on another note No. Iowa beat Kansas.

churlish...

Champagne socialism aside. Our leaders need to do a better job of paying for programs(Republicans & Democrats alike)

Ready About!
Excuse me, you live in subsidized housing, do not wot work for a living and make yourself feel better about yourself by championing social causes, the very definition of a champagne socialist. The worst part of your rants, is that you result to churlish rants when your logic fails you.

Street Easy 2010 Summer Reading List

Atlas Shrugged... Ayn Rand
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal...Ayn Rand
The Virtue of Selfishness...Ayn Rand
The Romantic Manifesto.... Ayn Rand
The Fountain Head.....Ayn Rand
We The Living...Ayn Rand

Good calls.

Should be followed up with Free to chose and Road to Serfdom

Republican "leaders" work their rears off to prevent proper taxation of corporations, as you well know, Riversider. Republican "leaders" are always in a kneeling position before their corporate masters ----- . They're too busy with that to do much else except for the occasional smutty sex thing in an airport stall or off in South America while lying about being on the Appalachian Trail.
The supply-siders should just go off somewhere and shut their mouths ----- they've done enough destruction of the planet.
Aboutready ---- you are steadfast, intelligent, and hardworking, and Streeteasy is lucky to have you as a voice of reason.
We're not so f'd. It'll cycle back.
Obama spoke true today, and I raise my glass to toast the man.
What a glorious feeling to have intelligent life in the WH.

Poorish lady, Democrats and Republicans are both whores. Guess which party raised the most money from wall street during the last presidential election. Obama himself handed over the picking of his economic team to Citi's Rubin(the architect of the current crisis).

But I'm not clear what proper taxation of corporations means since the moment those monies are paid out to employees or owners they are taxed at the individual level.

Riversider I was going to put those exact two books in my list but figured one author is enough for the illiberal mind.

Typical crap from a typical doom and groom poster. These idiots have dispelled the 'green shoot' last year, now they're doing their best to dispel this recovery. Here are the facts:

Every stock index hit new 52 week highs this past week due to BETTER economic numbers.
Industrial metals and economic sensitive materials have also been rallying to new 52 week highs.
Unemployment have stabilized (AboutReady and clan have been calling for +10% for months).
Inflation number starting to run hot and heavy in China.
Inflation also running hot and heavy in India (they raised rates on Friday).
"Small companies" have outperform every known sector in this global economy.

"Now if only we didn't bail out the banks, auto companies and spend money on Pelosi's mouse we might have had money to pay for it."

If only we did not cut Bill Gates' taxes we might have even more money to pay for it.

Microsoft employs around 100,000 employees and it's products have increased productivity in this country and others. I'd say Bill Gates has contributed his fair share.

Alan Greenspan was the central banker for the welfare state; not a proponent for free market capitalism..

http://www.gatesfoundation.org/Pages/home.aspx

Illustrative Grant Commitments

* The GAVI Alliance, expanding childhood immunization - $1.5 billion
* United Negro College Fund, Gates Millennium Scholars Program - $1.37 billion
* Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), improving seeds and soil for African farmers - $456 million
* Rotary International, polio eradication - $355 million
* PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI) - $287 million
* Save the Children, Saving Newborn Lives - $112 million
* United Way of King County - $85 million
* World Food Programme, increasing small farmer income - $66 million
* TechnoServe, helping small coffee farmers improve crops and fetch higher prices - $47 million
* Heifer International, helping small farmers grow local and regional dairy markets - $43 million
* Mexico, National Council on Culture and the Arts (CONACULTA), Global Libraries Program - $30 million
* Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), testing and promoting the use of information and communications technologies to deliver microfinance products - $24 million
* Achieve, Inc. and the American Diploma Project Network, assisting states in aligning high school standards with the expectations of college and career - $23 million
* Chicago Public Schools, curriculum support - $21 million
* Opportunity Online Program, multiple library systems - $16.4 million
* Opportunity International Inc., developing and expanding a network of commercial banks in Africa - $15.4 million
* Green Dot Public Schools, supporting the transformations of Jefferson and Locke high schools in Los Angeles, Calif., into high-performing charter high schools - $9.7 million

Alan Greenspan was an egotistical moron.

Obama and Pelosi's health reform is all about increasing government control in society, and not about reducing cost.
aboutready just declares that supply side economics didn't work. What a joke.

"Microsoft employs around 100,000 employees and it's products have increased productivity in this country and others."

