Cut taxes for the rich! Cut benefits for the poor!

[Riot]

The article has multiple, clickable links on content

http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/...e-have-deficit

Why We Have A Deficit
By Dave Johnson
May 14, 2012 - 12:40pm ET


Deficit theater is coming to DC tomorrow, with a well-funded "fiscal summit." The plot summary is that we have Deficit Trouble - Right Here In River City! so to fix it we need to cut Social Security and Medicare and the things democracy does for We, the People -- while cutting taxes on the rich and their corporations to make us more "business-friendly." (This musical is sometimes billed as "Simpson-Bowles" but it's the same old song.)

All of this deficit hysteria today - when just over ten years ago we had such a large a budget surplus that we were projected to pay off our entire debt in ... ten years! That's right, Ten Years Ago We Were Paying Off The Nation's Debt. But Then We Elected Obama.,

Just ten years ago this country was running huge surpluses and paying off its debt. But then we elected Obama and all hell broke loose. Oh, wait...

Between the time ten years ago when we had big surpluses and were paying off the debt and now when we are told the "Obama spending and deficit" mean we have to cut back on the things We, the People do for each other, something happened. Something changed. The things that happened, the things that changed, are being ignored in the current DC discussion about what we need to do to fix things.

Something happened. We had a surplus, and it was replaced by massive deficits. The last Bush budget year had a deficit of $1.4 trillion!

Why We Have A Deficit

What happened under Bush? We cut taxes on the rich and doubled military spending. (And started wars.) And don't forget collapsing the economy, forcing people onto unemployment and food stamps. That is why we have a deficit. We have a deficit because of tax cuts for the rich, huge military budget increases and the consequences of deregulating corporations.

Here are some questions for tomorrow's deficit theater:

How large was the country’s yearly budget deficit and total debt in the “Eisenhower/Truman” decades when the top tax rate was 90%?

Today we have an “infrastructure deficit” – the amount needed to repair our country’s roads, bridges, sewers, etc. – of somewhere upwards of $1.6 trillion. Was our infrastructure kept in good repair before the top tax rates were cut?

Concentration of wealth is long recognized as a threat to democracy, and now we are seeing a low-wage, everything-to-the-top economy with the greatest ever concentration of wealth going to a few at the top. Was the problem of wealth concentration increasing or decreasing before the top tax rates were cut?

When top rates were high people couldn’t take home vast fortunes in a single year. When it took several years to make a fortune did corporations depend on long-term or short-term thinking? Did the executives of corporations care if the infrastructure and communities their companies depended on were in good shape? Did large corporations fleece customers and exploit employees for quarterly returns as they do now?

Continued ...

[bigrun]

Originally Posted by Riot

Why We Have A Deficit

What happened under Bush? We cut taxes on the rich and doubled military spending. (And started wars.) And don't forget collapsing the economy, forcing people onto unemployment and food stamps. That is why we have a deficit. We have a deficit because of tax cuts for the rich, huge military budget increases and the consequences of deregulating corporations.

You had me here...Nuff said...

[Riot]

"All of this deficit hysteria today - when just over ten years ago we had such a large a budget surplus that we were projected to pay off our entire debt in ... ten years!

That's right, Ten Years Ago We Were Paying Off The Nation's Debt.

But Then We Elected Obama ...

Oh, wait .... "

Let's elect the hollow robot Mittens Romney, and Paul Ryan, and Grover Norquist who created his "no taxes ever" pledge when he was 12 years old (yes, the GOP signs pledge allegiance to the world financial plans of a 12-year-old boy) who have promised to go back to the very same Bush-GOP policies that got us here: slash taxes for the wealthy, increase taxes on the poor, remove all regulation that is harming the "job creators", and put social security into the hands of private investing houses.

Those policies don't matter to the wealthy that are doing this. They won't be negative affected. There is still money out there they don't have in their fists, and they want it. That's the entire point.

They don't have enough votes in America to do that. But they can get enough votes by promising the bigots, the gay haters, the anti-non-Christians, the anti-women misogynists, the crazy extremists, a place at the table and a promise to help create the theocratic world their religious and hate cults desire.

Where does that leave the 80% rest of America? They don't care.

Hey this dude I know wants a job. F.uck that son of a b.itch. Go to SS office and apply for a check.

