It's The Tax Cuts Stupid!!

[Campbell]

..............................................Total U S Debt................................................

Figures Easily Verified....Taken From the Bureau of the Debt

US: $18,775,084,981,440 - Debt as of December 2015?

09/30/2014 $17,824,071,380,733.82

09/30/2013 $16,738,183,526,697.32

09/30/2012 $16,066,241,407,385.89

09/30/2011 $14,790,340,328,557.15

09/30/2010 $13,561,623,030,891.79

09/30/2009 $11,909,829,003,511.75(80% Of All Debt Across 232 Years Borrowed By Reagan And Bushes)

09/30/2008 $10,024,724,896,912.49(Times Square Debt Clock Modified To Accommodate Tens of Trillions)

09/30/2007 $9,007,653,372,262.48

09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23

09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50

09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62(Second Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06(First Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86(Administration And Congress Arguing About How To Use Surplus)

09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43(First Surplus Generated...On Track To Pay Off Debt By 2012)

09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62

09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34

09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73

09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39

09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32 (Bill Clinton Raised Taxes On The Rich early 1993)

09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38 ( Debt Quadrupled By Reagan/Bush41)

09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66

09/30/1991 $3,665,303,351,697.03

09/28/1990 $3,233,313,451,777.25

09/29/1989 $2,857,430,960,187.32

09/30/1988 $2,602,337,712,041.16

09/30/1987 $2,350,276,890,953.00

09/30/1986 $2,125,302,616,658.42

09/30/1985 $1,823,103,000,000.00

09/30/1984 $1,572,266,000,000.00

09/30/1983 $1,377,210,000,000.00

09/30/1982 $1,142,034,000,000.00(Total Debt Passes $1 Trillion)(Reagan Slashed Tax Rates To Pre Depression Levels)

09/30/1981 $997,855,000,000.00

 

[Scorpion]

Jesus, would you idiot look at who had control of fucking Congress and not the damn figurehead in the White House.

 

[Billy_Kinetta]

..............................................Total U S Debt................................................

Figures Easily Verified....Taken From the Bureau of the Debt

US: $18,775,084,981,440 - Debt as of December 2015?

09/30/2014 $17,824,071,380,733.82

09/30/2013 $16,738,183,526,697.32

09/30/2012 $16,066,241,407,385.89

09/30/2011 $14,790,340,328,557.15

09/30/2010 $13,561,623,030,891.79

09/30/2009 $11,909,829,003,511.75(80% Of All Debt Across 232 Years Borrowed By Reagan And Bushes)

09/30/2008 $10,024,724,896,912.49(Times Square Debt Clock Modified To Accommodate Tens of Trillions)

09/30/2007 $9,007,653,372,262.48

09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23

09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50

09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62(Second Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06(First Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86(Administration And Congress Arguing About How To Use Surplus)

09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43(First Surplus Generated...On Track To Pay Off Debt By 2012)

09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62

09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34

09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73

09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39

09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32 (Bill Clinton Raised Taxes On The Rich early 1993)

09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38 ( Debt Quadrupled By Reagan/Bush41)

09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66

09/30/1991 $3,665,303,351,697.03

09/28/1990 $3,233,313,451,777.25

09/29/1989 $2,857,430,960,187.32

09/30/1988 $2,602,337,712,041.16

09/30/1987 $2,350,276,890,953.00

09/30/1986 $2,125,302,616,658.42

09/30/1985 $1,823,103,000,000.00

09/30/1984 $1,572,266,000,000.00

09/30/1983 $1,377,210,000,000.00

09/30/1982 $1,142,034,000,000.00(Total Debt Passes $1 Trillion)(Reagan Slashed Tax Rates To Pre Depression Levels)

09/30/1981 $997,855,000,000.00

 

[JakeStarkey]

If the pres is only a figure head, then it does not matter whether it is Hil or Donald.

 

[Windship]

Jesus, would you idiot look at who had control of fucking Congress and not the damn figurehead in the White House.

