Congress And The Fiscal Cliff
http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2012-10-29/congress-and-fiscal-cliff
Under current law, major tax policies implemented to ease consumers through the financial crisis are scheduled to end January 1, 2013. Income and payroll tax rates will rise, and many relying on extended of unemployment benefits will be cut from the rolls. In addition, federal discretionary spending will be slashed. Almost everyone believes the scope and magnitude of these changes, if they go through as planned, will trip up U.S. economic growth. After the election, the lame duck Congress could act to delay the cuts, but much will depend on who wins the presidential election. Please join us to talk about Congress, politics and the tax and spending policy choices between now and January 1, 2013.
Guests
Ruth Marcus
columnist and editorial writer for The Washington Post.
David Wessel
economics editor for The Wall Street Journal and author of "In Fed We Trust."
Alice Rivlin
senior fellow, Brookings Institution, vice chair, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System (1996-99); director, White House Office of Management and Budget (1994-96); and founding director, Congressional Budget Office (1975-83).
Comments
Please familiarize yourself with our Code of Conduct and Terms of Use before posting your comments.
@Church State: You stated " I certainly hope Mitt Romney makes it a priority to eliminate all of U.S. federal tax dollars spent to support the funding of the LDS Missionary program (60,000+ worldwide), and now in October 2012 the number of enrollees increasing from 700 to 4,000 per week since LDS church leaders lowered the eligibility of missionary minimum"
Nothing could be farther from the truth. My next door neighbors are LDS.
Their son (and daughter) both served LDS missions and they (and their family) paid 100% of the finances ($400.00) per month for 24 months that was required. Not one red cent comes from fed funding or anywhere else for that matter.
You also stated: " The irony of the entire situation is the LDS faithful pay minimum if no U.S. federal tax dollars"
Wrong once again. You sir, have been smoking your socks.... Members of the LDS faith pay EXACTLY the same tax rates you do, with -0- added deductions for anything. Nice try, friend, but you need to do way more research before spouting off nonsense and purposeful misinformation.
Ruth, David, and Alice for Congress! :D SERIOUSLY.
Did I really see an Ad for the Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival on the Right side of this Page??
Rehoboth Beach may not even exist by Nov 7.!!
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
The Kabal continually presents us with a picture of an Economy, a World stumbling along because of errors, not because of malice or greed.
Nothing could be farther from the truth- the 1% plans, put in place during the 1930's are proceeding along even more smoothly than its Inventors dreamed of.
The Great Depression may have been an accident, this one is not.
Their intention is to complete the Crash, bringing on 1930's levels of Deflation, which will turn their Trillions of tattered One Dollar Bills into nice crisp Five Dollar Bills, one of which they will put in your Weekly Pay Envelope if you work hard enough and are lucky enough to have a job.
Some Parrots squawk about the value of Gold as an investment, even as a Currency which, of course is completely wrong.
Gold might be OK when Inflation is up, but at best, will only keep up with Deflation, meaning no gain.
Govt Bonds are good, but they can be fiddled with, Liquid Dollars are Platinum, since they are not likely to be revalued.
What a great world we 99 PerCenters will inhabit, paying off our and the Governments Millennial Debts with our New World Order Dollars.
Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com
If the cap were removed, there would be many many unhappy (rich/very well off) people.
Senator Bernie Sanders has advocated doing this. Without success - and that means that Democrats have not supported it either.
Steve on Plum Isle wrote:
"If the cap were removed, there would be many many unhappy (rich/very well off) people."
You can remove the cap if you want, but realize that you have then just changed a pay-as-you-go entitlement to a wealth redistribution program - an additional tax, actually. Those are fundamentally, and, more importantly, morally different, and essentially form the model of "from each according to his ability to each according to his need". Think about it. So, do it if you want, but realize the consequences and at least call it what it is.
Morally different because, today, someone who makes 1M pays in the same as someone who makes 100K (both pay at the cap), and get the same out (the maximum) at retirement. If you lift the cap, that person who makes 1M will pay far more of course, an additional tax on his income (in my opinion, a confiscatory one) but will receive the same as someone who has paid in far less at retirement. Of course studies show that even if you tax the "richest" at 100% of their income, it will not save the SS program, it will only prolong the agony until there are no longer any rich people to tax.
Finally, I use the term "entitlement" in a good way, not as the pejorative that some have made it. Because you have paid into SS/MC you are "entitled" to receive benefits from it. Since the 60's, however, many who have not paid in at all receive benefits as well, so "entitlement" has somehow come to mean something that is a freebie to some individuals - that they are "getting something for nothing".
Thank you for again having Alice Rivlin on your show. She is not only one of the most intelligent voices that I have heard on our budget and debt problems, her measured and reasonable voice is a pleasant oasis in the center of the shrill partisan fingerpointing
mchaun wrote:
"Some Parrots squawk about the value of Gold as an investment, even as a Currency which, of course is completely wrong.
Gold might be OK when Inflation is up, but at best, will only keep up with Deflation, meaning no gain."
Economics not your strong suit I take it? Your analysis of the flashy metal is completely wrong. While the price of gold has more than tripled since 2005, the inflation rate in the developed world has remained in the low single digits and in some cases near zero (U.S. and EU > 2%, China 5%). Let's put it this way, mchaun. When the inevitable collapse comes, which it will, if it comes in my lifetime, I will be holding bullion. You wll be holding worthless paper. We'll see who gets to eat.
