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Citibank - On Guard! - Cramer's Stop Trading! (9/12/08)

Sears also offers an excellent service network. It's a far better post sale experience to buy a major appliance from Sears vs. Best Buy etc.

Unintended Consequences of the Fannie / Freddie Bailout

Let's be real here - the US public policy has been to subsidize home ownership for many many years - interest deductions, federally supported loans, etc. This has led to overblown home prices, use of real estate taxes by local government as the primary revenue source, use of real estate appreciation as a substitute for personal savings, you name it.

The only way these distortions will go away is to get rid of this marketplace distortion completely - no housing subsidy.

The People's Republic of America?

statePoet1775:

We need some of the Ron Pauls of the world in our government. But in the end I would not want him as chief executive. I'd like to see him as a governor though. Bring on the new ideas and see if they work.

Obama - I don't think is a lightweight but he is not ready. He needs a big dose of humility to start with. I am also scared that if he is elected that he will be a walking bullseye for all the nutcases out there.

Maybe the constitution needs to be amended to raise the age requirement for President. JFK wasn't ready either. We almost had a nuclear war because of his inexperience.

The People's Republic of America?

aoxomoxoa:

Don't let your party affiliation cloud your knowledge of history. Clinton was cutting budgets regardless of who was in Congress. Here is a NYT article from 1993 when the Democrats controlled both houses.

query.nytimes.com/gst/...

buyitcheap:

Pointing me to the home page of the IRS statistics site doesn't demonstrate anything. You are going to need a more specific location.

You also may want to take a look at:

Office of Tax Analysis (2003, rev. Sept 2006). "Revenue Effects of Major Tax Bills". United States Department of the Treasury. Working Paper 81, Table 2. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.

This non-partisan study shows how the tax reduction act of 1981 led to a major loss in government revenues of almost 3% of GDP

You may also want to examine the Wikipedia article on the Laffer Curve. It is a pretty thorough writeup. They have a link to a PDF of the above citation.

The People's Republic of America?

What do you expect when 3 out of the last 4 presidents who have led the US for 20 out of the last 28 years labor under the insane assumption that decreasing taxes results in increased tax revenue? It is time to realize that your taxes are equal to what government spends and anything less than a target of a balanced budget will result in government borrowing choking off the capital needed for the economy to grow.

Doesn't anyone remember the fundamental idea of capitalism? That is worker productivity is a function of capital investment?

The Laffer curve hypothesis promoted by Republicans is destroying this country - it is patently false; it results in huge deficits that reduce the amount of capital that can be profitably invested. Taxation of consumers to balance government spending frees capital for use by business to increase productivity. Clinton had it right. Keep government spending under control. Keep taxes in line in spending. The result was one of the greatest economic expansions in history.

This is the true path to growth. Borrowing to stimulate consumption is like drinking a can of Red Bull. It's a very short term fix and then a crash.