Pres. Obama reportedly won't be making a new budget offer to Republicans today, and will instead reiterate last week's proposal. Stocks have tanked on the news. S&P -1%. Dow -1.1%. NASDAQ -0.7%. [View news story]
He should play hardball. Dems got the pop vote and polls show the majority of even Republicans support increased taxes on the wealthy. The Dim witted T'baggers are cutting their own throats. Which is fine with me. I can't wait until they are footnote in the history books. They have done more damage to this country than any terrorist group. Good riddance!
Goldman Sachs (GS) already has figured out a way to circumvent the Volcker Rule, Charlie Gasparino says: turning its risk-taking traders into asset managers. Goldman has moved about half of its prop stock-trading operations into its asset management division, he says, where the traders can talk to clients and then place their market bets; the rest of Wall Street may soon follow. [View news story]
Kinda why I was thinking' the financial regs were and are for the most part a great deal to do about nothing. When the people you are regulating are making you rich, it's tough to sit down on them very hard!
Barring an unforeseen miracle, Congress' supercommittee will concede tomorrow it has failed in its efforts to produce $1.2T in deficit cuts. With even a fig-leaf deal now unlikely, talks are focused on "how to shut this turkey down." [View news story]
What will happen if a deal is reached? Nothing. What will happen if a deal is not reached? Nothing. The only thing we have learned is that the two sides can't agree on anything. I still feel my party (Republican) is still the main hang up on this deal. Premarket trading will begin in about 3 hours and we will see how futures react. I can't trade until 7 am tomorrow. Byt then it will bb to late.
So the U.S. lost S&P's AAA rating for the first time in a 70-year history; so what? Mark Thoma says this is S&P erring on the only side it can after blowing the pre-crisis situation. Always pragmatic Warren Buffett says solvency's not an issue when the debts are all in currency the U.S. can print; inflation, that's another story. Ready to buy on this coming dip? [View news story]
I've been a Republican for forty years and I think the Teabaggers are idiots.
It's endgame in Rhode Island where pension obligations are devouring ever-increasing portions of the state and city budgets. Like GM as it reeled towards bankruptcy, the state seems to serve little purpose other than as a vessel to ensure the flow of money towards retirees and bondholders. Is Athens on the Narragansett a window on the future of other U.S. states? [View news story]
Not that I think it's ok; but, we can't just blame unions. They were not given a blank check. The Unions may have written the check; but, our elected officials signed it. It's isn't like "unfunded pension liabilities" just appeared out of nowhere. I can remember reading about this 30 to 40 years ago. Furthermore it was Republicans and Democrats alike that signed those checks. Who is at fault in the mortgage mess. The home buyer for asking for an unrealistic loan or the bank for approving it? In the executive pay fiasco, who is at fault, the executive for asking for outrageous compensation or the corporation for paying it? The entity at fault is the opne theat didn't have the balls to say no.
Not since at least 1960 has the U.S. standard of living fallen so fast for so long. The average American has $1,315 less in annual disposable income now than at the start of the recession. More pieces of evidence (as if you needed them): The misery index has hit a 28-year high, real GDP is mired at 2005 levels, and median paychecks are at their lowest since 1999. [View news story]
The wealthy pay less per cent of their income than they ever have. Shit man you can look that up in Wikipedia. It ain't no big secret. "The "wealthy" already pay a much larger percentage of the taxes ..." You must be an economist. If you state the question correctly, you can get the answer you want. If 1% of the tax payers make 90% of the income, they can pay less dollars in income taxes per dollar earned than everybody else and still account for the majority of the total taxes paid. There is absolutley no reason for the wealty to pay the same or less tax than the middle and low wage earners. The wealthy create jobs is crap. They put their money in hedge funds and speculate on oil and the health of the PIIGS. You can find this in Wikipedia too, the American middle class is the engine that drives this country's economy. If you want to create jobs, give the middle class a big tax cut. They'll spend every damn dime and not invest it in hedge funds.
John Boehner is set to march into a meeting with President Obama today armed with a letter from over 150 economists that back Boehner's call to match any increase in the debt limit with spending cuts of equal size. Signatories include Nobel laureate Robert Mundell of Columbia. [View news story]
The Republicans can not be serious about deficit reduction when they exclude the reinstatement of the Bush tax breaks. This is not new taxes just a return to old taxes. These tax breaks helped fuel the current deficit. Get serious Republicans put everything on the table and then we can have a serious discussion.