Keep benefits for the poor! Tax the rich!! Let gubmint take care of the do nothings!! Got unprovable back pain? Get a check! Suck the working man dry by being a deceptive leech on society! It's sustainable.

Punish productive people! Reward the do nothings that make things sh.itty for those that actually need help. Allow them to have 10 kids so they can keep getting more gubmint money!! Destroy this country through white guilt and forced approval of effeminate and defeated behavior.

A society where iPads, google, and Facebook drive the market. A society of nothing. Empty vassals bullying each other so they can have equal rights. Holding people who can't make real change nor have power accountable while letting their masters get away with everything under the sun.

Yeah we're gonna agree with you on higher taxes, you stupid c.unts. Keep telling yourself that higher taxes will solve our problems.

[bigrun]

Where have i heard those rants before....Umm, Fox, Neal Boortz, Rush...all of the above..textbook crap from his leaders.. ..dipschit...

Originally Posted by bigrun

Where have i heard those rants before....Umm, Fox, Neal Boortz, Rush...all of the above..textbook crap from his leaders.. ..dipschit...

You're a bigger idiot than nascar. He couldn't help it. You can. A blatant idiot who doesn't understand basic math. You could tax the rich 100 percent of their income and we will never get out of debt.

Keep believing the left's bulls.hit/blatant disregard of simple math.

It costs more to make pennies and nickels than what they're worth and you think raising taxes with absolutely no accountability for sir spend a lot congress is going to change things?

Would you give more crack to a crackhead? Because that is basically what you're wanting.

[bigrun]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

You're a bigger idiot than nascar. He couldn't help it. You can. A blatant idiot who doesn't understand basic math. You could tax the rich 100 percent of their income and we will never get out of debt.

Keep believing the left's bulls.hit/blatant disregard of simple math.

It costs more to make pennies and nickels than what they're worth and you think raising taxes with absolutely no accountability for sir spend a lot congress is going to change things?

Would you give more crack to a crackhead? Because that is basically what you're wanting.

Thanks for the civil response...who's nascar, a redneck from NC?...
btw, thought i was on ignore..so much for telling the truth..this one's for you.

[Danzig]

the paper here has a section on votes from congress.
the other day they increased the defense budget, already incredibly bloated, and cut benefits to poor, food stamps, etc.
made no sense than, doesn't now. the buffett rule certainly won't be enough to truly help.

again, defense, entitlements (ss, medicare, medicaid) are the two huge drains. been saying for who knows how long, those are what's sapping the fed, and us. and it will continue to be a drag, and grow to be a bigger problem. eventually there will be no money left for anything but those two areas of the federal budget and interest. all other depts would be completely non-funded because there would be no money left in the budget.
we spend on defense what the entire rest of the world combined spends. outrageous, unsustainable.

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Danzig

the paper here has a section on votes from congress.
the other day they increased the defense budget, already incredibly bloated, and cut benefits to poor, food stamps, etc.
made no sense than, doesn't now. the buffett rule certainly won't be enough to truly help.

again, defense, entitlements (ss, medicare, medicaid) are the two huge drains. been saying for who knows how long, those are what's sapping the fed, and us. and it will continue to be a drag, and grow to be a bigger problem. eventually there will be no money left for anything but those two areas of the federal budget and interest. all other depts would be completely non-funded because there would be no money left in the budget.
we spend on defense what the entire rest of the world combined spends. outrageous, unsustainable.

The earned benefit (you pay in over your lifetime of work, it's not a gift) of Social Security has no effect on the deficit. Social Security used to be financed at 90% of national income taxed, but now as the wealthy own so much of the money and income inequality is so marked, we only tax 84% of national income for Social Security. All we have to do is raise the cap back to taxing 90% of total national income, as the program was designed to, and it's fixed. Piece of cake.

The other earned benefit (you pay in over your lifetime of work, it's not a gift) is Medicare health costs, our other big drain. A national health care (single payer, not government-run medicine) would markedly help that as costs will be negotiated. Obamacare is a small start at healthcare price reforms focused on the consumer.

Yes, defense spending: the military says, "don't buy the jet, we hate it" but Congress insists the military use it, as Congresses friends are the one that have the big government contracts manufacturing those unwanted jets. That we can fix with our votes.

