Stimulus Will Help Hard-Working American Families
By signing the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act today, President
Obama took the first step towards keeping his promise to pass a
responsible plan that saves or creates four millions jobs, provides tax
relief for hard-working American families, and invests in our long-term
economic future. At a time when hundreds of thousands of Americans are
losing their jobs each month, President Obama called on our leaders in Washington
to come together to find practical solutions that prevent this economic
crisis from deteriorating even further. I applaud those who answered
that call by putting partisanship aside to pass a bill that provides
the practical solutions America's working families need, expect and
deserve. But this is only the beginning. Moving forward, we need more
leaders in Washington to follow their example as we continue the hard work of getting our economy back on track.
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Questions Persisting as Illinois Raises Taxes
January 12, 2011
CHICAGO — Hours after Illinois lawmakers chose a major tax rate increase to ease this state’s desperate budget crisis, questions lingered on Wednesday: Would new income and corporate tax rates stunt the growth of businesses and jobs here and, in turn, slow the already stalled revenue picture that has struck so many states? Would the state’s tax package, which is expected to raise about $6.8 billion annually, be enough to solve the state’s crisis, which includes a vastly underfinanced pension plan?
In Illinois, a Giant Deficit Leads to Talk of a Giant Tax Increase (January 10, 2011)
Patrick J. Quinn, the governor of Illinois and a Democrat, praised the decision of state lawmakers — in the wee hours of the morning on Wednesday — to raise the individual income tax rate by about 66 percent as a necessity to avert the state’s “fiscal emergency,” which includes a budget deficit of more than $13 billion, about $8 billion in unpaid bills to social service agencies, pharmacies and others, and a sinking bond rating.
“Our state was careening towards bankruptcy and fiscal insolvency,” Mr. Quinn told reporters, after indicating that he intended to sign the tax increase.
Meanwhile, in places like neighboring Wisconsin, Scott Walker, the new governor and a Republican, promptly issued a call to businesses in Illinois, which will face a business tax rate increase of 46 percent. Quoting an old tourism slogan from that state — “Escape to Wisconsin” — Mr. Walker urged businesses to consider moving to his state, where, he said, they would be quite welcome.
If the government would lower taxes and leave American Business alone we can easily correct our economy , jobs and get Obummer out of office and let him go play in his library. Obummer is what you get when liberals vote for an inexperienced and incompetent person who has never ever had a real job and absolutely no military experience. He is a total waste of skin.
I would like to ask the public--why are we bailing out all these companies that have driven their selves into deep holes with no returning to the surface. They all make huge mistakes and we help them make more???/ I don't get it. In all fairness the all should have to take bankruptcy --then restructure and learn how to run their business's correctly. And then start at the very top--and tighten up all their belts. All the stimulus will do is detain the real thing. All our kids and grand kids will be paying back all the stimulus--that is given out now----is that fair--I don't think so.
Stimulus Will Help; but Martin Wolf wants Twice What the Bill Offers.
Martin Wolf, leading financial analyst for the Financial Times (London), the smartest author writing to a global audience, points out that the lost wealth effect (that must be overcome, to move the private sector back on to its feet,) is 45 trillion dollars. How much stimulus must America offer to position its economy (GDP) where it can lead us toward hopeful democratic outcomes: approximately one trillion EXTRA dollars (from outside the private sector) PER YEAR, EVERY YEAR, until true unemployment returns to 4% or less and middle class incomes are again world class and rising to reflect revolutions in production technology fully in compliance with the imperatives of environmental science.
Wolf would have America get the EXTRA money directly from its central bank--meaning it would be free of interest charges and limited in amount to what the price structure can bear with the help of a high private savings rate. Every American or both our parties ought to agree with Wolf or explain a better approach to recovery and requisite annual green economic growth.
First of all, the wealth that the private sector lost is due to government intervention and the Fed printing too much money . Where in the world would that "one trillion EXTRA dollars" come from? If production (and thus wealth) does not increase by at least that amount every year, the government must get that money from either A) taxing or B) printing new money. The first solution would destroy the economy faster than you can say "bailout" by reducing the buying power of consumers, causing job losses and production rifts like crazy, and sending us back to the pre-industrial revolution era. The second solution is, more or less, the same as the first. When the Fed prints more money, it circulates much more paper at the same value as it was worth previously (the printed number on the paper). Economics 101 says that more paper money + same amount of production = inflation. The price of goods goes up tremendously, and consumers are left with the same amount of money they had to begin with (at least until the government raises minimum wage again, continuing the disastrous cycle).