Former Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Merrill McPeak disagrees with much of the chatter regarding the no-fly zone. "I can’t imagine an easier military problem ... just flying a few jets across the top of the friendlies would probably be enough to ground the Libyan Air Force." [View news story]
I have no doubt we can do it. I just am wondering why we think we have the right to do it. To error is human. To make the same mistake Iraqi, Afghani and perhaps Libya times may be really ignorant. Although I must admit I'd like to see him gone. To bad he wasn't in the house Reagan had bombed 30 years ago.
Since raising taxes in a weak economy is not a good idea, Mark Thoma says the Bush tax cuts should be extended... sort of. He would allow the tax cuts to expire on the rich and transfer the savings to low- and middle-income households. "That way there won’t be any decline in aggregate demand... and since the transfer is from high savers to low savers, it could even provide a bit of additional stimulus." [View news story]
I don't this guy; but, it sounds like a good idea to me. Low to middle income household put every penny they get back into the economy due to necessity while higher income households have a tendency to send their money to banks offshore.
Lawmakers in the U.S. see a quick-patch solution as the best hope of averting the automatic tax increases and spending cuts set to hit on January 1. Over the weekend the blame game was in full cycle while key Senators hit the talk TV circuit. The last word from President Obama is that he would immediately sign a bill into law extending tax cuts for those making $250K or less. [View news story]
it isn't new taxes it's the reinstatement of old taxes.....the tax cuts were never permanent they were temporary. The wealthy don't create jobs with the money anyway. They stick it in hedge funds
The GOP leadership has delivered a letter to Ben Bernanke in advance of the FOMC policy statement tomorrow, urging him to back off any more easing moves. "We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Fed could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy," the letter states. "The American economy should be driven by consumer confidence and worker innovation... not central-bank policy." [View news story]
Tom is my new hero. Tom's words express my sentiments perfectly.
President Obama's proposed "Buffett Rule," a minimum tax on people who make $1M or more, is a bad idea, according to Steve Forbes. "The top 1%, they pay about 40% of the income tax anyway," he says, "and when you take money from productive people and put it in the hands of the government bureaucracy, to pay for binge spending... that's going to hurt the economy." (Video). [View news story]
Actually the Clinton era tax increases weren't increases at all; but, the reinstatement of the tax rates prior to the Reagan era tax cuts. This was in the early 90s (1992 or 1993). One article I read said that the 1990s are the longest period of economic growth in US history. Keep in mind this was after the reinstatement of Reagan's tax cuts. I keep hearing about the rich creating jobs with that money. I challenge anyone to show me the statistics that prove that. If you will look back through economic history, you will find that a higher max tax rate for the wealthy has little effect on new job creation. For years upon years all I have ever heard from economists is that the middle class drives this economy and jobs are created by small business. Tax the rich and put the money where it will do the most good....individuals from the middle class down and small business. As a note: I think the $250,000 limit is to low and should be raised to $500,000
If you've lost Larry Kudlow, you've lost conservatives in America, as the CNBC economist grills Rep. Eric Cantor hard on why the GOP couldn't support Sen. Harry Reid's plan, which Kudlow says is based on Republican ideas, doesn't include new taxes, and requires one debt ceiling raise instead of two. [View news story]
The Teabaggers want it their way or the highway. Hopefully next Nov the American voters will show those idiots (teabaggers) the highway. The framers of the US Constitution gave us 2 houses in Congress and the executive branch as a mean s of arriving at a balanced (read; many ideas put together in a compromise plan) decision. The Teabaggers can not continue to make demands without giving something in return. If someone were to do as much damage to this country with a gun or a bomb, as the Teabaggers have already done with their intransigence, they would be arrested and put to death for terrorism and treason. It is time for the Republicans to quit uttering their mindless statement of no tax increases for the super wealthy and negotiate. I blame my party (Republican) for this fiasco. The Dems have made attempts at compromise.
Ronald Reagan on the debt ceiling: "Unfortunately, Congress consistently brings the Government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility. This brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the federal deficit would soar." [View news story]
There's a Republican I voted for and could vote for again. The Teabag movement is something I can't subscribe to. The solution to this Debt limit/tax increase/spending cut issue is not all black or white it is a compromise of both, grey.
