Sunday, February 8, 2009

Michael Steele!

How anyone can watch that group of Populist fools on MTP representing the Democrats and trust them to run the country is beyond me.

However, on This Week, my new man Michael Steele, talked true. Government jobs are not real, Government take over of industries is a fools gold.

My only regret is that the Republicans will not just say the truth. We are going to have a tough time but we will be through it if we leave you alone. We trust the American people to find their own jobs and invent their own industries.

A pulse, we have a pulse!

18 comments:

Baxter said...

Steele is a good spokesman for your failed party.

GOP mods improved the stimulus bill. Unfortunately, we'll need Stim II and TARP III this year.

God bless Barney Frank. We need to keep reminding the world who ran up the debt during times of growth!

riegels rant said...

Yo Baxter I am assuming that you are not a fan of one of the biggest crooks in the gov. Barney Franks needs to be in jail for cooking the books at Freddie and Fannie.

Baxter said...

Mr Rant ~

Congressman Frank did no such thing. Don't be taken in by the right wing's cynical attempt to cast blame elsewhere. Fannie/Freddie are bipartisan institutions. They played a bit part in the origination of today's distress. In fact, right now they are part of the solution.

Our current economy is the legacy of 8 years of Republican leadership. Don't forget it!

Jim G. said...

YES HE DID! You refuse to acknowledge that video showing him stating that FM/FM were in good shape. You refuse to acknowledge that the Bush administration tried to reign in this out of control program.

A bit part? It is the origin of this mess. Where do you think it started?

Truth be told, it is just another example of the Republicans trying to insert a small amount of common sense and the Democrats using class warfare and populism to demagogue the issue. "what do you mean these poor people can't have homes even if they cannot afford them you capitalist bastard". Same thing today with Barney Flower about cops losing their jobs. He must have no soul.

Under this bunch, government can only grow sucking the life out of the economy.

Before you start Richie, how about a FICA grace and eliminate capital gains taxes for 2 years? Think that would help the capital markets and promote the economy.

We do not need this stimulus bill! Even the stupid talking heads today acknowledge that they have no idea if it is going to work, and it could make things worse!

That is why I was impressed with Steele, he questioned the whole concept.

Oh, and he seemed to explain his sister issues nicely. However, the Democrats, party of Jack Abramoff part II, had no problem chauffeuring Daschle around to move the liberal, welfare state agenda.

Baxter said...

ALL of the bad mortgages were written under a GOP Congress and Republican White House. Period. With power comes responsibility and accountability which is why the Democrats now control everything.

If you don't know where else the problems originated, you haven't paid attention. There is one constant component - GOP political control.

How many sub-prime loans did Fannie/Freddie originate? ZERO. The regulators were taken off the job as typically happens in a Republican administration.

Barney Frank did not cook the books. If he "belongs in jail" then the GOP leadership ought to be on death row, especially GWB.

I favor a dramatic reduction in FICA and an offsetting increase in carbon taxes.

No capital gains reductions - it is already taxed at <50% of ordinary income.

I would favor 10% tax credit on ALL home purchases, not just primary homes and I wouldn't cap it at 15K. The fact is, most of today's inventory needs to be in the hands of landlords, not homeowners. Right now, there are disincentives to the purchase of income properties. It ought to be encouraged. Conversion to rentals is the ONLY way that this inventory will be consumed short of a million or so fires. Obviously, any tax credit for non-owner-occ purchases would require a 3 - 5 year holding period.

The Senate GOP has contributed to the bill - first + foremost should be items that address housing and the financial system. Shame on Obey + Pelosi for loading the bill up with items on an eight year old wish list.

There you go - a few statements my favorite uber-partisan Bushie can probably agree with.

riegels rant said...

back at you Baxter...sorry but Barney was involved in cooking the books...in regards to the last 8 years. Did Bush do somethings wrong, you bet, but the down turn started a long time ago with a lot of different Admins...we can go back to Clinton and talk about "how everyone should own a home" think it was called redlining, vs saying you can own you should rent until you can own. In regards to the Stimulus package that I am sure you are in favor of...tell me this...how do you service debt with creating more debt?????

Baxter said...

Rant:

The origins of today's problems do not precede the GWB administration in any material way. If, in fact, we were on the wrong course prior to Dubya's arrival, it was his job to right the ship. This meltdown occurred at the end of his eight year run, not the beginning.

"(Did) Bush do some things wrong, you bet". Are you kidding me? You have a flair for understatement.

The "everyone should own a home" rhetoric goes back to FDR, if not further. Many thought the VA and FHA programs were foolish when they began. Somehow, we managed to avoid a calamity for 70+ years until we gave the Village Idiot the keys to the kingdom.

Regarding debt service - I am a Keynesian. I strongly felt we should have run surpluses during times of growth in the manner of President Clinton. Remember? In times of recession or depression, we need to have commensurate deficit spending in order to stimulate the economy. Frankly, if we end up with inflation in '09 or '10, it will be far better than the deflationary spiral that we appear to be in.

