Paul Krugman: The Austerity Decision

[bballfamily]

our tax rates are the lowest they have been in 30 years. What consumers are losing money?

 

Raise the rates and it will take money out of people's pockets. Even those upper level earners who spend lots of money on what some of us might think frivolous, but the company that makes the product hires someone to make it. Tax companies at higher rates and they pay smaller dividends to to stockholders. Many who are retired and depending on those dividends to help pay the bills or maybe to help pay for their chidren's college education.

[woodsrider]

My idea is build some infrastructure so that workers - who actually buy things - have money in their pockets to start purchasing things. Close the loopholes on EXXON who made huge profits and GE - who paid no taxes this year. They are not consumers who buy the stuff at your local stores. Closing the loopholes is not going to cost jobs, they made BILLIONS in profits. Not saying that is bad, but if you actually get taxes from them and use it to build infrastructure that is more money in the economy, more work boots and work clothes bought, etc.

That's not what you said. You said go back the Clinton's tax rates. Guess what, that means more out your pocket and more out of mine. Maybe you have a point with companies like GE but I'm not going to jump to conclusions on them without knowing why they didn't have to pay taxes. You simply read an article that said they didn't pay tax, but it didn't explain why. Now every chance you get you use it as an example. Do you know why they didn't have to pay tax? I don't.

[woodsrider]

How's that increased spending worked out for us so far? Coming up on 3 years now.

 

I do agree that the infrastructure needs serious attention and that would be a good way to create jobs. However, I don't think we can just add that spending to current levels. We have to offset it somewhere.

 

Bingo. Obama is spending it like a 3rd generation trust fund baby. The economy is no better then it was 3 years ago. Very few of our customers are up versus last year. As a matter of fact many of our top customers are down.

[acemona]

Bingo. Obama is spending it like a 3rd generation trust fund baby. The economy is no better then it was 3 years ago. Very few of our customers are up versus last year. As a matter of fact many of our top customers are down.

 

The economy is WAY better than it was three years ago. How many consecutive quarters of growth have we had?? The only thing that is not happening is that all of those companies that we keep giving tax breaks too are not using the extra money to hire anybody. Yet we keep thinking they will.

[bballfamily]

The economy would have improved wthout spending all that money. It is called the business cycle. There are good times followed by bad times followed by good times, etc, etc.

For all the money spent we should have 4-5% unemployment. If all businesses operated on the government model everyone would be unemployed, including all the government workers.

[acemona]

The economy would have improved wthout spending all that money. It is called the business cycle. There are good times followed by bad times followed by good times, etc, etc.

For all the money spent we should have 4-5% unemployment. If all businesses operated on the government model everyone would be unemployed, including all the government workers.

 

The business cycle??? So it is specifically cyclical??? You do know that most of the money that was "spent" was in the form of tax cuts, correct?? It wasn't actual dollars? All of the TARP money has been returned and we actually made money on it, and we did save GM and many of the ancillary jobs. I will agree had we actually spent money and not tried to stimulate the economy with tax cuts we might have been better off.

[Jim Schue]

You know what would be wonderful? If some of those "great patriots" who spend millions of dollars to fund GOP candidates -- you know, those folks who use tax breaks to send jobs overseas instead of spending money at home where it can make a real difference for Americans -- cared enough about their country to prevent this slippery slope into socialism.

 

Shareholders need to "share" in the pain the rest of us clowns are feeling. I ain't had a raise in three years, yet I'm doing twice the freakin' work -- none of which is in my job description -- I had to when I started four years ago, and can barely pay my bills. Forgive me if I'm not feeling sympathetic about how those making a hell of a lot more money than I'll ever make are "suffering" under this socialistic economy that is allegedly running rampant in this country.

 

Americans will gleefully rally together behind a common cause -- if they feel as though everybody else is sacrificing. That sure as hell ain't happening right now.

 

Greed is America's biggest enemy these days.

[cammando]

Don't forget the good folks at companies like GE that spend millions to get Dems elected... They made over 14 billion the past year and paid no taxes.... http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/general-electric-paid-federal-taxes-2010/story?id=13224558

[woodsrider]

The economy is WAY better than it was three years ago. How many consecutive quarters of growth have we had?? The only thing that is not happening is that all of those companies that we keep giving tax breaks too are not using the extra money to hire anybody. Yet we keep thinking they will.

I will retract my statement that the economy is no better because it is. But for you to say it's WAY better is just as far off as me saying it's no better. I live it every day. We have customers all over the country in just about every industry you can name. NONE of them are way better now then 3 years ago. Some are the same, some are worse. We have very few that are way better. Anyone that things this is close to be over is kidding themselves.

[woodsrider]

You know what would be wonderful? If some of those "great patriots" who spend millions of dollars to fund GOP candidates -- you know, those folks who use tax breaks to send jobs overseas instead of spending money at home where it can make a real difference for Americans -- cared enough about their country to prevent this slippery slope into socialism.

 

Shareholders need to "share" in the pain the rest of us clowns are feeling. I ain't had a raise in three years, yet I'm doing twice the freakin' work -- none of which is in my job description -- I had to when I started four years ago, and can barely pay my bills. Forgive me if I'm not feeling sympathetic about how those making a hell of a lot more money than I'll ever make are "suffering" under this socialistic economy that is allegedly running rampant in this country.

 

Americans will gleefully rally together behind a common cause -- if they feel as though everybody else is sacrificing. That sure as hell ain't happening right now.

 

Greed is America's biggest enemy these days.

Come on Jim, are you really laying this only on the GOP? Didn't our current President break fund raising records?

[Jim Schue]

Come on Jim, are you really laying this only on the GOP? Didn't our current President break fund raising records?

 

He's a dirtbag too, IMO. But the GOP has always been the party of big business, and they're the ones sending the jobs to China.

[lynks66]

He's a dirtbag too, IMO. But the GOP has always been the party of big business, and they're the ones sending the jobs to China.

 

I would think that labor cost is the main reason behind the sending of jobs overseas. Jmo.

[Jim Schue]

I would think that labor cost is the main reason behind the sending of jobs overseas. Jmo.

 

Personally, I think it's an effort to make already large profits grossly more so -- again, greed.

 

It's such a shame that American workers might want a decent living wage for the hard work they do.

[lynks66]

Personally, I think it's an effort to make already large profits grossly more so -- again, greed.

 

It's such a shame that American workers might want a decent living wage for the hard work they do.

 

Just to clarify, how much profit can my company make before we are considered greedy?

[75center]

Just to clarify, how much profit can my company make before we are considered greedy?

 

Save your breath, the people screaming about obscene profits will give a figure, only to discover the companies are making less than that!

 

BTW, jealousy is the biggest problem facing this country.