Look over there, look over there...

 

[Scorpion]

If the pres is only a figure head, then it does not matter whether it is Hil or Donald.

They both suck

 

[Windship]

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What Obama Did/Didn’t Accomplish for Working Class Americans

You can’t consider Obama’s accomplishments without acknowledging all the proposals Republicans blocked.

by Nancy LeTourneau
August 15, 2016 12:54 PM​

POLITICAL ANIMAL BLOG​

Pete Souza/Wikimedia Commons​

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As President Obama’s second term comes to a close, we’re seeing a lot of articles about his legacy – and there will likely to be a lot more over the next few months. Most of them take a positive spin and attempt to summarize his accomplishments over these last eight years. But there is also the approach of taking a look at what he didn’t get done. That is actually something the President himself addressed last month in an interview with Steve Inskeep.

I’ve been frustrated by some things that I did not complete, that I couldn’t wrap and mail and ship before I got out of here. Immigration reform being a good example. Getting infrastructure done, you know, we got $2 trillion worth of infrastructure. If we got working on that now, we’d be growing a lot faster, the unemployment rate would be even lower, wages would be higher.
So there are things that we haven’t gotten done. Obviously, there are — there areas internationally where I’ve been enormously frustrated. You look at Syria being the most prominent example, where you’ve got a heartbreaking situation and not a lot of good choices.​

​

It is interesting to compare that to what Eric Alterman wrote about “The Hole in Obama’s Legacy.” He starts out by describing a small dinner he was invited to attend back in 2005 with then-Senator Barack Obama.

He talked about campaign stops that he made in former factory towns and manufacturing centers across Illinois. These were places that, until recently, had kept generations of working-class men gainfully employed. He worried that he had nothing to say to them that would be both honest and hopeful. He had gathered us, he explained, to find out if the members of the progressive community had some good ideas to help these people that he might be able to champion as senator.​

​

Here is how Alterman judges Obama’s legacy on that issue:

And yet Obama never even came close to solving the problem he raised at that dinner: What to say to the white working-class people whose way of life was being destroyed by the vagaries of global capitalism coupled with a political system that responded first and foremost to the wealthy? This, too, is part of his legacy. And it has helped to give rise to a billionaire demagogue, who has answered Obama’s question with a combination of racism, xenophobia, false promises, and threats of violent reprisals.
Most progressives I know would say that Obama barely even tried to fix the problem he raised that night.​

​

There is a big “tell” right in the beginning of that analysis. Did you catch it? Alderman focuses exclusively on the white working class. As Jamelle Bouie documented so clearly, that excludes a growing portion of that economic group.

In the collective mind’s eye of political pundits and observers, the “working class” is what it was a generation ago: largely white and mostly male, with a heavy presence in trades and factories. There are still Americans who fit this description. But they’re also a shrinking portion of the working class, and the attention they receive perennially from political observers—many of whom see them as the pivot around which American politics turns—is entirely out of proportion to their declining numbers…
People of color make up more than a third of America’s labor force, and they’re a large and growing plurality of working-class people in particular. As of this year, 23.5 percent of working people are Hispanic; 15 percent are black; and 3.5 percent are Asian American. That’s a total of 42 percent.​

​

Even so, as we all know, Alterman is right that Donald Trump is primarily appealing to the white (male) working class. The question then becomes: is it President Obama’s silence on their plight that is fueling the rise of the billionaire demagogue? That is a question that keeps coming up during this election cycle. Perhaps it would be helpful to take a look at what this President has said/done/not done on this issue.
To begin, I’d agree with this statement from Alterman: “Obama never even came close to solving the problem he raised at that dinner.” That is a big reason why the President said that one of his big frustrations was the inability to get infrastructure done. Spending on that is one of the key components to addressing the challenges that are facing working class Americans.
But I would propose that President Obama had a lot to say over these eight years to working class Americans. Let’s start with his speech in Osawatomie, Kansas back in 2011:

But, Osawatomie, this is not just another political debate. This is the defining issue of our time. This is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and for all those who are fighting to get into the middle class. Because what’s at stake is whether this will be a country where working people can earn enough to raise a family, build a modest savings, own a home, secure their retirement.​

​

Or how about what he said at an Associated Press luncheon in 2012?

