Killing the 1% Golden Goose

[American_Jihad]

I think he favors Benito Mussolini...

Killing the 1% Golden Goose​

January 14, 2014 by Daniel Greenfield

Two years before Occupy Wall Street’s band of radical grad students set up their tents and cardboard signs in Zuccotti Park, Mayor Bloomberg warned the City Council against frivolous tax hikes. “One percent of the households that file in this city pay something like 50% of the taxes. In the city, that’s something like 40,000 people. If a handful left, any raise would make it revenue neutral.”

And then the 1 percent became the target of the left’s answer to the Tea Party. It wasn’t unusual to see bus riders wearing “We Are the 99%” buttons the way they had once carried I Heart New York bags.

New York City now has a radical leftist in Gracie Mansion, Bill de Blasio, a radical leftist City Council speaker, Melissa Mark-Viverito, and a radical leftist public advocate, Letitia James. The city is now run by the Working Families Party/ACORN and tax hikes will be used to finance generous payoffs to unions.

But the unions who rigged this election may never see those payoffs. New York City’s unfunded pensions are estimated as being as high as $136 billion. The crash may only be four years away.

...

Drive away the rich, destroy the middle class and all you’re left with is Detroit. 8 million New Yorkers depend on 40,000 millionaires and billionaires. The same California voters who supported Proposition 30 depend on the taxes of the very people they are taxing into leaving.

Wealth is not a crime and it is not redistributable. Money can be taken and put into a common pot, but the ability to perpetuate it through wealth cannot. That is a skill like any other and the practitioners of that skill are the only reason that the Jerry Browns and the Bill de Blasios have any money to play with.

The only thing separating Bill de Blasio from Detroit’s former mayor Dave Bing are those 40,000 of the 1 percent and if he kills the golden goose, the only egg will be on his face.

Killing the 1% Golden Goose | FrontPage Magazine

 

[ScienceRocks]

Killing the middle class will kill this nation through destroying buying power of the population. This will destroy the cycle of capitalism.


Who has the buying power within india, china or most of the world??? The middle class. How do you make a middle class you ask??? By educated the lower class and making sure the upper class at the top pays people right.

What you want is a unregulated shithole with two classes and the innovators won't be able to do anything without a middle class that wants their product.

 

[Londoner]

Most of the 1% in NYC make their money in capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than middle class wage earners. Ayn Rand propaganda about losing the producers made sense in the 40s, but today we live in a world where the Koch brothers, just two men, can afford to fund entire election cycles... and one hedge fund manager makes more money than all the teachers in NYC combined. Our problem is that we have a distribution system where all the money is stuck on top - indeed, our suppliers are sitting on unprecedented levels of cash - but they can't invest it in the real economy because people on the bottom don't have enough money to buy what is produced - so, as a result, our producers have to manufacture asset bubbles in order to reinvest their surplus into "growth vehicles". This is why so much of the Bush tax cuts flooded into Housing and its ponzi securities and derivatives.

Rather than merely taking care of the suppliers (as we have since 1980), we need to incentivize demand as well - we need consumers who make enough money to buy what they capitalist produces.

Giving the wealthy additional tax incentives (more money) won't change the fact that neoliberalism, globalization and the politics of austerity have driven down wages to the point where workers cannot buy what they produce in sufficient volume to warrant an increase in production. Until the consumer is whole again, it will be more profitable for corporations to sit on cash.

Our largest employer, Walmart, doesn't pay workers enough in wages and benefits to buy stuff. They can barely survive. Henry Ford, one of our greatest capitalists, believed that workers needed to make enough money to buy what they produce. In 1980, with the election of Reagan, we decided to ignore that logic. We drove down wages in order to lower the cost of production so as to incentivize investment, and we expanded credit to the non-wealthy, who have spent the last 30 years going deeper and deeper into debt. This credit orgy gave us a temporary boom, but consumer debt levels have finally come home to roost.

 

[JoeB131]

I am always amused how conservatives vilify unions.

Let's be honest what happened here. Once upon a time, the private sector had good wages because of unionization or the threat of unionization. The Wealthy paid a healthy share of the taxes, as they should. There were tariffs in place that protected our industries (vital to our national defense and economy) from unfair foreign competition. You had a vibrant middle class, Mom could stay home with the kids while Dad worked, people could enjoy vacations.

