Jeb Bush's Tax Plan Is Tired Trickle-Down Nonsense

Jeb Bush: 'History Will Be Kind to My Brother'

Jeb Bush: 'History Will Be Kind to My Brother'
"As for comparing W.'s record to "what's going on now," the Obama administration has produced more jobs in 4 years than Bush/Cheney did in 8 -- not to mention the fact that they haven't suffered the worst mass-casualty terrorist attack in US history, let a US city drown, and presided over the worst financial crash since the Great Depression.

Good luck with that "W. was a great president" stuff, Jeb! It's a winner for 2016."

Republicans Try To Intimidate Nonpartisan Accounting Office For Debunking Their Economic Theory

Republicans Try To Intimidate Nonpartisan Accounting Office For Debunking Their Economic Theory: Last September, the non-partisan Congressional Research Service released a report showing that tax cuts for the rich — contrary to GOP orthodoxy — have minimal effect on economic growth or job creation. Instead, they simply increase income inequality. Republicans pressured the CRS to pull the report down; it was eventually re-posted with the same conclusions. [...]/p

The Great Tax-Cut Experiment

The Great Tax-Cut Experiment
"These dramatic cuts in tax rates, however, have not led to an acceleration in economic growth, investment, or productivity."

Uninformed Politicians Pushing US Toward Austerity

Uninformed Politicians Pushing US Toward Austerity
"Some of us had fun with a recent Business Insider poll finding that by a large margin, people who thought they knew something about the fiscal cliff believed that it would increase, not reduce, the deficit.

Hahaha — although I actually have a lot of sympathy for ordinary voters, who don't follow these things closely but know that everyone important has been warning for years that the budget deficit is Worse Than Hitler or something. How are they supposed to know that those very same people are now screaming that the deficit is coming down too fast? I have less sympathy for major political figures who also can't get it straight."

America’s Deceptive 2012 Fiscal Cliff » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names

America’s Deceptive 2012 Fiscal Cliff » Counterpunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
"Wall Street lobbyists blame unemployment and the loss of industrial competitiveness on government spending and budget deficits – especially on social programs – and labor’s demand to share in the economy’s rising productivity. The myth (perhaps we should call it junk economics) is that (1) governments should not run deficits (at least, not by printing their own money), because (2) public money creation and high taxes (at lest on the wealthy) cause prices to rise. The cure for economic malaise (which they themselves have caused), is said to beless public spending, along with more tax cuts for the wealthy, who euphemize themselves as “job creators.” Demanding budget surpluses, bank lobbyists promise that banks can provide the economy with enough purchasing power to grow. Then, when this ends in crisis, they insist that austerity can squeeze out enough income to enable private-sector debts to be paid.

The reality is that when banks load the economy down with debt, this leaves less to spend on domestic goods and services while driving up housing prices (and hence the cost of living) with reckless credit creation on looser lending terms. Yet on top of this debt deflation, bank lobbyists urge fiscal deflation: budget surpluses rather than pump-priming deficits."

Constitution Puts Burden Of Budget Blame On Boehner

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PERRspectives: The Fiscal Cliffs of Dover

PERRspectives: The Fiscal Cliffs of Dover
"That doesn't mean the world will end if the U.S. goes over the cliff on January 1st. After all, Congress and the Obama administration can take action any time before or after December 31, 2012 to avoid the new recession inaction would likely produce. But whatever agreement President Obama reaches with Congressional Republicans cannot slash the debt too fast too soon. Economic growth and job creation, not deficit reduction, must be the top priority for the United States.

This week, the Washington Post summed up what premature austerity looks like. "Fiscal cliff?" Anthony Faiola asked, "Britain has already jumped." And we know what happened after that leap."

Let the Bush tax cuts expire, there are better options | Economic Policy Institute

Let the Bush tax cuts expire, there are better options | Economic Policy Institute
"the Bush tax cuts are pretty poor policy; in a decade of existence, they have accomplished none of the goals they were intended to achieve. In fact, judging the Bush tax cuts based on their economic impact, distributional impact, and cost, they have been an outright disaster."

Senator Bernie Sanders Speaks Out For The Elderly And Working Americans.

National Press Club

Papantonio: Wall Street's Role In "Fiscal Cliff" Missing From Media Coverage

Mike Papantonio appears on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann to talk about the current debt talks being held in Washington between Democrats and Republicans, and how the media has completely missed the role that Wall Street played in causing our current problems.

Grover Norquist, Enemy of the State? | Alternet

Grover Norquist, Enemy of the State? | Alternet
"Is it possible that Grover Norquist, the multi-millionaire K-Street lobbyist long funded by billionaires, is an enemy of the state? Pretty strong language, but consider that he has connived over the years to get hundreds of members of Congress to violate their own oath of office by pledging a higher oath to keep billionaires' taxes low than their pledge to the Constitution itself."

