Mr. Big Dog

Seems that our resident expert is a bit mathematically challenged.

Republicans have no interest in job creation at this point. They'd rather the unemployment rates go up and the economy stalls than supporting anything that has the potential to generate positive news on the economic situation prior to November. They want to control Congress whatever the cost. The American people and the economy are secondary.

Republicans have no interest in job creation at this point. They'd rather the unemployment rates go up and the economy stalls than supporting anything that has the potential to generate positive news on the economic situation prior to November. They want to control Congress whatever the cost. The American people and the economy are secondary.

Nobody seems to have noticed that job creation during the Reagan administration didn't really start until mid 1983 - some 2.5 years into his entering office and about 2 years following his massive tax cut but also about a year following his 1982 tax hikes. Yes, that's right. The Gipper actually raised taxes while the economy was only beginning to come out of recession and it didn't choke the recovery as the right now claims the expiring Bush tax cuts would.
In terms of recovery and job creation, the Obama administration is actually about a year ahead of the Reagan administration despite having been handed a recession far more severe than what the Gipper inherited.
But hey, why let facts get in the way of hysteria?

There's no actual evidence to back up the claim that tax cuts create jobs. It's a myth. Almost like a religious belief despite all the evidence to the contrary. If tax cuts created jobs, the economy shouldn't have had the worst record on job creation following the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts - some of the largest in history. Job creation during the Bush administration, however, was an average of only 375K / year - 3.0 million total. During the Clinton administration, on the other hand, almost 3 million jobs were created annually for a total of just over 23 million over the course of his presidency.

As we've recently learned in another thread from our conservative and libertarian friends, small businesses that can't secure credit are deadbeats anyways. No point in propping them up. It only drags out their inevitable failure.

Really? Considering that in 2009 only 5,500 taxable estate tax returns have been filed, I'd like to understand how the permanent elimination of the estate tax actually benefits 70% of tax filers. True, the GOP passed estate tax relief in a way that would re-introduce the estate tax at 2001 exemption levels in 2011 which would mean that an estimated 44,000 taxable estate tax returns would be filed. But even if we look at that number, the claim that 70% of tax filers benefit from this simply doesn't hold water. Unless, of course, the Heritage Foundation is suggesting that there are only 63,000 tax filers in this country.
What a load of #######!

So, the Democrats make fake claims on GOP initiatives? And that enrages the right? Own medicine tates bitter now? Remember yer Death Panels!

As we've recently learned in another thread from our conservative and libertarian friends, small businesses that can't secure credit are deadbeats anyways. No point in propping them up. It only drags out their inevitable failure.

Sarah refudiates the above statement.

Sarah refudiates the above statement.

There are public goods and services that are provided by the government (federal / state and local) to and paid for by the public. Whether you actually use them or not is another issue. Schools are a good example - you pay for them whether you have kids in them or not. The fire department is another. It's there for you if you need it but you pay for it even if you don't require their services. Or how about the military? I mean really, to sit there and say I only want to pay for what I use is quite ridiculous. Move to a place that doesn't have any government and hence no taxation for public goods and services you don't fancy. May I suggest Somalia? It's some paradise for the self-sufficient I hear.

If these tax cuts were paying for themselves - as is often erroneously claimed - the tax revenue should not decrease relative to the GDP. And yet it did. This decrease is the largest single contributor to the deficits. Additional spending on homeland security and the military account for much of the rest. What this means is that - all other things being equal - the deficit would be about half of what it is if were not for the tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003.

That's not supported by the facts. In 2000, tax revenues were 20% of GDP. In 2005 - after the two rounds of tax cuts - tax revenues were 16.8% of GDP. That's a decrease, not an increase.

Bullshite. Ask the GOP. The only reason why there are 15 million unemployed is because they get to suck on Uncle Sam's teat. If only we'd get rid of UE benefits, we'd be back to full employment in no time at all.

In the current environment, there are about five applicants for every available job in this country. It's dishonest to say that extending unemployment benefits will encourage people to remain unemployed because people don't want to work. They do but if there are 5 applicants for every available job, math dictates that 4 out of those 5 will go without a job. Under these circumstances, extending jobless benefits is the right thing to do from a moral perspective. It's also the right thing to do from an economic perspective. Every dollar of unemployment insurance generates somewhere in the range of $1.60 in economic activity. Every dollar of tax cuts, on the other hand, generates anywhere between $0.30 and $1.05 of economic activity, depending on what the distribution of the benefit among the income groups happens to be.

Ah yes, the socialist. Was just waiting from you to swing that tired old bat.

Semantics. If you run a defict and claim to be concerned about it, you can't sit there and proclaim to support tax cuts which would add hundreds of billions dollars to such deficit. It's like already having a negative cash flow and then telling your creditors that you'll fix the cash flow issue while quitting that second job. Doesn't work.

Wait a second. You claimed the GOP was the party of YES on the issue and opposed only the lack of funding. That's bull. The GOP isn't worried about funding, they're worried about opposing.

In the current environment, there are about five applicants for every available job in this country. It's dishonest to say that extending unemployment benefits will encourage people to remain unemployed because people don't want to work. They do but if there are 5 applicants for every available job, math dictates that 4 out of those 5 will go without a job. Under these circumstances, extending jobless benefits is the right thing to do from a moral perspective. It's also the right thing to do from an economic perspective. Every dollar of unemployment insurance generates somewhere in the range of $1.60 in economic activity. Every dollar of tax cuts, on the other hand, generates anywhere between $0.30 and $1.05 of economic activity, depending on what the distribution of the benefit among the income groups happens to be.

Faux Noise has once again failed at being a news organization and shown that all they have in their repertoire is propaganda. Journalism that scratches below the surface of a headline? Getting the full story of ####### that someone posts on a blog? Who needs it? The fcuks at Faux sure don't. Or the sheep that drool over their stupid propaganda. Goebbels would be so proud.

He makes good on a promise that we all owe to each and every servicemember who we ask to put their life on the line for this country. It's a disgrace how many of our veterans end up on the streets.

Word. Back in the days, CEO's earned about 20-30 times the wages of average workers. Now, it's more like 300-400 times that.

Word. Back in the days, CEO's earned about 20-30 times the wages of average workers. Now, it's more like 300-400 times that.

I thought he promised not to raise taxes. He hasn't. The GOP Congress back in 2001 and 2003 has done that.