This is not just another run-of-the-mill political debate. I’ve said it’s the defining issue of our time, and I believe it. It’s why I ran in 2008. It’s what my presidency has been about. It’s why I’m running again. I believe this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class, and I can’t remember a time when the choice between competing visions of our future has been so unambiguously clear.​

​

Then there was a speech he gave later that year on economic mobility.

I believe this is the defining challenge of our time: Making sure our economy works for every working American. It’s why I ran for President. It was at the center of last year’s campaign. It drives everything I do in this office.​

​

Those are just a few examples of the many times he made that point. Do you suppose that if white working Americans didn’t hear him address their issues, perhaps they had a problem with the messenger rather than the message?
An appropriate retort right now would be to say, “Yeah, but what did he actually DO about it? Talk is cheap.”
It is important to note that almost every domestic accomplishment of this President has had an impact on working class Americans. That goes for everything from his stimulus packages to break us out of the Great Recession to the bailout of the auto industry to changing rules about overtime pay to ensuring access to affordable health care and college loans.
But I was reminded of the proposals that Republicans successfully blocked – the most significant being the American Jobs Act back in 2011. Because it was so completely ignored by Republicans back when this country was still climbing out of the Great Recession, too many people have completely forgotten about it. Perhaps you’ll suggest that the President didn’t do enough to rally the country in support of his plan. But that ignores the fact that he convened a joint session of Congress to discuss it and then talked about it in numerous weekly addresses, in press conferences and on the campaign trail.
We can discuss whether or not President Obama should be held accountable for the fact that Republicans were successful in obstructing his proposals to address the challenges facing working class Americans (we can add universal pre-K and free community college to the list), although that begins to take on a form of Green Lanternism when it comes to the role of POTUS in our divided government. But for Alterman to discuss the lack of progress without even mentioning the obstruction he faced is to buy into the Republican frame in a dangerous way.​

 

[AntonToo]

No doubt Republican tax-cutting-while-increasing-spending has been really bad for budgets, but the OP's graph is nonsense.

This is a much better representation (incomplete but 2014-2016 deficit is decreased to 2%):

But most serious standard is direct policy contribution analysis:

 

[Windship]

Jesus, would you idiot look at who had control of fucking Congress and not the damn figurehead in the White House.

Yeah and he's the "figurehead" that signed nnDD2013 without congress' approval.

 

[320 Years of History]

I was reminded of the proposals that Republicans successfully blocked – the most significant being the American Jobs Act back in 2011.

How Congress had the nerve to block that bill and then get away with it I will never know. What did that bill include?

New Tax Cuts to Businesses to Support Hiring and Investment:The President is proposing three tax cuts to provide immediate incentives to hire and invest:

• Cutting the Payroll Tax Cut in Half for the First $5 Million in Wages:This provision would cut the payroll tax in half to 3.1% for employers on the first $5 million in wages, providing broad tax relief to all businesses but targeting it to the 98 percent of firms with wages below this level.
• Temporarily Eliminating Employer Payroll Taxes on Wages for New Workers or Raises for Existing Workers:The President is proposing a full holiday on the 6.2% payroll tax firms pay for any growth in their payroll up to $50 million above the prior year, whether driven by new hires, increased wages or both. This is the kind of job creation measure that CBO has called the most effective of all tax cuts in supporting employment.
• Extending 100% Expensing into 2012:The President is proposing to extend 100 percent expensing, the largest temporary investment incentive in history, allowing all firms – large and small – to take an immediate deduction on investments in new plants and equipment.
• Helping Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses Access Capital and Grow: The President’s plan includes administrative, regulatory and legislative measures – including those developed and recommended by the President’s Jobs Council – to help small firms start and expand. This includes changing the way the government does business with small firms. The Administration will soon announce a plan to accelerate government payments to small contractors to help put money in their hands faster. The President is also charging his CIO and CTO to, within 90 days, stand up a one-stop, online portal for small businesses to easily access government services. As part of the President’s Startup America initiative, the Administration will work with the SEC to conduct a comprehensive review of securities regulations from the perspective of these small companies to reduce the regulatory burdens on small business capital formation in ways that are consistent with investor protection, including expanding “crowdfunding” opportunities and increasing mini-offerings. Finally, the President’s plan calls for Congress to pass comprehensive patent reform, increase guarantees for bonds to help small businesses compete for infrastructure projects and remove burdensome withholding requirements that keep capital out of the hands of job creators

