What I post on this blog, mostly anything and everything. I am going to try and post more personal things as that is the purpose of a blog after all.
Post reblogged from Activate the Mechanism! with 297 notes
Romney’s tax plan just isn’t mathematically feasible
By Ezra Klein
I can describe Mitt Romney’s tax policy promises in two words: mathematically impossible.
Those aren’t my words. They’re the words of the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center, which has conducted the most comprehensive analysis to date of Romney’s tax plan and which bent over backward to make his promises add up. They’re perhaps the two most important words that have been written during this U.S. presidential election.
If you were to distill the presumptive Republican nominee’s campaign to a few sentences, you could hardly do better than this statement of purpose from the speech Romney delivered in Detroit, outlining his plan for the economy: “I believe the American people are ready for real leadership. I believe they deserve a bold, conservative plan for reform and economic growth. Unlike President Obama, I actually have one — and I’m not afraid to put it on the table.”
The truth is that Romney is afraid to put his plan on the table. He has promised to reduce the deficit, but refused to identify the spending he would cut. He has promised to reform the tax code, but refused to identify the deductions and loopholes he would eliminate. The only thing he has put on the table is dessert: a promise to cut marginal tax rates by 20 percent across the board and to do so without raising the deficit or reducing the taxes paid by the top 1 percent.
The Tax Policy Center took Romney at his word. They also did what he hasn’t done: They put his plan on the table.
Link reblogged from STFU, Conservatives with 2,035 notes
Democrats introduce bill to raise minimum wage to $9.80 →
More than 100 House Democrats introduced a bill Thursday to raise the minimum wage. Rep. George Miller’s proposed legislation would raise the minimum wage to $9.80 over three years, 85 cents per year, then link it to inflation, so that raising it wouldn’t have to be a giant political fight every few years. Tipped workers, who haven’t seen their $2.13 minimum wage increased since 1991, would get 85 cent raises until the tipped minimum was 70 percent of the full minimum wage.
If you work at the current minimum wage for 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year, with no time off at all, the $15,080 you earn puts you $50 below the poverty threshold for a family of two. That—and the fact that many minimum wage employers keep workers at part-time levels—is why so many working people are forced to rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Medicaid and other aid programs. It shouldn’t be controversial to say that if you work, you shouldn’t be poor. But to today’s Republican Party, that counts as a radical statement.
Something else the GOP will probably filibuster.
Okay, here’s the thing about the minimum wage: raising it causes inflation to increase, because inflation is directly tied to how much money the general populace has (aka the money supply). When the money supply increases, inflation increases; this is why inflation is generally inversely linked with unemployment (except in cases of stagflation but that’s a very rare occurrence; the only time it has happened in American history is the Carter presidency). As more people are employed, they have more money, and so inflation increases. If you raise the minimum wage, more people will have more money, yes, but inflation will increase, devaluing that money. And if you link the minimum wage to inflation, it is quite possible that inflation could spiral out of control. Here’s what I mean.
Minimum wage goes to $9.80. Because of this, inflation increases, since the money supply has increased. So, minimum wage increases. So, the money supply increases, leading inflation to increase. So, minimum wage increases. So, inflation increases. So, minimum wage increases, so inflation increases, so minimum wage increases, and pretty soon we end up having to take wheelbarrows full of cash to the store to buy a loaf of bread. We would be making more money, but we wouldn’t be able to do as much with it. Economics 101.
Okay, here’s the thing, the purchasing power of one making minimum wage is 30% lower today than it was in 1968.
The minimum wage was $1.60 an hour in 1968, that’s roughly $10 an hour in 2012 dollars.
Inflation has outpaced minimum wage, so inflation happened anyway, and the result has been that the minimum wage is actually lower now than it was in 1968.
What was that about economics 101?
^^ BOOM roasted
Source: justinspoliticalcorner
Photo reblogged from Verbal Resistance with 8 notes
![verbalresistance:
Debt, Debt And More Debt: Is Democracy To Blame?
Above: The marble statue of Plato stands in front of the Athens Academy in Athens. The ancient Greek philosopher had his doubts about democracy.
17 July | High-profile experts [staged] two separate Washington press conferences [last] Tuesday to demand action on public-debt problems. One group [targeted] state budget crises; the other, the federal budget mess.
If the ancient Greek philosopher Plato were still alive, he might hold a third press conference to declare: “It’s hopeless. I told you so. Democracy will always degenerate into chaos because people will vote for their immediate self interests, not the long-term good.”
At a time when nearly every major democracy in the world is facing a debt crisis, some people are wondering: Might Plato be right? …
A debt crisis is dragging Europe — and maybe the whole global economy — into recession …
Debt is not just a Western problem. For example, in Japan the debt load is more than double the size of the country’s entire gross domestic product.
What’s going on? Can’t self-governing people govern?
Plato may have gotten there first, but many people have followed up, asking just that question. Back in 1978, Auburn University professor Robert Ekelund co-authored a paper entitled “Deficits and Democracy.”
His historical research, done along with W. Mark Crain, also a professor, found that all over the world, no matter what the culture or continent, “democratic governments have exhibited tendencies to run perennial budgetary deficits.”
That’s because the people who win elections often are those who promise what voters would like: lower taxes or more public services, such as better roads and more police. Once in office, a lawmaker discovers that “in financing the desired output of the public sector, the politician [must choose between] raising taxes versus borrowing funds,” the professors wrote.
The easier choice is to borrow and pass the cost to a future generation that does not yet vote, the paper said …
Read Whole: NPR](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m7jnleLMpo1qbbvueo1_500.jpg)
Debt, Debt And More Debt: Is Democracy To Blame?
Above: The marble statue of Plato stands in front of the Athens Academy in Athens. The ancient Greek philosopher had his doubts about democracy.
17 July | High-profile experts [staged] two separate Washington press conferences [last] Tuesday to demand action on public-debt problems. One group [targeted] state budget crises; the other, the federal budget mess.
If the ancient Greek philosopher Plato were still alive, he might hold a third press conference to declare: “It’s hopeless. I told you so. Democracy will always degenerate into chaos because people will vote for their immediate self interests, not the long-term good.”
At a time when nearly every major democracy in the world is facing a debt crisis, some people are wondering: Might Plato be right? …
A debt crisis is dragging Europe — and maybe the whole global economy — into recession …
Debt is not just a Western problem. For example, in Japan the debt load is more than double the size of the country’s entire gross domestic product.
What’s going on? Can’t self-governing people govern?
Plato may have gotten there first, but many people have followed up, asking just that question. Back in 1978, Auburn University professor Robert Ekelund co-authored a paper entitled “Deficits and Democracy.”
His historical research, done along with W. Mark Crain, also a professor, found that all over the world, no matter what the culture or continent, “democratic governments have exhibited tendencies to run perennial budgetary deficits.”
That’s because the people who win elections often are those who promise what voters would like: lower taxes or more public services, such as better roads and more police. Once in office, a lawmaker discovers that “in financing the desired output of the public sector, the politician [must choose between] raising taxes versus borrowing funds,” the professors wrote.
The easier choice is to borrow and pass the cost to a future generation that does not yet vote, the paper said …
Read Whole: NPR
Quote reblogged from The Nation Magazine with 56 notes
As Catholic sisters, we must speak out against the current House Republican budget, authored by Rep. Paul Ryan. We do so because it harms people who are already suffering.
Video reblogged from Skeptical Avenger with 39 notes
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Is it money?
Fascinating stuff!
Source: atheism-anarchy-awesome