Pres. Obama reportedly won't be making a new budget offer to Republicans today, and will instead reiterate last week's proposal. Stocks have tanked on the news. S&P -1%. Dow -1.1%. NASDAQ -0.7%. [View news story]
Goldman Sachs (GS) already has figured out a way to circumvent the Volcker Rule, Charlie Gasparino says: turning its risk-taking traders into asset managers. Goldman has moved about half of its prop stock-trading operations into its asset management division, he says, where the traders can talk to clients and then place their market bets; the rest of Wall Street may soon follow. [View news story]
Food stamps, rebranded as "nutritional aid," now help feed one in four U.S. children, and one in eight adults - even as welfare rolls have stayed virtually flat. [View news story]
Barring an unforeseen miracle, Congress' supercommittee will concede tomorrow it has failed in its efforts to produce $1.2T in deficit cuts. With even a fig-leaf deal now unlikely, talks are focused on "how to shut this turkey down." [View news story]
So the U.S. lost S&P's AAA rating for the first time in a 70-year history; so what? Mark Thoma says this is S&P erring on the only side it can after blowing the pre-crisis situation. Always pragmatic Warren Buffett says solvency's not an issue when the debts are all in currency the U.S. can print; inflation, that's another story. Ready to buy on this coming dip? [View news story]
It's endgame in Rhode Island where pension obligations are devouring ever-increasing portions of the state and city budgets. Like GM as it reeled towards bankruptcy, the state seems to serve little purpose other than as a vessel to ensure the flow of money towards retirees and bondholders. Is Athens on the Narragansett a window on the future of other U.S. states? [View news story]
Not since at least 1960 has the U.S. standard of living fallen so fast for so long. The average American has $1,315 less in annual disposable income now than at the start of the recession. More pieces of evidence (as if you needed them): The misery index has hit a 28-year high, real GDP is mired at 2005 levels, and median paychecks are at their lowest since 1999. [View news story]
"The "wealthy" already pay a much larger percentage of the taxes ..." You must be an economist. If you state the question correctly, you can get the answer you want. If 1% of the tax payers make 90% of the income, they can pay less dollars in income taxes per dollar earned than everybody else and still account for the majority of the total taxes paid. There is absolutley no reason for the wealty to pay the same or less tax than the middle and low wage earners. The wealthy create jobs is crap. They put their money in hedge funds and speculate on oil and the health of the PIIGS. You can find this in Wikipedia too, the American middle class is the engine that drives this country's economy. If you want to create jobs, give the middle class a big tax cut. They'll spend every damn dime and not invest it in hedge funds.
John Boehner is set to march into a meeting with President Obama today armed with a letter from over 150 economists that back Boehner's call to match any increase in the debt limit with spending cuts of equal size. Signatories include Nobel laureate Robert Mundell of Columbia. [View news story]
Former Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Merrill McPeak disagrees with much of the chatter regarding the no-fly zone. "I can’t imagine an easier military problem ... just flying a few jets across the top of the friendlies would probably be enough to ground the Libyan Air Force." [View news story]
Since raising taxes in a weak economy is not a good idea, Mark Thoma says the Bush tax cuts should be extended... sort of. He would allow the tax cuts to expire on the rich and transfer the savings to low- and middle-income households. "That way there won’t be any decline in aggregate demand... and since the transfer is from high savers to low savers, it could even provide a bit of additional stimulus." [View news story]
Lawmakers in the U.S. see a quick-patch solution as the best hope of averting the automatic tax increases and spending cuts set to hit on January 1. Over the weekend the blame game was in full cycle while key Senators hit the talk TV circuit. The last word from President Obama is that he would immediately sign a bill into law extending tax cuts for those making $250K or less. [View news story]
The GOP leadership has delivered a letter to Ben Bernanke in advance of the FOMC policy statement tomorrow, urging him to back off any more easing moves. "We have serious concerns that further intervention by the Fed could exacerbate current problems or further harm the U.S. economy," the letter states. "The American economy should be driven by consumer confidence and worker innovation... not central-bank policy." [View news story]
President Obama's proposed "Buffett Rule," a minimum tax on people who make $1M or more, is a bad idea, according to Steve Forbes. "The top 1%, they pay about 40% of the income tax anyway," he says, "and when you take money from productive people and put it in the hands of the government bureaucracy, to pay for binge spending... that's going to hurt the economy." (Video). [View news story]
For years upon years all I have ever heard from economists is that the middle class drives this economy and jobs are created by small business. Tax the rich and put the money where it will do the most good....individuals from the middle class down and small business.
As a note: I think the $250,000 limit is to low and should be raised to $500,000
If you've lost Larry Kudlow, you've lost conservatives in America, as the CNBC economist grills Rep. Eric Cantor hard on why the GOP couldn't support Sen. Harry Reid's plan, which Kudlow says is based on Republican ideas, doesn't include new taxes, and requires one debt ceiling raise instead of two. [View news story]
Ronald Reagan on the debt ceiling: "Unfortunately, Congress consistently brings the Government to the edge of default before facing its responsibility. This brinkmanship threatens the holders of government bonds and those who rely on Social Security and veterans benefits. Interest rates would skyrocket, instability would occur in financial markets, and the federal deficit would soar." [View news story]