. Tax Relief for Every American Worker and Family

• Cutting payroll taxes in half for 160 million workers next year: The President’s plan will expand the payroll tax cut passed last year to cut workers payroll taxes in half in 2012 – providing a $1,500 tax cut to the typical American family, without negatively impacting the Social Security Trust Fund.
• Allowing more Americans to refinance their mortgages at today’s near 4 percent interest rates, which can put more than $2,000 a year in a family’s pocket.

Fully Paid for as Part of the President’s Long-Term Deficit Reduction Plan.

• To ensure that the American Jobs Act is fully paid for, the President will call on the Joint Committee to come up with additional deficit reduction necessary to pay for the Act and still meet its deficit target. The President will, in the coming days, release a detailed plan that will show how we can do that while achieving the additional deficit reduction necessary to meet the President’s broader goal of stabilizing our debt as a share of the economy.

There's more. You can click on the link and see for yourself. I just want to know why Republicans were so opposed to Obama's proposal that they were willing to deny tax cuts when there's not been a Republican in 40 years who hasn't wanted tax cuts more than they wanted their big toe.

 

[320 Years of History]

No doubt Republican tax-cutting-while-increasing-spending has been really bad for budgets, but the OP's graph is nonsense.

This is a much better representation (incomplete but 2014-2016 deficit is decreased to 2%):

What are you talking about. All you've shown is that different graphs depict different information and that you can find a graph that makes Mr. Obama look bad and the OP can find one that makes him look good. Yeah, that's helpful....NOT!

I'm not ragging on your graph or the OP's. I'm just saying that they depict different metrics and the value of each is useful for different types of analysis and drawing different types of conclusions/inferences. Those different analysis are all relevant and useful, but their specific relevance depends on what one is talking about. One is not better than the other; they are just different.


Your graph:

The OP's Graph:

 

[Onyx]

The level of debt is inconsequential for the ruling class as long as the AAA credit rating is sustained.

All that matters is that government revenue influx can pay off old debts, and that the tax base will continue to increase so they can take out more debt.

 

[PredFan]

Congress controls the purse strings, the POTUS does not.

The answer to our debt is NOT stealing more money from the taxpayers.

 

[AntonToo]

No doubt Republican tax-cutting-while-increasing-spending has been really bad for budgets, but the OP's graph is nonsense.

This is a much better representation (incomplete but 2014-2016 deficit is decreased to 2%):

What are you talking about. All you've shown is that different graphs depict different information and that you can find a graph that makes Mr. Obama look bad and the OP can find one that makes him look good. Yeah, that's helpful....NOT!

What are you talking about? OP's graph makes Obama look HORRIBLE by using ridiculous standard that any deficit that occurs the moment you step into White House is of your making. According to it Obama racked up 35% debt increase in JUST TWO YEARS.

Deficit progression shows the change is deficits when Republicans and Democrats get into office - it goes up with Republicans, down with Democrats.

 

[Onyx]

Congress controls the purse strings, the POTUS does not.

The answer to our debt is NOT stealing more money from the taxpayers.

The answer to the debt is to destroy the United States of America.

