discussed the use of waterboarding and other torture techniques on terrorism suspects.

full report: http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/attytood/Barack_on_torture.html

OK,

Where is the proof that the tax cuts have benefited the economy?

McCain also a commitment of no new taxes, think broadcasts Sunday; everybody thinks they are Santa Claus. Don’t think that’s very smart, one never knows what’s going on in couple of years.
Plus his economc plan is lets say far from robust, he could and should have done better.

RE: Michael in Atlanta

Your recent comments are NOT on point with the underlying issues. Any attempt to offer a meaningful response that you could grasp would be a waist of effort and far over your apparent intellect!

http://caosblog.com/7638#comment-1533814

Read this whole blog: Scroll down on April 18, 2008

Show me proof that tax INCREASES will benefit the economy?

Why are we borrowing money from China and Japan?

Where does the funding for the war come from? Taxes Cuts?

Why are more of our jobs being outsourced?

Why is the housing industry in a slump?

How can we cut spending while this war continues to cost a billion dollars a month?

Am also sceptical in that respect if Bush tax benefited economy. When you cut taxes middle and lower income, yes; because they spend it on goods or paying of debt. simple mathematics, more people and is also feel good factor. people who are well off, are less inclined to spend this on consumer goods. plus less people. Its just old school of Friedman, of trickle down economics, but that doesn’t work always.

Dollar replaced gold. All countries have reserves in dollars because of oil. US bonds are bought by central banks abroad, to cover expenditure. Only good thing now is that dollar is weak against other currencies. So its cheaper for tourists to come over and for export.

Yes McCain is Disconnected to Economy - SO IS HE!!!

VOTE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON

Who really pays the most US taxes.

If you think the “rich” get off too easy.

From About.com

http://usgovinfo.about.com/od/incometaxandtheirs/a/whopaysmost.htm

Oops! Previous post waist S/B waste…the guy probably wouldn’t have caught the typo anyway!

Michael in Atlanta says:
McCain now supports the Bush Tax cuts where as before he had the same postion as Obama. The BUSH Tax cut ONLY benefited the rich.

Please read this from USA today:
Americans of every income have benefited from a drop in federal income tax rates as Bush administration tax cuts enacted since 2000 took effect, an independent analysis of newly released IRS data shows.
But those earning $75,000 to $500,000 are shouldering a larger share of total taxes paid as millions more of them earn higher incomes and get hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax, the analysis also found.

The review by the Tax Foundation, a non-partisan research group that favors low taxes, provides one of the first detailed looks at the impact of federal tax changes phased in between 2000 and 2004.

Alluding to the political debate that often surrounds tax issues, Gerald Prante, a Tax Foundation economist, said, “It is true that in dollar amounts the rich have gained the most. But everybody’s tax rates have fallen.”

The analysis showed, for example, that a taxpayer who earned $35,000 in 2000 would have paid 8.54% of that income — $2,989 after credits — in federal taxes. In 2004, federal taxes would have accounted for 5.12% of that taxpayer’s annual income, or $1,792. That represents a 40% decrease in tax burden.

At the higher end of the income brackets, a $1.75 million earner would have paid $513,625 in 2000 federal taxes, when the rate for that earning bracket was 29.35%. Four years later, when the rate dropped to 25%, that earner would have paid $437,500. That represents a 14.8% cut in tax burden, the analysis shows.

*Just because you HEAR the democrats in Washington say that the Bush tax cuts only benefited the wealthy, that does not make it fact, my friend. You bet that dollar wise, the rich benefited more. They pay more in taxes than most people make in a year. Of course they will pay less, even if their overall credit percentage is lower than the average American. Please do not listen to propaganda and push it off as fact.

I can assure you that if we get a democrat in office, EVERYONE will pay MORE in taxes, unless you are at the very bottom. I feel that would encourage more people to go to the bottom. Why work if the government is just going to take it all anyway? Why work if I can get everything I need through social programs without doing a darn thing? What would be the point of ambition?