I hope that answered your questions!

riegels rant said...

sorry once again you are in error...Tell me what does the government produce...nothing...they are a collector of tax's so when they had a surplus in the Two dick willy admn that means they were over taxing the American public, that is the only way they can have a surplus. for sure we all know that the government never cuts any jobs...just like the Big O wants to make bigger and more expensive government...or should we call it socialism

Baxter said...

Rant:

How do you propose to pay down the debt - most of which was run up under Reagan and GWB - without surpluses? Don't you believe in paying ones bills?

Did you complain about Reagan and GWB deficits? I watch with relish as Republicans now decry deficits when that has been their way for nearly thirty years. During times of growth, no less! I guess they think we're supposed to save our pennies for a sunny day. Really, what do Republicans know about fiscal responsibility? Why does anyone pay attention to them on this topic?

riegels rant said...

rant said...I think all of us would agree that Washington under any admn has no idea how to spend or save money, as the vast majority of them have never run a business. I would say this however, if your business was loosing money I would think the first thing an owner would do would be to look at things in the expense category and find out a couple of things. 1. How do I reduce costs, and 2. How do I become more efficient at what I do. I am not sure they have looked at either of these pictures, and until they do we are headed down a road of debt. I do believe that giving more money back to the people to have them determine what they spend or don't spend their money on is a smarter way to go then piling on more debt on top of existing dept. You might want to go to www.fairtax.com and take a look at this proposal.

riegels rant said...

baxter...sorry that website is www.fairtax.org not .com

Baxter said...

Rant:

I have read the Fair Tax book. I don't support it. First, the 23% tax is actually a 30% tax ($23 of a $100 item is fair tax, which means that the $77 product has a $23 tax, which is 29.87%). I think there would be serious problems with compliance. I also think it would repress consumption far more than our economy can absorb. It would actually add a layer of government in economic planning and decision making. A new house is $390 and the resale down the street - same house - is $300?

Regarding government spending - I agree that government is inefficient relative to the private sector. However, in times like these, the federal government needs to be counter-cyclical. With EVERYONE tightening their belts, someone has to be spending. If the feds tighten their belts at the same time, it will contribute to the meltdown and we will find ourselves in a deflationary sinkhole. This is what happened in 1929/1930.

That is why, as mediocre as the stimulus bill is, it will help right now. This economy can stand an extra $400B a year. Frankly, it needs to be a lot more.

Baxter said...

One More Important Point - once the economy has it's sea legs and we are back to growth, we need a STRUCTURAL SURPLUS that will pay down the existing debt. The boomers are just beginning to retire. Ideally, we would have zero debt and a pile of savings. So - once we can, we need to get back to Clinton era tax and spending structure so that we are bringing in 20.6% +/- of GDP with expenses at 18.2% +/- of GDP. This would create a $348B surplus that will compound at the economy's growth rate. If we assume 3.75% growth, it will then take 20 years to pay down the existing debt of $10T. We'll still have the debt piled up in the next 5 +/- years to pay down.

riegels rant said...

You and I will never agree on government policy vs giving more money to the people. In regards to the fair tax I am assuming that you realize that we are currently paying around a 22% inbedded tax on everything we buy and then when you add the state sales tax of 7% that brings it to 29%. Fair tax as you know is a 23% consumption tax regulated by individual states and that is the only tax you would ever pay...been fun chatting and we shall see who is correct in about two years when all this inflation starts to kick in and when the government is in control of our lives

riegels rant said...

Here is something that we should all be afraid of

Click here: YouTube - Inconvenient Debt - Glenn Beck

Baxter said...

Rant:

I watched your video and I was unimpressed. First, Glenn Beck is a dim bulb that has compared Al Gore to Hitler. You'll note we had a long depression w/o "printing money", which we now know is an excellent response in a deflationary environment. BTW - that spike came on Dubya's watch.

In our current circumstance, I welcome inflation as the least bad alternative.

You are definitely a Republican! Your math is all screwed up. The "Fair Tax" is 30%, not 23%, which I already explained to you. How much is 23/77? The so-called 22% embedded tax is just as fallacious. I don't believe the "embedded tax" exceeds 5%. The added cost of accounting (we need accounting whether there are taxes or not), excise taxes, sales taxes and everything else is but pennies on the dollar. Neil Boortz took an idea and backed his economic arguments into it rather than the reverse. It is a crackpot idea that used utterly disingenuous numbers. Other than that, I have no problem with it. :)

riegels rant said...

like I said we shall see in a couple of years who is right and who is wrong

riegels rant said...

Baxter...I know this will kill you but I watched a program of Glen Beck, and I would agree that he is a bit on the goofy side. But I might suggest that you watch a couple of programs only from the standpoint of the statistical information you get on the bail out package, spending bill, stimulus package or whatever you want to call it. For get that it is fox news etc if you can and listen to some of the experts that he has on the show...little scary. One thing I can tell you for sure is you don't get this kind of look into the facts on CNN or MSNBC