It's really great your paper has the votes congress takes - wish all papers had to do that!

Originally Posted by bigrun

Thanks for the civil response...who's nascar, a redneck from NC?...
btw, thought i was on ignore..so much for telling the truth..this one's for you.

Find that post. Don't recall saying to put you on ignore list. But then again you're a f.ucking nut job. Only a nut job would want to pay more taxes to Jamie Dimon and the rest of the Federal Reserve board.

You might as well join the top 10 pyramid schemes on the internet while you're at it.

[Rudeboyelvis]

He doesn't care, Coach - he's a retired simpleton that got handed a pension for doing something that is probably outsourced these days, and now would prefer to screw the rest of the futures generations by borrowing even more money to give away even more handouts. Oh and blame George Bush for the cause of all of this - Like Clinton didn't sell access to the govt. for 8 years prior to him. Or Obama blatantly stealing money from future generations to prop up his boys in the Federal Reserve.

Just keep on ignoring what is going on before your very eyes and put up a phunney pikchure kartuun with a bunch of

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Rudeboyelvis

He doesn't care, Coach - he's a retired simpleton that got handed a pension for doing something that is probably outsourced these days, and now would prefer to screw the rest of the futures generations by borrowing even more money to give away even more handouts. Oh and blame George Bush for the cause of all of this - Like Clinton didn't sell access to the govt. for 8 years prior to him. Or Obama blatantly stealing money from future generations to prop up his boys in the Federal Reserve.

Just keep on ignoring what is going on before your very eyes and put up a phunney pikchure kartuun with a bunch of

So, Rude, what's your position on internet bullying? What do you think of Romney cutting off the kid's hair?

[Riot]

More on the privately-sponsored "Fiscal Summit", 3rd annual, to tell the politico's what their wealthy owners want them to do.

What Half-A-Billion Dollars Buys You In Washington

WASHINGTON -- Peter Peterson, a Wall Street billionaire who has been calling for cuts to Social Security and other government programs for years, is hosting a "fiscal summit" Tuesday that brings together Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former President Bill Clinton, Rep. Paul Ryan, House Speaker John Boehner, Tom Brokaw and Politico's John Harris, among a host of other elites who will gather at the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium.

The bipartisan luminaries will be carrying on a discussion to a large extent framed by Peterson, who has spent lavishly to shape a national conversation focusing on the deficit rather than on jobs and economic growth.

That amount of influence -- building the very foundation on which political discussion rests -- doesn't come cheap. And Peterson hasn't skimped.

According to a review of tax documents from 2007 through 2011, Peterson has personally contributed at least $458 million to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation to cast Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and government spending as in a state of crisis, in desperate need of dramatic cuts.

Peterson's millions have done next to nothing to change public opinion: In survey after survey, Americans reject the idea of cutting Social Security and Medicare. A recent national tour organized by AmericaSpeaks and largely funded by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation was met by audiences who rebuffed his proposals.

But Peterson has been able to drive a major shift in elite consensus about government spending, with talk of "grand bargains" that would slash entitlements, cut corporate tax rates and end personal tax breaks, such as the mortgage deduction, that benefit the middle class.

To put Peterson's spending in context, all corporations and unions combined spent less than $4 billion on lobbying in 2011. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was heading over to the summit on Tuesday afternoon to protest. During his entire federal career, beginning in 1989, Sanders has raised $16,566,611, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, roughly 3 percent of what Peterson has spent in just a few years.

In response to HuffPost's questions, the Peterson Foundation said, "Pete has always been clear that he believes the implementation of any long-term fiscal plan should be delayed until the economy has recovered. The Peterson Foundation works with a number of organizations across the political spectrum to bring people together and discuss solutions to the fiscal challenges facing our nation -- all options should be on the table."

Peterson, who served as commerce secretary under President Richard Nixon, founded the Blackstone Group, one of the world's largest private equity firms, which owes its great profitability largely to a once-obscure tax break that allows investment managers to pay lower taxes than regular, working people.

Before that, during the 70s and early 80s, he ran Lehman Brothers, the firm that blew up at the start of the financial crisis in 2008.

He chaired the Federal Reserve Bank of New York during the George W. Bush administration.

