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More Obama likes
- Thread starter arty
- Start date
Not sure why you say "obviously" as I see nothing from you in this thread that would indicate your position on taxes other than a knock on Krugman which, if anything, might indicate a contrary position.orwellian said:Obviously I agree.
Sorry, I do not comprehend the relevance of your apparent ridicule of Krugman's analysis of the effect of China stopping its purchase of US Treasury debt or the allusion to Stockman on that issue. Would you care to explain the relevance of those comments to this thread or the issue of taxes?
On topic, here is a piece from Joan Walsh, editor of Salon, on the Republican chicanery on taxes. http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/j...Salon_Daily Newsletter (Not Premium)_7_30_110
According to Prof Rajan:
" Many causes have been suggested for both the economic collapse and mediocre recovery, but one that is hardly ever mentioned is income inequality. This is a mistake. Growing income inequality in the United States and the policy responses it has spawned have done tremendous damage to our economy. And because we continue to ignore this underlying problem, the risks of our policies leading to another calamity will not go away, no matter what we do to reform the financial sector."
http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/...on-credit-crunch-let-them-eat-credit?page=0,0
"Technological progress requires the labor force to have ever greater skills, but our educational system has not kept pace by providing the labor force with greater education and skills.
...
If the United States does little to address inequality, and instead repeatedly tries to stimulate its way out of trouble, government and household finances will get even more fragile. Inequality, as studies suggest, will likely also cause U.S. politics to become even more fractured and polarized than it already is, making it harder for our politicians to make the right kinds of legislative decisions. And a slow-growing, politically-fractured United States that agrees only on penalizing the foreigner, could turn its back on openness and trade, attempting to protect domestic jobs even while hurting growth domestically, and elsewhere. Not just the United States but the entire world would be worse off.
Here’s what I’d like to see instead: the United States improving the capabilities of all of its working-age population and then providing exactly the creative and knowledge-based services that growing emerging markets need. As the demand in these markets expands, the dynamic U.S. economy will grow alongside, banishing current fears about unsustainable debt and unfunded entitlements. But to reach this future, America needs to accept it has more than a cyclical problem. It has to give more Americans the ability to compete in the global marketplace. This is much harder than doling out credit or keeping interest rates really low, but it will pay off in the long-run."
" Many causes have been suggested for both the economic collapse and mediocre recovery, but one that is hardly ever mentioned is income inequality. This is a mistake. Growing income inequality in the United States and the policy responses it has spawned have done tremendous damage to our economy. And because we continue to ignore this underlying problem, the risks of our policies leading to another calamity will not go away, no matter what we do to reform the financial sector."
http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/...on-credit-crunch-let-them-eat-credit?page=0,0
"Technological progress requires the labor force to have ever greater skills, but our educational system has not kept pace by providing the labor force with greater education and skills.
...
If the United States does little to address inequality, and instead repeatedly tries to stimulate its way out of trouble, government and household finances will get even more fragile. Inequality, as studies suggest, will likely also cause U.S. politics to become even more fractured and polarized than it already is, making it harder for our politicians to make the right kinds of legislative decisions. And a slow-growing, politically-fractured United States that agrees only on penalizing the foreigner, could turn its back on openness and trade, attempting to protect domestic jobs even while hurting growth domestically, and elsewhere. Not just the United States but the entire world would be worse off.
Here’s what I’d like to see instead: the United States improving the capabilities of all of its working-age population and then providing exactly the creative and knowledge-based services that growing emerging markets need. As the demand in these markets expands, the dynamic U.S. economy will grow alongside, banishing current fears about unsustainable debt and unfunded entitlements. But to reach this future, America needs to accept it has more than a cyclical problem. It has to give more Americans the ability to compete in the global marketplace. This is much harder than doling out credit or keeping interest rates really low, but it will pay off in the long-run."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/business/economy/11tax.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&th&emc=th
Continuation of Bush tax cuts benefiting the top earners would be horrible for the economy.
Continuation of Bush tax cuts benefiting the top earners would be horrible for the economy.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/17/opinion/17krugman.html?src=me&ref=general
Tax cuts for the top 2% of US earners is bad social policy and Republicans who threaten such cuts in order to gain some other political advantage ought to be outed as the immoral, self-aggrandizing assholes they are.
Tax cuts for the top 2% of US earners is bad social policy and Republicans who threaten such cuts in order to gain some other political advantage ought to be outed as the immoral, self-aggrandizing assholes they are.
I read this thread with interest. It confirms my theory that Americans are polarized, more so than I've ever seen in my lifetime (and I am not a kid). Calling each other names, using epithets to describe the political parties, and throwing rocks are not useful political debates. Now in America we have a true grass-roots uprising that has shaken the political establishments of both parties. My advice (from the States) is to watch it unfold without hysteria. It may just do some good, or it may not. I am undecided and I see it right here in front of me.
One problem here is you never know if a poster is an expat or a local, but even if all the contributors were US expats, I don't believe one could accurately say that just because some of the exchanges may be antagonistic, they evidence the existence of a trend towards polarization in the US. There are too few participants here to get any kind of reliable insight into trends in the US involving government, or anything else for that matter.
This is not to say that there isn't a trend towards polarization taking place in the US. Bad times tend to sharpen the political debate and you are living in a bad time in the US, probably the worst economic time since the 1930s. Even if the country isn't technically in a depression, people sure are feeling the pinch economically and emotionally. Now is a good time for ignorant and incompetent demagogues to seek impowerment.
If you are referring to the Tea party, I shutter to think what will happen if it gets much political power. Hopefully, it will only undermine the Republican party quest for control of the legislature, but I suspect it will have a gravitational pull on all of the issues pulling everything to the right (as that term is generally understood)...and they will be bad.
p.s. If you thought this thread evidenced vitriolic name calling, you should check out the threads on Israel and Israeli -Palestinian peace talks.
This is not to say that there isn't a trend towards polarization taking place in the US. Bad times tend to sharpen the political debate and you are living in a bad time in the US, probably the worst economic time since the 1930s. Even if the country isn't technically in a depression, people sure are feeling the pinch economically and emotionally. Now is a good time for ignorant and incompetent demagogues to seek impowerment.
If you are referring to the Tea party, I shutter to think what will happen if it gets much political power. Hopefully, it will only undermine the Republican party quest for control of the legislature, but I suspect it will have a gravitational pull on all of the issues pulling everything to the right (as that term is generally understood)...and they will be bad.
p.s. If you thought this thread evidenced vitriolic name calling, you should check out the threads on Israel and Israeli -Palestinian peace talks.
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opin...-Inequality-in-the-US-Get-So-Out-of-Hand-5094 which includes the observation of Kevin Drum in Mother Jones that:
"With liberal money and energy focused mostly on non-economic concerns, the country moves steadily leftward on social issues. With conservative money and energy focused mostly on the interests of corporations and the rich--and with no one really fighting back--the country moves steadily rightward on economic issues."
"With liberal money and energy focused mostly on non-economic concerns, the country moves steadily leftward on social issues. With conservative money and energy focused mostly on the interests of corporations and the rich--and with no one really fighting back--the country moves steadily rightward on economic issues."