Monday, July 11, 2011

Regarding the Recent Deficit Negotiations Between Speaker and Tea Party Hostage John Boehner and President Barack Obama (from an editorial in the Baltimore Sun)"Is deficit reduction really the most important issue facing the nation (and on the minds of voters) right now? Probably not. A few days after an extremely weak jobs report that brought the unemployment rate back up to 9.2 percent — a figure that understates the true extent of the problem — fixing the economy and putting people back to work is the most important thing... But in the long run, there is no question that our current deficits are unsustainable. Republicans are probably right that putting together a plan for restoring fiscal order — though perhaps not so precipitous a plan as they envision — would increase confidence in the economy.But their contention that including tax increases in such a package would be the death knell of any recovery is belied by recent history. After cutting taxes, President Ronald Reagan increased them to help cope with the budget deficit, and prosperity followed. President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton raised taxes, and we got the longest sustained economic expansion of the postwar period. President George W. Bush cut taxes, and we got years of anemic growth and stagnant wages, a decade in which what gains we had proved to be the product of a housing bubble whose lingering effects are still holding us back. Tax rates are a factor in economic growth, but they're not the only one and probably not the most important one." http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/editorial/bs-ed-debt-talks-20110711,0,5474052.story

10 comments:

  1. I had a high regard with President Clinton Doug. I felt during his term that he brought the country to a mood which was that of what was truly inspired. I have around here somewhere a letter which when I voted while living in Queens that many within New York were very taken by the man the Clinton Gore combination seemed to be a very positive time.

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  2. Amen, Doug!

    As to Clinton - I remember well when he was leaving office, a reporter asked him if he had any advice for Bush: "Don't squander this surplus. Save Social Security now." Of course, Bush didn't listen....

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  3. Back then I never thought much on history, it seemed that everyone was happy and and then this is where I think Will things began to change. For myself it seemed that everything was alive and well and within this point is where change did take place and reporters within the first few years would never question George W. perhaps it was a pinnacle point. When it came to watching things from a vantage of up north here it's when I started to read more on history. There was a time where I was going to return but as soon as September 11th happened I thought the best was to stay up here yet I kept in contact with friends and Will from a distance I missed America much and then again there was a transition for me as I didnt feel Canadian yet I studied it and what I enjoyed what the history of America and some of the unique areas of which Canada had similiarities within the West.

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  4. "But their contention that including tax increases in such a package would be the death knell of any recovery is belied by recent history."

    Doug, this is so obvious. We know it's true. We've been there. Increasing the wealth of the rich by tax loopholes, cuts in taxes, worst still~ no taxes at all~ has NEVER trickled down or created jobs. So, in that respect, taxes are VERY important. For one thing, if we taxed corporations just a tad, we wouldn't be scaring people about not getting their SS or disability checks, or about Social Security, Medicare and medicaid. Say, what's 10% of 10 billion dollars, for example? Why can the Republicans refuse to put tax increases to the wealthy on the table, but the Democrats have to make sacrifices the poor will suffer? Social Security should not, under any circumstances, be included in the budget. That is the peoples' money~not negotiable!

    "After cutting taxes, President Ronald Reagan increased them to help cope with the budget deficit, and prosperity followed. President George H.W. Bush and President Bill Clinton raised taxes, and we got the longest sustained economic expansion of the postwar period."
    It's all related, isn't it? If we had economic expansion, the deficit would mend. It's priority. I honestly believe that taxing those who can so easily afford it, and have gotten away with NO taxes for so long, is the first step.

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  5. Yes, I think Clinton on the whole did a good job---but how the far right and their friends in corporate-based "think-tanks" and in the Gingrich Congress hounded him andf Gore long before the Lewinsky Affair!

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  6. I remember Clinton saying "Save Social Security" in a State of the Union Address, Will. All the more reason the final results of the 2000 election were so disturbing. To this day I cannot even bring myslef to read about that whole affair down in Florida that year.

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  7. I agree with you 100 percent Sigurd. Not negotiable. Maybe in some way we will preseve this program if enough people get out and make voices and their choices heard.

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  8. My apologies to all of you who contributed to my thoughts and the newspaper editorial I reprinted. I should have answered sooner. This one slipped past me for a couple weeks.

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  9. No apologies necessary, Doug. Sometimes I don't see alerts to comments on my blogs for weeks. And. Some people don't respond to comments at all!

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