This world is full of morons and Obama is one of them. Of course prices on milk are higher than they were eight years ago. Of course prices on gasoline are higher than they were eight years ago. Of course the government is spending more than they were eight years ago. I can’t think of anything that cost less at the end of Bill clintons presidency than it did at the start of his presidency. But Obama wants to try to make hay with the higher prices after eight years of the Bush Presidency. Of course the prices are higher. If you have a job now and it is the same job you had eight years ago you are taking home much money than you were eight years ago. The unemployment rate is about the same as it was eight years ago. It will always be around 5% because there are about 3% of the people in this country that you couldn’t make work if you beat them with a club. And about 2% are transient in nature and can’t stand to hold the same job for any time at all. the other .2% are the results of companies cleaning house from time to time and it goes on constantly. The Bush tax cuts were the best thing for the country at a time when the Clintons had taxed people until they bled through their noses and the unemployment rate was still about 5%. Health care is being driven up by inner city gangs and illegal aliens. It doesn’t matter how much free health care these people get they will still cost the middle class americans a hugh amount of tax dollars and high health care costs to keep the emergency rooms open. If Bill clinton had not allowed Illegal aliens to sneak into our country for three years and train to fly airplanes into tall buildings we never would have had the 9/11 incident that caused our economy to crash at the first part of the Bush Presidency. Yes, John McCain was right this economy is still the best in the world and if we could do away with Bill Clintons NAFTA we could keep it good.

Outscoring is due to globalisation and world trade organisation, Nafta etc. Manufacturing to china because payroll far less.Am not an economist, but basics probably get somewhat.

good site, you can export/import in $ per country

http://www.ustr.gov

Yeah……..Obama says McCain is disconnected from the economy….

Someone needs to let Obama know that he is disconnected from reality.

The more Obama talks for himself the more we see he is a moron and doesn’t have a clue how to run this country. He has a good campaign manager and a good speech writer, thats it. I can’t believe people are voting for this guy.

I have a farm, and I had to learn how to eliminate all of the middle men to be compettetive. I used to sell all of my grain a harvest time. I used to sell all of my hogs for butcher to a local buyer, who in turn sold them to the meat packer. He sold them at a higher price, hence his profit. I didn`t get as much, buy I didn`t have trucking costs either. Now I have more grain storage at home, so I can keep my corn to grind for feed, instead of having to buy it later at a higher cost. I built my own packing plant, so now I proccess my own hogs. This keeps me from taking a raping from the buyer, and the packer. I have also added a full product dairy. All of this has been over a period of twenty-five years of trying to stay afloat. I employ 88 people. Thats not many people by some standards, but 88 families is a lot in a rural community. If my taxes are raised, the first thing I am going to do is close the dairy. Thirty-three jobs gone, just like that. That in turn would take away from my income, which is put into the other segments of the farm. A chain reaction of failures would occure taking away from the diversity that keeps this farm alive. Out of 4.4 million in operating cost, my person share was less than forty thousand in 2007. So corporate tax rates don`t just involve the rich. Your only rich if you have available cash flow, which most small business owners don`t have.

This is a matter of admitting and Pretending?

McCain - ADMITTED that he’s got a`little knowledge about Economy…(Good in War only, and will just wait till the phone ring expires…

Obama - PRETENDING that he has knowledge in solving the mess in our economy??? Ummm aha!
(Good in Speeches, talks, blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah-blah only)

Senator Hillary Clinton - HAS ALREADY PROVIDED A BLUE PRINT OF HER SOLUTIONS TO OUR COUNTRY’S ECONOMY, HOUSING, HEALTHCARE, WAR, ETC. - PROBLEMS…
(Not only in words, but ready on all problems on day one!)

VOTE SENATOR HILLARY CLINTON FOR PRESIDENT ‘08!!!

What McCain said somewhat different in context. But in campaign all bets are off, twists and turns,

you see video for yourself Mccain/Obama one screen

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video_log/

Sure everyone benefited a tax savings. But who do you think got a significant benefit? The more income you make, the more you benefited from the Bush tax cuts.

Please note the the benefit was a personal benefit and the benefit was not invested in our economy. Those large benefits are sitting in some rich persons bank account.

RJ good luck, you need it, but come next week she probably admit defeat. She needs to win by a wide margin, accoring to Bill, cant see that from happening.
Saturday, April 19
Race Poll Results Spread
Democratic Presidential Nomination Newsweek Obama 54, Clinton 35 Obama +19
General Election: McCain vs. Obama Newsweek McCain 44, Obama 48, Und 8 Obama +4
General Election: McCain vs. Clinton Newsweek McCain 43, Clinton 47, Und 10 Clinton +4