We are submitting to mass robbery to serve the special interests of the ruling class. Why should we continue? In the name of patriotism?

 

[Rustic]

..............................................Total U S Debt................................................

Figures Easily Verified....Taken From the Bureau of the Debt

US: $18,775,084,981,440 - Debt as of December 2015?

09/30/2014 $17,824,071,380,733.82

09/30/2013 $16,738,183,526,697.32

09/30/2012 $16,066,241,407,385.89

09/30/2011 $14,790,340,328,557.15

09/30/2010 $13,561,623,030,891.79

09/30/2009 $11,909,829,003,511.75(80% Of All Debt Across 232 Years Borrowed By Reagan And Bushes)

09/30/2008 $10,024,724,896,912.49(Times Square Debt Clock Modified To Accommodate Tens of Trillions)

09/30/2007 $9,007,653,372,262.48

09/30/2006 $8,506,973,899,215.23

09/30/2005 $7,932,709,661,723.50

09/30/2004 $7,379,052,696,330.32

09/30/2003 $6,783,231,062,743.62(Second Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2002 $6,228,235,965,597.16

09/30/2001 $5,807,463,412,200.06(First Bush Tax Cuts Enacted Using Reconciliation)

09/30/2000 $5,674,178,209,886.86(Administration And Congress Arguing About How To Use Surplus)

09/30/1999 $5,656,270,901,615.43(First Surplus Generated...On Track To Pay Off Debt By 2012)

09/30/1998 $5,526,193,008,897.62

09/30/1997 $5,413,146,011,397.34

09/30/1996 $5,224,810,939,135.73

09/29/1995 $4,973,982,900,709.39

09/30/1994 $4,692,749,910,013.32 (Bill Clinton Raised Taxes On The Rich early 1993)

09/30/1993 $4,411,488,883,139.38 ( Debt Quadrupled By Reagan/Bush41)

09/30/1992 $4,064,620,655,521.66

09/30/1991 $3,665,303,351,697.03

09/28/1990 $3,233,313,451,777.25

09/29/1989 $2,857,430,960,187.32

09/30/1988 $2,602,337,712,041.16

09/30/1987 $2,350,276,890,953.00

09/30/1986 $2,125,302,616,658.42

09/30/1985 $1,823,103,000,000.00

09/30/1984 $1,572,266,000,000.00

09/30/1983 $1,377,210,000,000.00

09/30/1982 $1,142,034,000,000.00(Total Debt Passes $1 Trillion)(Reagan Slashed Tax Rates To Pre Depression Levels)

09/30/1981 $997,855,000,000.00

Dip shit, jacking up the taxes does not help shit it just hurts the people. Income tax is in constitutional... lol

 

[PredFan]

Congress controls the purse strings, the POTUS does not.

The answer to our debt is NOT stealing more money from the taxpayers.

The answer to the debt is to destroy the United States of America.

We are submitting to mass robbery to serve the special interests of the ruling class. Why should we continue? In the name of patriotism?

The destruction of the US of A has been happening since 2009.

 

[nat4900]

Jesus, would you idiot look at who had control of fucking Congress and not the damn figurehead in the White House.

WOW, a scathing REBUKE of republicans in congress for the last 6 years...Thanks!!

 

[Scorpion]

Jesus, would you idiot look at who had control of fucking Congress and not the damn figurehead in the White House.

WOW, a scathing REBUKE of republicans in congress for the last 6 years...Thanks!!

The House controls the purse strings dumbass.

 

[Rustic]

No doubt Republican tax-cutting-while-increasing-spending has been really bad for budgets, but the OP's graph is nonsense.

This is a much better representation (incomplete but 2014-2016 deficit is decreased to 2%):

But most serious standard is direct policy contribution analysis:

Fuck face, think of cut taxes as fairy dust - they were never the governments to begin with.
We are an overly taxed society, there should not be an income tax, there should not be property tax, and certainly no death tax… Socialism has never worked long term in the history of the world. Fact