To those who disagree with this direction what alternatives do these countries have? Are these protestors ignoring reality? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iV0Xkww6sSs&feature=related"]YouTube - French Protesters Continue Efforts to Halt Pension Reform
I think these governments, like America, are ignoring the reality that it was the greedy rich bastards that caused this problem and they should be the ones to pay for fixing it with a great big tax increase only on them. The wealthy are draining the life out of western societies. .
If they do increase taxes on the rich it will have to be a moderate increase. France had already had problems with wealthy people and investors relocating to other countries to avoid high French taxes.
That wouldn't be a problem if the international community would standardize a tax rate for the wealthy and use import and export fees as a backup to control those who try to avoid taxes. There should also be a fee for every job that is moved out of the country equal to the value of that job plus 10%. I'm also in favor of salary and profit caps. Sorry, but I no sympathy at all for wealthy individuals and corporations. These people take far more than their share of resources and give little back to the society in which they thrive. On our present course, at some point the middle class will disappear and leave only the very rich and the very poor. Governments will then be forced to find solutions or there will be world-wide class wars. .
Well here in New Jersey, our fiscal woes are the result of goverment expenditure out-running goverment receipts. I'm not sure that I can blame rich people who get whalloped with all kinds of taxes. I will blame politicians buying votes, spending the citizens money. If you hit the rich too hard, they will just leave and go elsewhere. If our citizens want conciere goverment then the everyday person has to do some lifting. When John Lennon came to New York he was leaving a high tax environment in Britian. At the same time Keith Richards moved to the cotrd'azur, Provence to avoid punative taxation ( there was also a drug investigation ) Point being that creative people can and will go elsewhere when they feel that thier pockets are being picked. When the Brooklyn Dodgers left for LosAngeles it was up to new people to build and create National League Baseball in New York. and the baby N.Y. Mets were born Empower people like John Lennon, Keith Richards, Bill Shea and Joan W. Pason to build and create wealth and our economy will prosper.
Just elimanate the debt as if never existed, fuck the consquences. It's not our fault goverment spending has been out of control for the last century. Scrap it and start over.
When John Lennon came to America the tax rate for the wealthy was much higher than it is now. Taxes for the wealthy have been lowered significantly for 2 or 3 decades, culminating with the Bush tax cuts. That has not slowed the rate of corporations sending our jobs overseas. I really wish you conservatives would give this line a break, it's getting old and it stinks of bullshit. .
Agreed... It was in large part enabled by the cooperation of these governments in standing aside and being derelict in regulatory responsibility that allowed the fatal real estate fueled investment bubble to first be created, then infiltrate stock portfolios and retirements and other instruments that effectively transferred funds from those who worked for them to those who stole them- and otherwise integrate into the economy whose demise was the direct result of the bubbles collapse. In facts it was corporations established by the United States government (Fannie May, Freddie Mac, etc) that created first the toxic sub-prime racket then the securities that the bad mortgages composed which were at the epicenter of the global crisis that greedy governments are using to expand power and scope. It is that framework that the status of criminal organization emerges in my mind to characterize four administrations which presided over the scheme and the current one in exploiting its mess to take over sectors of the economy. While this well-choreographed scheme to defraud the middle class coalesced all manner of distraction- like steroids in baseball and the Lewinsky scandal, was paraded before the public the perpetrate to be consumed as informative proof that congress was on the up and up while homeowners, pensioners, IRA and 401k holders were being defrauded. We have generations of eventual retirees who have been made to expect a social security check upon retirement- but the minimum retirement age continues to go up and the estimated benefit goes down, down, down- and a tepid job situation as well as a stagnant wage level imperils the revenue flow to the entitlement programs while unemployment numbers would resemble depression era statistics if the books weren't cooked for political purposes. Meanwhile, those entrusted to manage what amounts to a national decline act only on behalf of big banks and corporations.. while any move to help regular folks is limited to making speeches. It shows the major flaw with socialism- that eventually governments will run out of "someone else's money" to take and redistribute. If middle classes hadn't collectively permitted themselves to be distracted by trivial shit and paid attention to what their government was doing they would likely not be in the midst of being undone by what amounts to the biggest bank robbery in history.
Inflation means less spending. That does not mean cuts per say, that means less liquidity which is the catch 22.
