Showing posts with label Tax cut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tax cut. Show all posts

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Cliff Notes


CBO: Letting upper-income tax cuts expire would barely hurt economy
Letting the high-income Bush tax cuts lapse, for example, generates $42 billion in 2013 but hardly hurts GDP at all. By contrast, the defense cuts amount to $24 billion but hurts growth by 0.4 percent
What's in the fiscal cliff?
$7 trillion worth of tax increases and spending cuts over a decade. ..... While that might seem like a deficit hawk's dream come true, it's anything but. ..... "It's too big, too quick, and focuses on the wrong parts of the budget" ..... reductions in both defense and non-defense spending; the expiration of the Bush tax cuts; the end of a payroll tax holiday and extended unemployment benefits; and the onset of reimbursement cuts to Medicare doctors. ...... If left in place, the fiscal cliff would lead to the biggest single-year drop in the annual deficit as a percent of the economy since 1969. ...... But because it would be so abrupt and arbitrary, it also could throw the United States back into a recession next year, when more than $500 billion will be taken out of the economy. ...... automatic spending cuts to commence on Jan. 2 that will amount to $1.2 trillion in deficit reduction over 10 years. ..... $55 billion will be cut in 2013 from projected levels of discretionary defense spending. That translates into at least a 10% cut to every program, project and activity that's not explicitly exempt. ...... $55 billion will be cut from projected levels of nondefense spending, which includes things like education, food inspections and air travel safety. Budget experts estimate the cuts will result in at least an 8% cut to programs, projects and activities .... Income tax rates: Rise to 15%, 28%, 31%, 36% and 39.6%, up from 10%, 15%, 25%, 28%, 33% and 35%.
Here's What's Probably Going To Happen With The Fiscal Cliff
an agreement will be reached AFTER January 1st - so that the Bush tax cuts can expire and certain politicians can claim they didn't vote to raise taxes (silly, but that is politics). ...... the tax cuts for low to middle income families will be reenacted ...... tax rates on high income earners will increase a few percentage points to the Clinton era levels ..... Not only is there no 'bang' event on January 1, but letting the tax rates jump is a way for politicians to then vote to lower them, which is easier
CBO warns of fiscal cliff risk
The biggest threat posed by the $7 trillion fiscal cliff is that it could throw the U.S. economy into recession next year. ..... Congress may choose to avert the cliff in whole or in part ..... The fiscal cliff as a whole, if it went into effect for all of next year, could result in a drop of 0.5% in real gross domestic product, according to the CBO. And that contraction could push unemployment to 9.1% by the end of 2013
My Reason To Drive Off The Roof
Bad Advice From Paul Krugman
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Friday, November 09, 2012

My Reason To Drive Off The Roof

I mean, to fall off the fiscal cliff.

Bad Advice From Paul Krugman



A great thing would be the unwise Bush tax cuts that should never have been implemented - I am for tax cuts that are paid for, not tax cuts that are paid for with money borrowed from the Chinese - would go away without the Republicans having to agree to the idea. They get to tell their base, we did not do it, the whole thing fell off the cliff, don't blame us.

A major cut in defense spending is long overdue. American leaders need to be more proactive about spreading democracy globally and about bringing forth rule of law between nations. Those steps allow America to bring down its defense spending by a large margin. Bring it down to $1 from $4. But cutting defense spending is politically unpopular. So letting some of it fall off the cliff might be smart politics. Look we tried, the thing fell off the cliff.



It is hard for Democrats to even think in terms of restructuring the entitlement programs. But some restructuring is necessary. The cliff can help you do that. It can be a huge political help.

Go over the cliff. Then close a trillion dollars in loopholes. Then bring about a second stimulus. I say a trillion dollars. Spend half of it to bring forth gigabit wireless broadband to every human being on the planet. Let there be light.

If you go over the cliff and don't bring a second stimulus, you are staring at a recession. But the stimulus is a one time thing. All the savings from going over the cliff help bring down the deficit and the debt in the subsequent years.
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Thursday, October 04, 2012

Romney: Breathtaking

This Facebook update by Brooke Ellison sums it up for me.


It must have felt like the final fight in Enter The Dragon to Barack Obama.

 

How do you fight a guy who is all smoke and mirrors? Tax cuts - huge ones - to millionaires and billionaires have been the centerpiece of Mitt Romney's grand plan. Last night he said that was not the case. He said he will do nothing to add to the deficit. So no tax cuts to the rich? But I thought that was kind of central to everything you have to say, Mitt.

Break the mirrors, Barack. That is how Bruce Lee did it.

The Art Of War, Bruce Lee
The First Debate
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The First Debate



Mitt Romney is a decent debater. I must give him that. He did well.

The president stood his ground.

I did not watch it live, but thanks to the New York Times, I was able to watch it all on YouTube a few hours later. I was hoping to watch and tweet it live. Oh well.

There was not a clear winner. I guess most people stayed with who they were with before the debate began. That piles up the pressure on the future debates.

America is not about to see a dramatic uptick to its economy. Because I don't see a second stimulus on the horizon. The tax cuts in the first stimulus were a mistake. All that money should have been actively spent. The center piece of the stimulus needed to be about taking every American to gigabit broadband era.

It will be a close election, but Obama will win.
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Thursday, June 16, 2011

The Bush Tax Cuts: Why There Are No Jobs In America

No BushImage via WikipediaCreating jobs is no rocket science. The entrepreneurs in the private sector do it. But people in DC can get in the way in a major way. And they have been doing it. The single biggest reason why America does not have the jobs it needs would be the Bush tax cuts.

I am for a small, efficient government. Heck, I am a tech entrepreneur, I want the government out of my face as much as possible. And cutting taxes is one way to achieve that goal of small government. But you have to create surpluses first.

You don't engage in a trillion dollar war in Iraq a-n-d spend another trillion dollars on tax cuts with borrowed money. That is like saying the small government agenda in America is China's responsibility.

The single best thing DC can do to create jobs is to balance the budget. And so getting rid of the Bush tax cuts is going to have to be the center piece of the Obama 2012 effort. If you want to keep the Bush tax cuts, vote for someone else, vote for Arizona Palin, or whoever. Because Barack Obama is for eliminating the irresponsible Bush tax cuts and creating jobs for the American people.

The US Military Budget Needs To Come Down To 100 Billion From 600
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