Friday, April 18
Race Poll Results Spread
Pennsylvania Democratic Primary Rasmussen Clinton 47, Obama 44 Clinton +3
Pennsylvania Democratic Primary Zogby Clinton 47, Obama 43 Clinton +4
Democratic Presidential Nomination Gallup Tracking Obama 47, Clinton 44 Obama +3
Democratic Presidential Nomination Rasmussen Tracking Obama 46, Clinton 41 Obama +5
New York: McCain vs. Obama Quinnipiac McCain 39, Obama 47, Und 9 Obama +8
New York: McCain vs. Clinton Quinnipiac McCain 37, Clinton 49, Und 9 Clinton +12
Indiana Democratic Primary Downs Center Clinton 45, Obama 50 Obama +5
Indiana: McCain vs. Clinton Downs Center McCain 53, Clinton 42, Und 5 McCain +11
Indiana: McCain vs. Obama Downs Center McCain 51, Obama 44, Und 5 McCain +7

Ari

Come next week you will ask Why? and What?

Why Obama Dropped out…

What is the reason Obama dropped out…

Mark my words???

Not true, Michael. You need to look at percentages. In fact, for how much they pay compared to the average Joe, they probably need a bigger tax cut. Unfortunately, Michael, we have many people in America who suffer from CLASS ENVY.

Obama this and Obama that…..he said that he might raise the Capital Gain Tax as high as 28 percent… its at 15 percent now.. Don’t you know how much that would hurt the middle income Americans and if it hurts the Middle class it sure will hurt the poor as its the middle class that supports them! Sing on Obama as the title of your song is “It don’t make sense, until you listen to Rev. Wright”.

McCain is not just disconnected from the economy. He’s disconnected from reality. The economy is a large collective of events; people interacting and transacting with other people in the real world. He shakes his fist and screams against pork or set-asides, but they make up less than one percent of the U.S. budget…..big deal. Then he shakes his fist at Russia, at China, at North Korea, at Iran, at fill-in-the-blank, and then warns people that there we will be engaged in more wars. How much more military can be financed if all set-asides are eliminated? Very little. How much are these foreign military adventures costing in lives and treasure? The U.S. empire is already hopelessly over-extended militarily and economically and the time is fast approaching that we will pay for it and the price is not going to be cheap and payment is going to hurt.

RE: ari

A person can purchase just so many consumer goods. Who do you think creates jobs, new business and invests in the economy? Typical…

Latest Newsweek poll: Obama 54%, Clinton 34%. Lesson to be learned? Negative campaigning does not work! One down, one to go. Hopefully McCain is smart enough not to himself but seeing all the negativity on FOX blogs he’s bound to be sucked into the smear machine. tic tac tic tac tic tac………

RJ Voters are fed up from race, and want to see a winner, after ‘debate’ she couldn’t pull it off, nothing really worked, experience, health-care, sniper attack, and sounded more like a Rep.

The so-called science of poll-taking is not a science at all but mere necromancy. People are unpredictable by nature, and although you can take a nation’s pulse, you can’t be sure that the nation hasn’t just run up a flight of stairs.—WHITE

trs; maybe people buying stocks, other investments don’t know but guess its not substantial. One can then also say, without Bush tax we would be in a deeper slump. Sorry, dont think thats true, since payment on debt still have to be paid, and less comes in.
If you can calculate how this work be my guest, with proposal Mccain. Any which way he comes up short, you must be a genius to come up with a good idea, since econmists dont see it.

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11058631&fsrc=RSS

Trs Thought was already right, so at least did something right in economics class

on rebate tax;

Empirical economics suggests that lower-income families and those with incomes too low to pay taxes are much more likely to spend money than higher-income groups. If you’re earning more than half a million dollars a year, chances are you’re just going to save an extra $800 or $1,600, providing no initial stimulus to overall demand. If, however, you’re struggling to make ends meet it’s likely that you will spend all of the rebate, with all the beneficial second-round effects on aggregated demand that involves.

Furthermore, economic theory also says that increased public spending is more efficient as a stimulus than tax cuts. Good, old-fashioned Keynesian economics holds that, again, since government spending goes straight into domestic demand, you get more fiscal bang for the buck than you do through tax reductions, where a sizeable part of the stimulus “leaks” into higher savings and more spending on foreign imports.

But in 2001, it wa shown that rebates do work, but only slightly,
Bush tax rebates seven years ago tells us that there might be a case for tax-cutting as part of a fiscal stimulus. Economists at Princeton University, the University of Pennsylvania and the US Labour Department found that the effect of those rebates, worth $300 for individuals and $600 for families, lifted domestic demand by about 0.7 percentage points in the second half of 2001. Not enormous, but not negligible, either. It seems that the advantage of a rebate over increased spending is that, unlike government expenditure, rebates get money into the economy straight away. Building bridges and roads takes time.