Myave because Microsoft has a virtual monopoly? And what about Paris Hilton and Rush Limbaugh? We cut their taxes too. What have they contributed to the economy?

hey el preidente... Lets just take their money and wealth instead of taxing them.

http://gregmankiw.blogspot.com/

There has been a lot of talk lately about the CBO scoring of the health bill. Here is one thing people should understand about their numbers: When they estimate the budget impact of a bill like this, they assume the path of GDP is unchanged.

Recall that the bill raises taxes substantially. Some of these tax hikes are the explicit tax increases on capital income to pay for the insurance subsidies. Some of these tax hikes are the implicit marginal rate increases from the phase-out of the insurance subsidies as a person's income rises. Both of these would be expected to reduce GDP growth.

Indeed, to be very wonkish about it, these tax changes could have especially large GDP effects. Some people like to argue that taxes have small GDP effects because income and substitution effects offset each other. But if you give someone a subsidy and then phase it out, both the income and substitution effects work in the direction of reducing work effort.

Why does CBO assume no change in GDP? It is not because the CBO staffers necessarily believe that result. Rather, it is just one of the conventions of budget scoring. Their estimates should come with a warning label:

http://reason.com/archives/2010/02/19/friday-funnies

How Politicians spend our money and screw things up....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj-Zyu6hrzI&feature=player_embedded

"Now if only we didn't bail out the banks, auto companies and spend money on Pelosi's mouse we might have had money to pay for it."

Actually, thats not true. We're netting out on the banks, and the banks, if the tax goes through on them, will cover the auto companies as well.

If the health care bill sucks, it sucks on its own merits.

"I bet if folks in France, China, Greece or any of these other countries breaks their toilet seat, they replace it and don't blame others."

Actually, the government provides that service for all.

You just have to wait in line for a year.

Now if only we didn't bail out the banks, auto companies and spend money on Pelosi's mouse we might have had money to pay for it."

Actually, thats not true. We're netting out on the banks, and the banks, if the tax goes through on them, will cover the auto companies as well.

..Depends on how you do the accounting. If you consider all the costs(like 0 cost of funds, etc), that's not likely even close. Add to that many of our top banks would be might be insolvent if they recognized their losses on 2nd liens and commercial real estate.

somewherelse - glad to see you're finally acknowledging "we're netting out on the banks" after you called me ignorant a couple of months ago when i said the same thing. and same comment on the proposed bank levy as well. a little forward thinking never hurt anyone.

sometimes your posts are spot on but in your quest to be all-knowing and never wrong you lose some credibility.

do you include the tens of billions in bad bets uncle sam covered on aig-related cbo bets in that assessment? have we "netted out"?

and the effect of converting an investment bank to a commercial bank has an incredibly positive effect on the balance sheet that it would not otherwise have realized, no? doesn't borrowing from the fed at 0 points assist your capital position a bit?

baby killer!!!

Street Easy 2010 Summer Reading List

Atlas Shrugged... Ayn Rand
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal...Ayn Rand
The Virtue of Selfishness...Ayn Rand
The Romantic Manifesto.... Ayn Rand
The Fountain Head.....Ayn Rand
We The Living...Ayn Rand

very diverse reading list Julia......

Julia's summer music list is:
Wild honey- Beach Boys
Endless Summer-Beach Boys
Pet Sounds-Beach Boys
Love You-Beach Boys

and her Summer food recommendations:
corn on the cob
corn salad
creamed corn
corn pudding.....

"Facing a Financial Pinch, and Moving In With Mom and Dad"

"Since 2000, more people in the 25-to-39 age group have been living in their parents’ homes. By 2008, before the full effect of the recession was being felt, their ranks had increased by double-digit percentages since the decade began: by 32 percent nationwide, and by nearly 40 percent in Manhattan."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/22/nyregion/22singles.html

and thats why the rental market is going to continue its freefall this spring when the new hires dont show up again.

"Not Everyone Is Hurting – The Rich Get Richer As The Income Inequality Gap Explodes"

"Today more wealth is in the hands of the wealthiest Americans than at any other time in modern U.S. history. An analysis of income-tax data by the Congressional Budget Office a couple of years ago found that the top 1% of households own nearly twice as much of the corporate wealth in the United States as they did just 15 years ago. While the average income for the poorest Americans has barely grown over the past several decades, the incomes of the wealthiest Americans have absolutely exploded as the following chart demonstrates...."

http://www.businessinsider.com/not-everyone-is-hurting--the-rich-get-richer-as-the-income-inequality-gap-explodes-2010-3

Trickle down, any day now...