At the summit Tuesday, Peterson told the audience that he sat on the committee that picked Geithner to serve as president of that bank.

More recently, Peterson has been pushing his fiscal arguments by spreading that half-billion dollars widely across the Washington spectrum, putting both Democrats and Republicans on his payroll.

He even launched his own newspaper, The Fiscal Times, which complements the many Peterson-funded nonprofits, such as the Concord Coalition and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The public face of his organizations is David Walker, the former comptroller general of the United States. Officially, Walker is an adviser to the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, for which he takes no salary. But Walker has been on the payroll at Peterson Management LLC, an investment firm that handles the Peterson family wealth, according to the 2007 book "The Foundation: A Great American Secret: How Private Wealth is Changing the World," by Duke law professor Joel Fleishman.

Paying him through the investment fund allows Peterson to obscure his salary and frees Walker from the restrictions on lobbying by nonprofit foundations.

Walker and Peterson tell a simple and familiar story: America is broke and spending is out of control.

The imprimatur of a former comptroller general has allowed such an argument to be taken not only seriously, but nearly for granted in Washington. Of course, the United States is not actually broke. It's the richest country on the planet. And while government spending has indeed increased, as one would expect during a recession, a major driver of the deficit has been a collapse in government revenue, along with two unpaid-for wars.

The quickest way to close that revenue gap would be a return to the previous tax rates on the wealthy, including on investment managers who pay a discounted rate by referring to their income as interest or dividends. Such a policy change would cost Peterson millions, a prospect he has argued against in the past. "This is a fairness argument," he said in 2008, according to The New York Times. "There are so many other partnerships, why pick on this high-growth sector?"

Peterson is in this debate for the long haul: He's even working on children. Earlier this month, Columbia University's Teachers College released a new curriculum about the federal budget and fiscal policy that will be distributed free to every high school in the country. "Understanding Fiscal Responsibility" was introduced at a ceremony featuring Peter Orszag, a former Obama administration official who left to join Citigroup. The Peterson Foundation has already given $1.6 million of a promised $2.4 million for the curriculum.

The first two lessons are titled "Social Security and the National Debt" and "Medicare and the National Debt." The curriculum wants teens to ask, "How high a value do we place on guaranteeing quality health care to the elderly?"

Another effort to persuade America's youth about the shakiness of the [ earned benefit ] programs is a joint venture between the Peterson Foundation and mtvU, the campus-based network created by MTV Networks, called Indebted.

Peterson has already shelled out nearly $2 million to fund this effort to convince college students that Social Security won't be there for them, so therefore it should be slashed now -- a self-fulfilling policy prescription if ever there was one.

The educational website for Indebted, which borrows its look of revolutionary activism from contemporary stencil-based art made famous by graffiti artists Banksy and Shepard Fairey, explains that the inevitable and unavoidable debt burden to be shouldered by college kids through student loans, credits cards and a poor job market make it all the more important to cut entitlements now.

Over the years, Peterson's foundation has housed a revolving cast of deficit-hawk intellectuals. For example, Eugene Steurle, the Urban Institute's top Social Security expert, was paid $106,667 by the foundation in 2009 in between his stints at the institute. After returning to the Urban Institute in 2010, Steurle spoke out in favor of policies promoted by Peterson as Congress debated that "grand bargain" that would cut benefits.

Steurle argued for raising the Social Security retirement age. When he moderated a Senate panel on Social Security, he was joined by Maya MacGuineas, another deficit hawk who serves as president of the Peterson-funded Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The Urban Institute is known as a liberal think tank, meaning that its recommendation to slash benefits has greater influence than a similar proposal from a libertarian or conservative outfit with a known hostility to the program.

Politicians in Washington regularly say that major reform to [ earned benefits ] -- and by reform, they mean cuts -- can only be accomplished with bipartisan consensus. "We have to hold hands and jump," Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said Monday. To that end, and unlike the Koch brothers, Peterson spreads his money across the ideological spectrum.

He has given millions to the liberal Center for American Progress, Economic Policy Institute and New America Foundation; the conservative Heritage Foundation and American Enterprise Institute; the centrist Brookings Institution and Bipartisan Policy Center, and on and on.