And for your information, there is not possible way for middle class incomes to be "world class" when companies are forced to hamper their production with so-called "imperatives of environmental science ", or pseudo-science.
Wolf would have America get the money directly from the central bank? Wolf needs to research how the Fed works. Money does not come from no where--well, when it does it harms the economy anyway.
Better approach to recovery: return to the capitalist, small-government society we were founded to be and quit the anti-life, anti-wealth "approach" that Congress and the President are taking. By God, let the damn people fix the economy, not the government!
This bailout for the economy may work but this 'arguement' is just flat out propaganda! Their was no bipartisanship, the Republicans were invited to the meeting hours after the real meeting took place to finalize the bill. How is it called moving forward if we have drones following everything that the President says? Answer me this - how is spending more money going to get us out of debt? Isn't this just repeating the same mistake that America has been having on a macro level that has failed on a micro level?
Giving stimulus money to the very folks who put us here overseen by the very folks who were supposed to be watching is like handing $500 cash to a kid with a drug problem in front of his friends and saying "don't spend it on drugs". What do you think will happen?
This was most definately NOT bipartisan. This is NOT CHANGE...this is the same tired, failed tax and spend, tax and spend, tax and spend that the democrats are forever fixated on. Obama said he would not try the "same failed solutions used by the Republicans of simply cutting taxes"...and the left will now claim that they are providing tax cuts, come on, please, these measeley refunds of a few hundred dollars being given out won't be a drop in the ocen compared to what will now need to be paid back. And when you think of all the wasteful, stupid earmarks that benefit from this shady, backroom, misguided legislation, well...it makes you really angry.
PEOPLE WAKE UP!!! The money that is witheld in your paycheck each time you are paid is NOT THEIR MONEY, IT'S YOURS!! They are trying to get their dirty filthy hands on more of it all the time. (To a great degree this is mostly the vampire democrats, but also some of the spineless republicans too.) This tax and spend delimea is way out of control.
I think all of us who have had enough, should STOP paying our taxes. Show them who is in control. T H E Y W O R K F O R U S ! ! !
I totally agree with your comments--Iam very angry with all this wasting of our money--so all these ceo's can party on our money--plus all this stimulus money they have their hands out for!!! Like you said wake up People!!!!!!! It is time. We can't survive on their programs any more. We the tax people need help. We all need reasonable prices for everything from grocerys, fuel, mortages, health Ins. and evereything else it takes to live. Sawmill King.
You are definately on the right track, in my opinion, this tax and spend from the VAMPIRES in congress needs to stop...and that's where the problem is- CONGRESS. CEOs will have to answer to their stockholder's, and they will be dealt with. But here's the real thing about all this- in the past few weeks, the congress and the president and the lying scums in the major media, are trying to reflect the fault of all this on the CEOs, the "achievers", people who work, pay taxes, invest their savings in the market...all to create a class warfare. This will cause the US against THEM syndrome. That will allow the government (Obama and the vampires in congress) to come to the "rescue". It's all deceit and BS. This president and the congress and the media- they are the problem. This is OVER INFLATED government, and government spending. The founders never EVER intended us to govern this way.
Taxpayer, when you say "PEOPLE WAKE UP!!! The money that is withheld in your paycheck each time you are paid is NOT THEIR MONEY, IT'S YOURS!! " it sounds absolutely ludicrous to most Americans - and that's scary.
Most Americans are used to working four months out of the year for their government without even asking where their money is going to. Whatever happened to "No taxation without representation"? That literally means that for the government to raise taxes, there should first be a vote by the people to allow such an act.
I especially love when candidates launch into the frivolous expenses incurred by the other party which just "outrage" them, and then they tick off $10 million in pork-barrel expenses spent by their opposing party while in office. Nobody said it better than Ron Paul - "[$10 million dollars] is 0.00045 percent of the federal budget. What [do they] propose to do about the other 99.99955 percent, in order to return our country to living within its means?"
Americans are then forced to make a decision between who is going to spend their money better. And that's not much of a choice at all.
I find it very odd that we choose to keep businesses from going under. In the 1970's, Ford, Chrysler, and GM all had analysts that told them to stop production of large SUVs, that people now focused on things such as gas prices. They continued to produce their SUVs. Are we just rewarding their arrogant mistake? Where is the Darwinism? Where is the motive that allows the best to rise? As sad as it may sound, these failing companies should have fallen.