Republicans started the chant against Obama on his Inauguration Day and have added brass bands and streamers to that effort ever since. The griping started even before the stimulus negotiations and before the ACA efforts in spite of the concrete facts that the housing and commercial real estate and investment banking debacles had been going on many months BEFORE Obama even got the nomination.
Where were the demonstrations by fiscal chickenhawks when W first passed his first tax cut? Where were they when W doubled down on more tax cuts? Where were they when the Afghan War was put on the credit card (and OFF the budget books)?.....when Part D was added to the UNpaid-fors?.....when the Iraq War was ginned up and omitted from the budget and again put on the UNpaid list?.....and TSA?.....and then TARP?...... All they can reply is jibber jabber about the scale and accumulation of the debt.....which THEY participated in creating.
And now we get Romney-Ryan promising more-of-the-same and saying it will take EIGHT TO TEN YEARS to pull out of it?? What utter brass!! When they clap them together even without stormy weather, lightning will shoot out of their........
And Ryan dares to say the 47%ers won't take charge of their affairs!!!??
Hey, he really IS bold and brave!! His 'roids have taken over. It's a wonder he can even waddle up on a speaking platform.
I wonder if Trickey Dick Nixon is twirling now with all the blabber his fellow "conservatives" belch out about the aggrieved wealthy 1%ers being burdened with the enormous tax load. Richard Millhouse Nixon invented the Earned Income Credit and presented the notion of a guaranteed annual income......with the EIC being the primary reason so many poor and workers pay "no Fed income taxes".
Even IF tax reform occurs, there is little chance of rolling back even the concept of EIC. No changes to FICA or Medicaid or Medicare will impact the continuation of large percentages of citizens "paying no Federal income taxes".
Then again, why is it considered "shrewd" for corporations and wealthy individuals to tweak their finances such that they pay zip, while the poor and working classes are labeled "dependent" and "victims" by Romney et al??
HonestAbe wrote:
"Where were the demonstrations by fiscal chickenhawks when W first passed his first tax cut? Where were they when W doubled down on more tax cuts? Where were they when the Afghan War was put on the credit card (and OFF the budget books)?.....when Part D was added to the UNpaid-fors?.....when the Iraq War was ginned up and omitted from the budget and again put on the UNpaid list?.....and TSA?.....and then TARP?...... All they can reply is jibber jabber about the scale and accumulation of the debt.....which THEY participated in creating."
HonestAbe, if you are truly "Honest" and are a truth-seeker, I suggest you read Bush's book "Decision Points". It will give you a different perspective, the President's perspective - an "inside baseball" side that you just can't get from David Corn or Eugene Robinson. I'm not saying that everything he did was right. But at least you will understand why he did what he did - especially with regard to the economy. You don't even have to read the whole book - just read the chapter called "Leading". Realize that Bush did not come into office in 2002 or 2003, he came in in 2001 when the economy was headed south - yes even with the Clinton surpluses that the left likes to crow about (mostly caused by the Gingrich revolution IMO which forced him to cut taxes, and the rise of the internet), after the internet bubble burst we went into a recession as he came out of office. The Bush tax cuts provided the recovery.
Part deux:
He also talks about "Katrina" and gives a side of that disaster I had never heard or seen before because the MSM either didn't know it existed or wasn't interested in presenting it. Instead all we heard about was "Good job, Brownie" which was a miniscule part of the overall picture. Did you know that Governor Kathleen Blanco resisted National Guard troops coming in to help and NEVER DID CONSENT. The President was prevented by law from sending in troops with arms without the Governor's consent. What eventually happened is Bush had to agree to let them come in with NO ARMS where they were vulnerable to looters etc. just to get "boots on the ground". The conversations between the President and the Governor and the Mayor of New Orleans will make your hair stand on end. Blanco and Nagan acted absolutely recklessly when the FG could have provided much relief to the people of NO and LA.
Honest?Abe is all about liberal revenge, doesn't matter if the numbers work or the facts jive. He's a gimme that honestly believes the FG hands out stuff for free and he's quite comfortable with letting it do the thinking for him.
Not an exact quote but the core of his belief system, "freedom and rights come from the government" At the time of the revolution he would be in the 1/3 that wanted British rule.
ecgberht wrote:
Let's put it this way, mchaun. When the inevitable collapse comes, which it will, if it comes in my lifetime, I will be holding bullion. You wll be holding worthless paper. We'll see who gets to eat.
You forget the golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules, and he who has the guns has the gold. Hench having and keeping are 2 very different things, when the collapse comes, shiny metal will be worth only what people decide it is worth and you only have as much as the bigger kid on the playground allows.
mnemecek wrote:
"You forget the golden rule: He who has the gold makes the rules, and he who has the guns has the gold. Hench having and keeping are 2 very different things, when the collapse comes, shiny metal will be worth only what people decide it is worth and you only have as much as the bigger kid on the playground allows."
"Shiny metal will be worth only what people decide it is worth"? Gold has always been the world's default medium of exchange, recognized as something of value as early as 7500 years ago, before Egyptian times. But hey, maybe this time it'll be different! I'll continue to hold gold and take my chances.
On the latter point, I did not say that gold would be the only thing I would be holding.