Then these idiots went along with the Plutocrat's oky-dokes.

"Give up your unions, and your right to collectively bargain. We’ll recognize you for your hard work and merit. We’ll use nice sounding terms like ‘right to work’ and ‘At Will employment’ to describe this."

"Dooooooy, Oky-doke!" said the middle class.

So they find themselves working harder for less money, and eventually get put out on the street at 50 because the company can always find someone younger who'll work cheaper.

“Give up your Union Medical Plans, and go with these company Medical Plans instead!”

“Dooooy, Oky-doke”

They find themselves paying more every year for plans that cover less and less. HMO stands for Horrible Medical Options. And if they got too sick, they found they were usually the first to be let go during a downsizing.

"Give up your pensions, we'll let you get in on the Wall Street fun with something called a 401K. Then you can borrow against the value of a home you already paid off! Trust us!"

"Dooooy, Oky-Doke"

Now they find themselves with a busted 401K, an underwater mortgage in foreclosure AND no hope of ever actually retiring. Meanwhile the fat cats on Wall Street and the banks got a government bailout they paid for, and paid themselves bonuses out of it.

"Hey, hey, you know, we can get more business opportunities if we sign this free trade bill with third world rat-holes that don't have the safety, environmental and work rules we have."

"Doooooy, Oky-Doke"

And they act all surprise when the manufacturing jobs go to China, and the Customer Service jobs go to India, and when their POS Chinese made computer breaks down, they can call to Pradip… er, “Bobby” about how to fix it, but he doesn't understand English.

"Hey, let's give tax cuts to rich people!"

"Doooy, Oky-Doke!"

Oh, that means we increase taxes on working people. SUCKERS!!!

And of course, if someone might actually figure out that they’ve been had, we can distract them by talking about gay marriage, abortion, guns or some other issue that gets their blood boiling for no good reason.

The ironic thing is that the GOP has engaged in this obscene transfer of wealth, but instead of being angry at the people who perpetrated it, we are angry at the people in the unions who DIDN'T FALL FOR IT.

In short, someone burns down your house, and instead of wanting to punish the arsonist, you want them to burn down your neighbor's house instead.

"DOOOOOY, Oky-doke"

 

[hazlnut]

Most of the 1% in NYC make their money in capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than middle class wage earners. Ayn Rand propaganda about losing the producers made sense in the 40s, but today we live in a world where the Koch brothers, just two men, can afford to fund entire election cycles... and one hedge fund manager makes more money than all the teachers in NYC combined. Our problem is that we have a distribution system where all the money is stuck on top - indeed, our suppliers are sitting on unprecedented levels of cash - but they can't invest it in the real economy because people on the bottom don't have enough money to buy what is produced - so, as a result, our producers have to manufacture asset bubbles in order to reinvest their surplus into "growth vehicles". This is why so much of the Bush tax cuts flooded into Housing and its ponzi securities and derivatives.

Rather than merely taking care of the suppliers (as we have since 1980), we need to incentivize demand as well - we need consumers who make enough money to buy what they capitalist produces.

Giving the wealthy additional tax incentives (more money) won't change the fact that neoliberalism, globalization and the politics of austerity have driven down wages to the point where workers cannot buy what they produce in sufficient volume to warrant an increase in production. Until the consumer is whole again, it will be more profitable for corporations to sit on cash.

Our largest employer, Walmart, doesn't pay workers enough in wages and benefits to buy stuff. They can barely survive. Henry Ford, one of our greatest capitalists, believed that workers needed to make enough money to buy what they produce. In 1980, with the election of Reagan, we decided to ignore that logic. We drove down wages in order to lower the cost of production so as to incentivize investment, and we expanded credit to the non-wealthy, who have spent the last 30 years going deeper and deeper into debt. This credit orgy gave us a temporary boom, but consumer debt levels have finally come home to roost.

Brilliant post!!

The extremists on these boards read these ridiculous articles and then think they have gained some knowledge and understanding of complicated issues.

thank you for getting the facts out there so succinctly.