Ari, Lets just add up all of the taxes being paid in by dead beat welfare people. Then let`s just give them all a raise. How much money are the illegal immigrants getting paid cash, putting into the pot? How much are the crack dealers of America putting in? Don`t add up to much either does it?

Comment by Old Democrat
April 18th, 2008 at 3:12 pm Oh yeah, when it comes to economics, Obama really knows what he’s talking about ..not. He’s a freaking moron.

“MR. GIBSON: All right.

You have however said you would favor an increase in the capital gains tax. As a matter of fact, you said on CNBC, and I quote, “I certainly would not go above what existed under Bill Clinton, which was 28 percent.”

It’s now 15 percent. That’s almost a doubling if you went to 28 percent. But actually Bill Clinton in 1997 signed legislation that dropped the capital gains tax to 20 percent.

SENATOR OBAMA: Right.

MR. GIBSON: And George Bush has taken it down to 15 percent.

SENATOR OBAMA: Right.

MR. GIBSON: And in each instance, when the rate dropped, revenues from the tax increased. The government took in more money. And in the 1980s, when the tax was increased to 28 percent, the revenues went down. So why raise it at all, especially given the fact that 100 million people in this country own stock and would be affected?

SENATOR OBAMA: Well, Charlie, what I’ve said is that I would look at raising the capital gains tax for purposes of fairness. We saw an article today which showed that the top 50 hedge fund managers made $29 billion last year — $29 billion for 50 individuals. And part of what has happened is that those who are able to work the stock market and amass huge fortunes on capital gains are paying a lower tax rate than their secretaries. That’s not fair.
And what I want is not oppressive taxation. I want businesses to thrive and I want people to be rewarded for their success. But what I also want to make sure is that our tax system is fair and that we are able to finance health care for Americans who currently don’t have it and that we’re able to invest in our infrastructure and invest in our schools.[snip]

MR. GIBSON: But history shows that when you drop the capital gains tax, the revenues go up. [snip]”

So Obama doesn’t care what the outcome is as long as, in his feeble minded opinion, its fair? Yep, he’s a moron.

………………………………………………….

Same deal with why he didn’t ratify the Colombia trade deal…He doesn’t like the way Unions are treated in Colombia..they’re not “fair”. I can’t believe he’s got the hide to argue economy when he’s proposing tax raises, stiff regulation of business, can’t decide what his cap is on “higher income” earners, 850 billion dollars in spending and has already earmarked 50 million for 2009 as an Illinois senator.

All this guy needs is a rabbit and a tea party.

Comment by ari
April 18th, 2008 at 5:24 pm trs; maybe people buying stocks, other investments don’t know but guess its not substantial. One can then also say, without Bush tax we would be in a deeper slump. Sorry, dont think thats true, since payment on debt still have to be paid, and less comes in.
If you can calculate how this work be my guest, with proposal Mccain. Any which way he comes up short, you must be a genius to come up with a good idea, since econmists dont see it.

http://www.economist.com/world/na/displaystory.cfm?story_id=11058631&fsrc=RSS

…………………………………………………..

Ummm Ari…100 million Americans benefit from lower capital gains taxes and revenues have been clearly proven to rise. Check your 401k.

correction…100 billion Americans benefit from lower capital gains taxes.

duh..got it right the first time. my bad.

Comment by ari
April 18th, 2008 at 5:35 pm Furthermore, economic theory also says that increased public spending is more efficient as a stimulus than tax cuts. Good, old-fashioned Keynesian economics holds that, again, since government spending goes straight into domestic demand, you get more fiscal bang for the buck than you do through tax reductions, where a sizeable part of the stimulus “leaks” into higher savings and more spending on foreign imports.

………………………………………………

Your quoting theory, when we’re seeing the opposite in real world application?

Fox News at 5:30 the ticker. You should be ashamed of yourself. You are doing what Hillary did. Lying. Barack never said he was being asked tough questions. He said the questions being asked were not what the people of the USA wre waiting to here. The questions wasted 45 minutes of the debate time. Stephenopolous should never been allowed to be there. As he is a Clintonite. Hannity should not have been allowed to ask a question. Where did you dig up these uneducated people?
Fox news is a disgrace. It doesn’t report news as it happend; it makes up what it wants to happen. Falsehoods- lies.
You have been lying through this debate. Had to get this off my chest.