Why Even a Deal on the Budget is Bad for the American Economy | Alternet

Why Even a Deal on the Budget is Bad for the American Economy | Alternet
"Looking at the latest US data, business sentiment and capital spending have been eroding, and given the lagged impact of capital expenditure, that trend looks set to continue for the next few months. Against that, a number of consumer sentiment indicators remain upbeat and housing looks like it is in a firmly established uptrend, after a 5 year bear market.  In fact, the existing home inventory to sales ratio is as low as it ever gets, and that is with still very depressed sales. If sales pick up further, given low inventories and with new housing starts still below the replacement rate, home prices could lurch forward.

That said, the markets have been fairly upbeat given the rising perception of a deal to avert the US falling off the ‘fiscal cliff’."

Why Isn't Austerity For The Greedy CEOs of Fix The Debt?

Why Isn't Austerity For The Greedy CEOs of Fix The Debt?
"So the one-time-only Bush repatriation tax holiday (2004) is back again, again. A year ago, NC Democrat Sen. Kay Hagan partnered with Sen. John McCain in an attempt to resurrect the one-time-only scheme one more time. It went nowhere. But their corporate sponsors are persistent little devils. So now repatriation is back re-branded as Fix the Debt’s “territorial tax system.” In addition to the profits mentioned above, the territorial tax system “give companies additional incentives to disguise U.S. profits as income earned in tax havens in order to avoid paying U.S. income taxes"."

The $250,000 Question: Poll Shows Obama’s Tax Plan Is Widely Misunderstood | Common Dreams

The $250,000 Question: Poll Shows Obama’s Tax Plan Is Widely Misunderstood | Common Dreams
"Here’s the Obama plan in brief. The Bush tax cuts would be extended for households with an annual income under $250,000 (or $200,000 for individuals), but the tax cuts would expire on any income above $250,000. That means, for example, if you make $300,000, your tax rate would rise a few percentage points, to the Clinton-era rates, but only on the portion above $250,000; in this case, only on $50,000. Bottom line: no one—not a billionaire, not someone making $251,000—would have to pay more taxes on that first $250,000.

There’s a widespread misconception, however, and it’s causing a lot of unnecessary fear. It’s the faulty belief that if your income is above $250,000, you’d have to pay the higher rates on all your income, as if you were suddenly being moved entirely into a higher tax bracket. That is wrong."

3 Right-Wing Lies About Rich People and Taxes -- Debunked | Alternet

3 Right-Wing Lies About Rich People and Taxes -- Debunked | Alternet
"In an effort to discredit President Obama's plan to increase taxes on the wealthy, conservative media outlets have pushed a number of myths to suggest that a large number of Americans will be negatively affected. In reality, only a small percentage of taxpayers would be affected by Obama's proposals."

Media Present GOP’s Romney-Like Proposal On Revenue Increases As ‘Big Concession’

Media Present GOP’s Romney-Like Proposal On Revenue Increases As ‘Big Concession’: Since voters rejected Mitt Romney’s $5 trillion tax plan and President Obama won re-election earlier this month, Republicans have expressed interest in raising revenue to avert the coming fiscal cliff. House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-VA) immediately signaled that they are open to raising revenue and prominent Senators Lindsey Graham [...]/p

6 Reasons the Fiscal Cliff is a Scam | Alternet

6 Reasons the Fiscal Cliff is a Scam | Alternet
"Stripped to essentials, the fiscal cliff is a device constructed to force a rollback of Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as the price of avoiding tax increases and disruptive cuts in federal civilian programs and in the military.  It was policy-making by hostage-taking, timed for the lame duck session, a contrived crisis, the plain idea now unfolding was to force a stampede."

REPORT: Expiration Of High-End Bush Tax Cuts Would Have Little Effect On Economic Growth

REPORT: Expiration Of High-End Bush Tax Cuts Would Have Little Effect On Economic Growth: The United States is approaching the so-called “fiscal cliff” at the end of 2012, when a set of policies enacted by the debt deal reached in August 2011 will go into effect. In addition to massive spending cuts, several tax provisions will expire, including the full Bush tax cuts. Though both the GOP and Democrats [...]/p

The Taxing Terms of the GOP Plan Invite Class Carnage

The Taxing Terms of the GOP Plan Invite Class Carnage
"It is no exaggeration to say that the rich, obscenely, would get richer directly on the backs of the poor(er) getting poorer under the Romney/Ryan tax  proposal. So why would anyone not a member of the top 2 percent sign up for this?"