The Diane Rehm Show

Hi. Let's get Elizabeth Warren's take on all this. She is the only one I've heard with clear, intelligent insight.
Geitner? Fox in the henhouse ...

Again ... let's hear from Elizabeth Warren!!!

I work directly with the recorder of deeds in Sl Louis county Missouri and have seen recording activity almost double in the last month I assume the increase is refinancing because of low interest rates
Isn't refinancing happening everywhere in the country
and shouldn't this be a real boost to the economy

I disagree about the funding toward medicine not being effective. The funding put forward in the HITECH legislation has been instrumental and the creation and re-investment in companies that create and support EMR systems. This is improving the economy and improving patient care. It also has attracted great talent to HIT which we desperately need.
-Regina Holliday, Patient Advocate

I think buying a house and being a homeowner is totally overrated. I am concerned about universal healthcare; income tax restructure (do NOT renew tax structure for the over-wealthy); available, affordable education; obsession with being 'the best' ... a 'super power;' supporting local economies; quit building parking lots, importing food and so on.
I would posit the most important fuel is food, not oil, and the most important resource is the people!
I want something back for my tax dollar and NOT war! A journey to Ireland showed me that universal healthcare is wonderful -- that's what I want for my tax dollar.
I despair for our sweet nation. With the current business model the modus operandi is 'I got mine, what's wrong with you!'
And people are 'circling their wagons' -- divided by economic class, and only hanging-out with others who hold their same view.
We need to do something about corporations -- the should not have the same rights as people, and consumers should not have more rights than citizens. If one could get a job in Germany, there are many, many wonderful universities one could attend ... Sweden has discovered that supporting the people on the so-called lowest rung actually saves money and resources for the entire population.
This, I suppose, is rant # 999! Thank you for all you do, Diane. good job!
cya

I agree that this problem is far more serious than we want to admit. In addition to the problems outlined on today's show, no one ever talks about the MULTI NATIONAL COMPANIES and how they have their cake and eat it too....all at the expense of the American Middle Class. Of course, we are all at fault to some point....we want to buy CHEAP stuff.....so American firms ship jobs overseas, then ship it right back to us. They make their profits, and plow them into our government to maintain their distorted, major shareholder status quo. At some point, just like the housing situation, something has to give.

Heck, China is now complaning about labor competition from other Far Eastern countries desperate to raise their living standards. Until we are willing to stand up to our own Multi Nationals, China and others, and be prepared to be more protectionist...just as they are with their state supported CAPITALISM, our middle class is DONE.

it is real simple to me...
until people get hired back, they will not have the money to buy the products... therfore our number one priority is to hire people back.
Thank you.

In the spirit of clearly saying what we need, independent of the readiness of our political system to accept it, would your panelists comment on the following question: Would taxing environmental diseconomies (e.g., oil consumption, coal burning, water overuse, pollution, etc.) be a way of closing the federal deficit, reducing payroll and income taxes, providing aid to states and municipalities, and improving long run sustainability? Thank you for yet another great discussion.

In regards to tax rates, look at historical marginal tax rates and corporate tax rates. Back in the late 40s and 50s, the marginal tax rate was right around 90% for incomes over $400,000 and US corporations paid an effective tax rate of 49%. During that time, we had plenty of capitalistic growth and we were able to keep national debt in check. Now the marginal tax rate and the effective corporate tax rate is less than half of what it was back in the late 40s and 50s.

The actual, underlying problem here is that our banks are insolvent. Thanks to accounting control fraud, executives have made off with billions in salary and bonuses. In order to confront this, the FDIC must take these banks into receivership, as it did during the S&L crisis of the 90s. Unfortunately, the amounts needed today dwarf the amounts needed in the 90s. The stimulus (spendulous?) money would be far more effective if allocated to the FDIC (and the FBI) for purposes of cleaning up the bank mess.

Read more about this here:

http://huffpostfund.org/stories/2010/05/too-big-jail

I was driving while the show was on so I could not ask the question then. But I have a basic accounting question that should be asked of everyone the supports the extension of the tax cut for the wealthy.

Other than domestic staff, how does the money used to create a middle class job make it on to the 1040 form of a high income taxpayer?

The trickle down crowd would have us believe that lower taxes on high income earners creates middle class jobs. The money on those tax returns is money that did not create any jobs! The trend over the years is for those same earners to push for “productivity gains”, doing more work with less payroll. Much of this money comes from destroying jobs, not from creating them. The Government has worked to create stimulus packages, but where is the stimulus package from the wealthy of this country.

I'm happy to wait until the show is over and mull the presentation awhile before I comment. This was a nibble at the edge of the cookie and until people explain this mess honestly nothing can be done. Greenberger was your most knowledgeable and honest guest. He agrees with tarascon that the stimulus was too small. George Roman cites Huffington Post to warn that the banks remain in deficit from profit-taking and falling values. George squares with Liz Warren who sees pending commercial foreclosures sinking many banks. Most posters here, and 3 of 4 guests illustrate Humo25's point about how most people can't see beyond their individual paycheck. One of your guests blamed income disparity on an educational and skill divide. This was a lie told with panache in a country where the oligarchy is so small and the assets in so few hands. People learn as much or more on the job as in school. Idle workers waste. The euphemism of "business community" to describe this oligarchy shows how short drshow has fallen from an honest discussion. The only business left in the financial realm is wholesale fraud and political hegemony.

I enjoyed your program, but was amazed that your pundits still just don't get it.
The primary factor that has stagnated job creation is the fear that worries present and potential private employers about the future costs keeping present and adding future employees. They know that health care costs will rise dramatically and the likely added costs of the "Bush" tax cuts ending make it impossible to safely plan for future profitability. Many employers are sitting on money that could add employees, but they fear it will be needed just to stay open when Obamacare and other employer mandates/regulations kick in.

I met a former student last week who had been well employed for 20 yrs with a company of 60 employees, but he (along with others) was just laid off in June, apparently to help reduce staff to under the 50 employee mandate that will require the employer to provide health insurance. When I asked what he was doing now, he replied, "Oh I'm back at the company as a temporary worker with no benefits, doing my same old job." Unfortunately, that is the trend that is being perpetuated by Obama's "change", and until it is reversed things will continue to get worse.