My understanding was Fred and Fan only made the loans, that were packaged as Platinum plated Gold by trading companies as another profit scheme to make the rich richer, and created no jobs. I don't know where you've been, but us "regular folks" have been helped quite a bit. When I lost my last job in Oct. 2008, I qualified for 19 weeks of unemployment, yet Congressional extensions kept me going until after I retired in Jan. 2010. Real-time tax relief was passed, tax rebates, and a very modest amount of protection from foreclosures, that the banks are now subverting. The Stimulus money was supposed to help the "common folks" with jobs, but most has yet to be spent. Some of the legislation for us, the common taters, that the Republicans have fought tooth and nail while promoting big tax breaks for the same people who are screwing us in the ass. The Conservatives knew exactly what was going on, these were their "Platinum Products," make the rich richer and it "Trickles Down." This whole last 20 years have proved "Trickle Down Economics" is nothing more than a scam. As rich as the rich are today, we all should be enjoying $300,000 annual salaries. I think most of our disagreement lies in your seemingly quick jump to a government conspiracy. The only conspiracy I see presently is one by the rich corporate elite to continue the Republican policies that have made them so sinfully rich. In Government, most are self-serving individuals filling their own pockets with the crumbs. .
Well I can't differ much with that... the ratings agencies wre guilty of fraud too... my understanding is that early on in the process during the Clinton administration... (second term) the treasury secretary Robert Rubin, along with Reagan appointee Alan Greenspan, helped block attempts by Brooksley Born, who had been considered for AG, from regulating derivatives. Arguably the deregulation craze was a Republican gesture that essentially made it open season on taxpayers for corporations but the Democrats share culpability I'm genuinely sorry you had to deal with that. The bare subsistence lifeline of unemployment is hardly help when policies are not pursued that would foster job creation. Aside from that there's little more than dependence on the government being fostered. Unemployment is great help when there's a viable and constructive end game involving the restart of a career. The democratic congress couldn't approve the printing of trillions of dollars to throw at big banks fast enough but little beyond speeches is being offered for a sustainable middle class recovery. Yes but I would bet the liberals knew what was up just as well... and if they didn't then we elected the wrong people. It took bipartisan cooperation for this perfect storm of borderline depression to unfold. Seemingly... yeah... I do not believe for one instant that the government conspired to steal peoples retirements- by and large I do not give congresspeople credit for looking at us as humans. Surely the folks suckered in to signing onto sub prime mortgages whose mathematical truths spelled almost certain personal bankruptcy and foreclosure for the homeowner were directly defrauded- though I concede that they are partially responsible themselves... but the quick peddling of these mortgages as parts of investment packages might have been a tip-off- for surely being a lien holder of an asset owned by a creditworthy borrower who pays regularly is good to have on the books- but banks and mortgage companies couldn't sell these fast enough it would seem... and the government purposefully looked the other way- Was it the favorable political climate that sees less need for federal aid to states who are collecting more property taxes because of taxes assessed on inflating property values that inspired a decades long attitude of hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil? When I flip channels past CSPAN during televised congressional debates and hearings I see a room full of criminals and it matters not which party they caucus with. Perhaps it was sold as getting the government off the backs of "the people" but it was just another act in the name of economic stimulus designed to help the rich at the expense of the people. Frankly I strongly believe that most did not intend for it to get this bad... they wanted to find a way to legally manipulate some specific economic sectors to make some money and to keep the "collateral damage" limited and easily concealed but like a little boy playing with matches during the dry season, the fire they started had become an inferno by the time they stopped to consider the sheer size that it had become... but banks, mortgage companies, stock brokers and the like were too drunk with greed at all the money being created seemingly from thin air to realize that the whole process couldn't be sustained. Thank you Jack... you always get me to stop and think... and learn some new things.
You must have misunderstood, unemployment kept me warm and fed. Personally, My profession died in 2002 and it's highly unlikely at my age that I would have found more than a security position. I took early retirement as a necessity, but I'm beginning to adjust and it's growing on me. As for the middle class recovery, good luck; I don't see one. Everybody has been so focused on the "crash" they aren't looking at the big picture. Corporations have been outsourcing jobs and manufacturing at a growing rate since the 80s; this is the biggest killer of the middle class. Then, every year, we hear this song and dance about corporate "losses" and the need to lay off more employees, despite billions in profits. And Wall Street doesn't help matters much with stock splits and increasing dividends going to "share holders" instead of the hard working employees, and even worse, investors buy resources for the sole intent of selling at a huge profit as a needless "middle-man," increasing our cost of living. All of those hundreds of billions of $ floating around the stock markets, in Pork Bellies, and who knows what else at this point, come out of our pockets. The Board of Directors and 98 vice presidents in every corporation spend their days inventing new fees, new charges, new penalties, and schemes to cut back on worker compensation, all intended to make the elite richer, on our money. And all of this is condoned under the threat that they will close their doors and not provide jobs if they don't get tax cuts and special favors from government. The legal term here is blackmail. It's not the government as much as the nature of Capitalism and greed. Never underestimate the power of money. To be fair, If I remember correctly, selling these "packages" was not illegal, although some aspects of it were, such as AIG insuring them without assets to perform the contracts. I compare it to legalized gambling. When comparing Political parties, don't forget that the Democrats controlled Congress for 60 years without a depression or severe recession. During that time we grew to be the most powerful nation on Earth. A mutually beneficial exchange. .