>> Trickle down, any day now...

pulaski, i cannot dispute the facts of the post but why is that a useful comparison exactly? You imply that wealth gains are at the expense of someone else (the poor I guess). If so that's not necessarily a legitimate assessment. But do tell if I'm missing something.

A very very sad day in a once great country...

660incontract: "the poor I guess" - middle class.

When are the poor and working class going to pay their fair share. Aren't they about finished sucking the system dry.

julialg: "When are the poor and working class going to pay their fair share." - just as soon as the rich trickle down and create jobs, so it will be a while.

Hey pulaski.. why don't they create jobs?

>> 660incontract: "the poor I guess" - middle class.

i see. i'd be interested in your opinion on the role of the welfare state on the income levels of the poor btw.

on a personal note my recent ancestors were slaves and now i'm solidly upper/middle class. nothing i've read or seen would convince me that there are fixed social classes in this society. i think a person's series of choices over a lifetime make the most difference in these outcomes. would you agree?

to be fair you should consider including other measures of human development other than just income levels. for example, purchasing power and life expectancy decade-over-decade has exploded as well. those benefits have been showered on the poor and middle class almost entirely. the mega rich have had caviar, chauffeurs, maids, and mansions 200 years ago and they do now. however 100 years ago the so called "middle class" knew noting of the conveniences that are enjoyed almost universally today...home and auto ownership, air conditioning, refrigerators and other amazing wonders... the Internet, plentiful food supply...the list goes on.

the last census shows us that huge portions of those living in "poverty" own homes, 2-car garages, cable television, etc. statistics also show that obesity is far more prevalent in families living in poverty rather than the rich. so would you consider those fairly obvious signs of development and progress as trickle down to an extent?

>> do you really think that obesity is a sign of affluence?

no cc; not by America standards...but compared to the standards of the actual third world *actually* living in poverty? or to poverty 100 years ago, yes. i'm making the point that some folks say "poverty" and that tends to evoke an image of a third world country which does not exist in this country. emotion-based arguments and the anti-wealth perspective of the writer flies in the face of well-established statistics about the incidence of obesity in the lower social classes. people that don't have a pot to piss in don't have a pot to cook dinner in either ok? and they certainly don't own TVs, cars, garages, or homes :)

however the plentiful food supply + the joblessness encouraged by generous welfare benefits + all of the modern conveniences that contribute to a couch potato lifestyle *does* get you fat. as i stated in my pp, those modern conveniences are within reach of even those living in poverty and that was achieved through our system...not in spite of it.

that said, i don't defend any criminality or corruption of the bailout era and preceding period. but to try to indict wealth and success generally and say that people are getting "poorer" *because* people are getting "wealthier" is not legitimate.

> just as soon as the rich trickle down and create jobs, so it will be a while.

Lets see, we created most of the jobs that exist already... so you have, what 100 million.

Can you now finally get up off your lazy butts?

When will the poor and working class start creating jobs and paying their fair share of taxes?

dag julialg, i thought i was on the Right :)

As a quasi-regular poster, I am amazed at the amount of energy this comm person puts into this character attack. It is hard to imagine this poster has nothing better to do, but empirical evidence suggests otherwise...

This is a disaster that could be eight times larger than Chernobyl ... and there's not a damn thing anyone HERE can do about it.

I was taught in college that we only pursued nuclear energy to rationalize a positive purpose for a highly destructive technology

First stimulus--failure..
-----------------------

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/114753-frank-obama-admin-dumb-to-predict-no-higher-than-8-unemployment

It was "dumb" for President Obama and his aides to promise that unemployment would not surpass 8 percent if the stimulus act passed, a top House Democrat said Tuesday.

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), the chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, called into question the wisdom of projections issued by the Obama administration during the congressional fight over the stimulus bill that argued it would prevent higher levels of joblessness.

"President Obama, whom I greatly admire ... when the economic recovery bill — we're supposed to call it the 'recovery bill,' not the 'stimulus' bill; that's what the focus groups tell us — he predicted or his aides predicted at the time that if it passed, unemployment would get under 8 percent," Frank said Tuesday evening during an appearance on the Fox Business Network. "That was a dumb thing to do."