Moreover, Peterson's connections to the White House, evidenced by Geithner's attendance at the current 2012 summit, aren't hurt by his foundation's multimillion-dollar contract with SKDKnickerbocker, which includes former top administration official Anita Dunn.

Republicans, too, have joined in Peterson's crusade, including Boehner; Ryan, the architect of a federal budget plan that ends Medicare; and Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), much discussed as a potential GOP vice presidential candidate. All three were in attendance at Tuesday's conference.

Media luminaries such as George Stephanopoulos, Brokaw and Politico's Harris were also scheduled to speak.

[Honu]

One time at Bible camp I painted a boys toes while he was sleeping, I got one hand done but before I could get the other done he moved, does this make me a hater? He liked girls and so did I....but he was a blow hard and I wanted him to suffer just a little humiliation, does this make me a bigot or a hater or something?

[Riot]

Originally Posted by Honu

One time at Bible camp I painted a boys toes while he was sleeping, I got one hand done but before I could get the other done he moved, does this make me a hater? He liked girls and so did I....but he was a blow hard and I wanted him to suffer just a little humiliation, does this make me a bigot or a hater or something?

Sounds more like a funny prank. All these years later, you remembered it. I doubt you'd do such a thing as an adult, or say it was the right thing to do now if you knew doing something could actually hurt someone. I'd guess you're a lot more secure with yourself now, and don't have to try and attack others to make yourself feel above them?

[3kings]

Originally Posted by Honu

One time at Bible camp I painted a boys toes while he was sleeping, I got one hand done but before I could get the other done he moved, does this make me a hater? He liked girls and so did I....but he was a blow hard and I wanted him to suffer just a little humiliation, does this make me a bigot or a hater or something?

I'm suprised by this.

I thought Romney was the only person who went along with the crowd or did something stupid in their youth.

[Honu]

Originally Posted by Riot

Sounds more like a funny prank. All these years later, you remembered it. I doubt you'd do such a thing as an adult, or say it was the right thing to do now if you knew doing something could actually hurt someone. I'd guess you're a lot more secure with yourself now, and don't have to try and attack others to make yourself feel above them?

Well to be honest I used to do some pranking in the jocks rooms at other people's expense......a great one is to cover the inside padding in the front of a helmet with black shoe polish.....only did that to people who deserved it.

I think sometimes in our youth we do things that we think are funny to us not realizing that it was a really crappy thing to do to someone. I think about some of the stuff I did as a kid or young person and now feel pretty shi**y that I did it. Like I dont hate fat people or people with acne but I know that I prolly said and did some pretty crappy stuff to people who were dealing with that stuff.

[jms62]

Originally Posted by Honu

Well to be honest I used to do some pranking in the jocks rooms at other people's expense......a great one is to cover the inside padding in the front of a helmet with black shoe polish.....only did that to people who deserved it.

I think sometimes in our youth we do things that we think are funny to us not realizing that it was a really crappy thing to do to someone. I think about some of the stuff I did as a kid or young person and now feel pretty shi**y that I did it. Like I dont hate fat people or people with acne but I know that I prolly said and did some pretty crappy stuff to people who were dealing with that stuff.

You are right but as an adult when we put our dog on the roof and then get a big guffaw when talking about firing people it kind of gets creepy no? The man seem unable to show empathy for any living thing not named Mitt Romney.

[geeker2]

Originally Posted by jms62

You are right but as an adult when we put our dog on the roof and then get a big guffaw when talking about firing people it kind of gets creepy no? The man seem unable to show empathy for any living thing not named Mitt Romney.

The guy is heartless

http://www.cafemom.com/group/115890/..._help_employee

oh and this was unbelievable..how out of touch he can be

"I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you could fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone isn’t giving the good service, I want to say, I’m going to go get someone else to provide this service to."


give me a break.....

[jms62]

Originally Posted by geeker2

The guy is heartless

http://www.cafemom.com/group/115890/..._help_employee

oh and this was unbelievable..how out of touch he can be

"I want individuals to have their own insurance. That means the insurance company will have an incentive to keep you healthy. It also means that if you don’t like what they do, you could fire them. I like being able to fire people who provide services to me. You know, if someone isn’t giving the good service, I want to say, I’m going to go get someone else to provide this service to."


give me a break.....

"If you close your eyes it's a beautiful world"