Today's paper : "Greenspan- Cut deficit with tax hike" 4/22/05

[EVDebs]

Washpost article by Nell Henderson says Greedspan wants to cut the deficit with TAX HIKE ! As he dawdled while Rome burned until November's election, and now defends Bush's Tax Cuts for the Wealthiest 1 and 1/2 percent, we see he wants Congress to raise taxes.

What makes more sense is to scale back Bush's tax cuts and REASSIGN them to the other 98.5% of taxpayers, whose marginal propensity to consume is much greater than that top group (Bush's base) and whose increased consumption will lead us to the promised land: a 'soft landing' !

BTW, Greedspan should have his head examined if taxes on the lower 98.5% of taxpayers is increased.

[ClintonTyree]

1. Hahahaha.....

:rofl: like THAT will ever happen with the bush baby in the White House. He COULD raise taxes on the middle class, and I expect he will in some sneaky, half-assed way, but NEVER will he raise his rich pals taxes. NEVER!

He'd be taking food off his rich pal's families!

[indepat]

4. The AMT on middle income taxpayers will make up much of the lost revenue

stemming from much lower tax rates on the top 1 1/2%.

[FormerDittoHead]

11. "AMT" will become more and more known as the next few years pass.

You got it. Newsweek and David Clay Johnston wrote about the ever-increasing burden on the middle class YEARS ago.

But let's not forget about the secondary "taxes".

As the federal gov't is letting first responders, health, education, roads, etc etc go unsupported, the state and local governments and individuals will look to pick up the slack. Sending your kids to college? Guess where your "tax cut" will be going WITH INTEREST!

...and we can only imagine the LONG TERM costs of abandoning scientific research in the most promising areas, destroying wildlife communities, pollution, ignoring global warming, etc. etc.

[indepat]

12. Systematically destroying everything that set this country apart from

most other first-world nations.

[orwell]

2. Dump the Fed

The deficit needs to be cut. The only ways to do this, within the current political choices are to:

Cut spending
Raise taxes
Increase economic growth so that tax rates can remain the same but total revenues increase.

There are other more radical notions to be entertained such as the elimination of the Fed Open Market committee which fixes the cost of money. We could also repeal the Federal Reserve Act which allows a private banking cartel to issue and charge interest to us on our money supply. This would remove a tremendous drag on the US economy and a significant portion of the budget devoted to debt service.


The last two presidents that attempted this "radical (Constitutional) reform" were Lincoln and Kennedy. You know what happened to them.

[On the Road]

6. So If the "Private Banking Cartel" Didn't Set Interest Rates

who would -- the banking industry as a whole? Who would determine what multiple of their accounts banks could lend?

[orwell]

7. The Market

The Congress is constitutionally mandated to create our currency. The Constitution says nothing about interest on such issuance. The government doesn't need to collect interest as it doesn't need to make a profit.

As far as loans, if the private banking system wants to lend money at interest, so be it. There is no reason why the US government needs to pay them for issuing it. This is what Lincoln did when the Rothschilds wanted to soak him for loans to finance the North's end of the civil war. (By the way the R's were also loaning money to the South.) He told them to shove it and issued the Greenback. As long as the society accepts it a real medium of exchange, which they did, there is no problem. Bye bye bankers.

In a free market system, loan interest rates would be set solely by the demand for funds against existing supply. Supply comes from those with excess capital to invest. Demand comes from those that need investment. The rate would be set by demand/supply and risk of return.

Novel idea. Maybe we should try it sometime...

[On the Road]

8. So Banks Can Lend 1000 Times Their Total Deposits?

That seems like a recipe for disaster. That number has to be controlled. Or they could lend only the amount they have on deposit? Instant depression and complete drying up of the money supply.

I agree the Fed was too restrictive during the early days of the depression. But they seem to have learned. In general, the mistakes under Volcker and Greenspan seem to be more fiscal than monetary.

[orwell]

9. Huh?

So Banks Can Lend 1000 Times Their Total Deposits?

Where did I say that? Why do you revert to a straw man argument?

Did I address banking regulation in any of these posts?

[dcfirefighter]

14. I've been a fan of greenbacks for a while

And I've not seen any reason it couldn't be implemented, as you mention.

There is another option, available today, in some places: LETS.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LETS
http://www.gmlets.u-net.com/
http://www.transaction.net/money/lets/
http://www.letslinkuk.org/

[On the Road]

3. To be Fair,

Greenspand and Paul O'Neil originally supported the tax cut bill only on the condition that it had a trigger so that the cuts would be rescinded if the budget went into deficit. The Bush people said "Thank you for your support" and ignored the triggers. So this is the same philosophy he expressed in 2001.

Having said that, it's taken him way, way too long to come back to this position.

[EVDebs]

5. As Sen Reid has said, Greedspan is a political hack q.e.d.

[orwell]

10. Crack Party

This was a cynical and poorly conceived position by both of these officials. The US needed to make a good faith effort to pay down the debt, if for only the national security reasons.

Both of these clowns were toting the party line which espouses "growth" (read inflation) as the cure-all for the economic morass that 80+ years of the Fed have enabled. While the economically illiterate US public have been greedy co-conspirators to the US "debt crack party" it is the Fed that has always been there to supply "the stuff", just when we are facing "cold turkey." At this point we are so hooked that we have forgotten what it feels like to be free of the drug induced myopia.

Read some of Unca Allan's musings from the 60's before he "got religion" as the head Ho in the Temple of Doom. It might surprise you how he ranted against the very system he now commands.

What was that saying about absolute power?

[Kmarx]

13. Ev -- glad to see another sane voice from the old Kerry site.

Greenspan, Bush :silly:, et al are like the rest of the American aristocracy -- they never worked a day in their lives; filled the heads of the masses with propaganda as they sent them off the fight the wars; always complained about the taxes they had to pay when in fact they knew exactly how to get even richer every year. I only wish I had their 'tough' life!

[Montauk6]

15. No, Congress should just raise the taxes on those making < 80k

for they are the consumers (aka looters) and deserve no less. Meanwhile, cut taxes to record lows on the richest Americans who built this nation and continue to support it like Atlas. The wealthy are the victims here, don't you GET IT??? They are hated for being the good. Look, A is A and existence exists, get over it. After all, who is John Galt?



Bow down to her!! Bow down to her!!! You are not worthy, ye collectivists!!! <SARCASM OFF>