Why did MSNBC cut and slice the video of Obama flipping off Hillary to make it look like he was just scratching his face? They showed the clip, cut it out, played the rest of what he was saying, Then put it back in the Wrong Order in which it occured. Why would they do that do you think?

Michael…you are dead wrong about wealthy tax payers. The top wage earners pay huge majority of taxes in this country. Do you think they put their money under their mattress in a diamond coated lockbox? NO…they reinvest in more businesses and also contribute large sums to charities. Reinvesting=more jobs for the people who you claim bear the tax burden.

Comment by profitleads
April 18th, 2008 at 5:06 pm McCain is not just disconnected from the economy. He’s disconnected from reality. The economy is a large collective of events; people interacting and transacting with other people in the real world. He shakes his fist and screams against pork or set-asides, but they make up less than one percent of the U.S. budget…..big deal. Then he shakes his fist at Russia, at China, at North Korea, at Iran, at fill-in-the-blank, and then warns people that there we will be engaged in more wars. How much more military can be financed if all set-asides are eliminated? Very little. How much are these foreign military adventures costing in lives and treasure? The U.S. empire is already hopelessly over-extended militarily and economically and the time is fast approaching that we will pay for it and the price is not going to be cheap and payment is going to hurt.

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Disconnected? The comptroller general himself has said if we don’t curb spending we are facing dire consequences in the near future. He doesn’t come out to speak all the often so when he does..we need to pay attention.

McCain is proposing frugality, right at the time it’s needed. Disconnected? I think you’ve got your candidates mixed up.

Comment by Ari

RJ Voters are fed up from race, and want to see a winner, after ‘debate’ she couldn’t pull it off, nothing really worked, experience, health-care, sniper attack, and sounded more like a Rep.

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That’s base on your biased assestment.

Race? - The Obama Camp & Parasites are the one always Playing the Race Card - That’s a fact!

Should i be the one to ask you WHY Obama can’t pull it off since He is the one claiming to be the rightful nominee??????

The truth of the matter is OBAMA -”Could not pull it off.”

am not an economic, anyway problem is budget deficit, and with permanent Bush tax cut this will probably increase, now on something like $500 billion, Realisically and prudent way to tackle this, is to cut spending and raise revenue, its not populair, so nobody talks about it, Otherwise structural nothing chancesMr Rubin, who is now chairman of Citigroup, argues that the adverse consequences of running large budget deficits may “be far larger and occur more suddenly than traditional analysis suggests”.
What is at stake in all this is America’s economic growth
Benjamin Friedman, Harvard University In a paper for the Brookings Institution, he argues that “substantial deficits projected far into the future can cause a fundamental shift in market expectations and a related loss of confidence both at home and abroad”.
This could lead to a run on the dollar (which is already suffering serious weakness), and a sharp rise in the interest rates demanded on Federal debt, which in turn could hurt the stock market, weaken banks and reduce private sector spending.
Benjamin Friedman, professor of economics at Harvard University, says that “what is at stake in all this is America’s economic growth”. He argues that large budget deficits take a substantial proportion of America’s savings, preventing it being put to more productive use in the private sector who should be buying new equipment, developing new technologies, and retraining the workforce. And the government is using the temporary surpluses in the social security trust funds to reduce the size of the deficit - a risky approach when the baby boomers begin to retire after 2012. Conservative Political Action conference, delegates - including some Congressmen - questioned whether the Bush administration was conservative enough.
“There are troubling signs that the ship of conservative governance is off-course,” said Indiana Congressman Mike Pence.
And Congressman Tom Feeney accused the administration of “baby-sitting the nanny state.”So postponing addressing the problem - at least until the after the presidential election in November - seems the most likely outcome.

Rj, I think Ari was talking about the presidential race. I could be wrong, but thats how I read it.

RE: ari

Your Eco 101 approach to the USA economy is interesting, but is somewhat flawed, lacks a full understanding of economics and how the global economy really works! Do some serious research and only then will anyone take your comments seriously! Nothing personal I am sure your comments are well intended.

Of the 11 million without healthcare insurance, how many are illegal aliens?

Its correct, only silver lining is fiscal deficit which is about 1% of GDP, which is much better than most countries. Budget deficit is not sustainable, only hoping will get better maybe in future, doesn’t work like that.