 

[ClosedCaption]

Most of the 1% in NYC make their money in capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than middle class wage earners. Ayn Rand propaganda about losing the producers made sense in the 40s, but today we live in a world where the Koch brothers, just two men, can afford to fund entire election cycles... and one hedge fund manager makes more money than all the teachers in NYC combined. Our problem is that we have a distribution system where all the money is stuck on top - indeed, our suppliers are sitting on unprecedented levels of cash - but they can't invest it in the real economy because people on the bottom don't have enough money to buy what is produced - so, as a result, our producers have to manufacture asset bubbles in order to reinvest their surplus into "growth vehicles". This is why so much of the Bush tax cuts flooded into Housing and its ponzi securities and derivatives.

Rather than merely taking care of the suppliers (as we have since 1980), we need to incentivize demand as well - we need consumers who make enough money to buy what they capitalist produces.

Giving the wealthy additional tax incentives (more money) won't change the fact that neoliberalism, globalization and the politics of austerity have driven down wages to the point where workers cannot buy what they produce in sufficient volume to warrant an increase in production. Until the consumer is whole again, it will be more profitable for corporations to sit on cash.

Our largest employer, Walmart, doesn't pay workers enough in wages and benefits to buy stuff. They can barely survive. Henry Ford, one of our greatest capitalists, believed that workers needed to make enough money to buy what they produce. In 1980, with the election of Reagan, we decided to ignore that logic. We drove down wages in order to lower the cost of production so as to incentivize investment, and we expanded credit to the non-wealthy, who have spent the last 30 years going deeper and deeper into debt. This credit orgy gave us a temporary boom, but consumer debt levels have finally come home to roost.

I'm expecting a response like: STFU dumbass dummy

Or some other intellectual shit like that. Great post

 

[bendog]

It's a great post, but when Krugman wrote concience of liberal, his exact premise was using progressive taxes to allow all workers to access healthcare, which is the same thing as a pay raise for those not covered. Both parties have mucked it up. The gop (controlled by the Kochs) must RINO out anyone (like Tom Coburn) who would suggest tax credit and govt sponsored high risk markets. And the dems did it on the backs of younger workers.

 

[blastoff]

Yeah, I'm a Union Guy alright. And the only thing that really worries me these days are all those billions of dollars of unfunded union pensions all over the place. Like the various unionized city workers across the country depending on the billions of retirement dollars they're due that don't/won't exist.

Gee, how could all those different cities' politicans all manage to screw their fundings up in remarkably similar fashions with virtually the exact same results...mountains of billions of dollars of hopeless debt owed to millions of folks who supported them with their votes for years, decades even.

Well the one thing nice about being a low info dope is they don't let this sort of stuff bother them. That's for the rich folks to take care of.

So maybe you want to find out who makes KY and buy. And perhaps some of their product too.

 

[ClosedCaption]

I am always amused how conservatives vilify unions.

Let's be honest what happened here. Once upon a time, the private sector had good wages because of unionization or the threat of unionization. The Wealthy paid a healthy share of the taxes, as they should. There were tariffs in place that protected our industries (vital to our national defense and economy) from unfair foreign competition. You had a vibrant middle class, Mom could stay home with the kids while Dad worked, people could enjoy vacations.

Then these idiots went along with the Plutocrat's oky-dokes.

"Give up your unions, and your right to collectively bargain. We’ll recognize you for your hard work and merit. We’ll use nice sounding terms like ‘right to work’ and ‘At Will employment’ to describe this."

"Dooooooy, Oky-doke!" said the middle class.

So they find themselves working harder for less money, and eventually get put out on the street at 50 because the company can always find someone younger who'll work cheaper.

“Give up your Union Medical Plans, and go with these company Medical Plans instead!”

“Dooooy, Oky-doke”

They find themselves paying more every year for plans that cover less and less. HMO stands for Horrible Medical Options. And if they got too sick, they found they were usually the first to be let go during a downsizing.

"Give up your pensions, we'll let you get in on the Wall Street fun with something called a 401K. Then you can borrow against the value of a home you already paid off! Trust us!"

"Dooooy, Oky-Doke"

Now they find themselves with a busted 401K, an underwater mortgage in foreclosure AND no hope of ever actually retiring. Meanwhile the fat cats on Wall Street and the banks got a government bailout they paid for, and paid themselves bonuses out of it.

"Hey, hey, you know, we can get more business opportunities if we sign this free trade bill with third world rat-holes that don't have the safety, environmental and work rules we have."

"Doooooy, Oky-Doke"

And they act all surprise when the manufacturing jobs go to China, and the Customer Service jobs go to India, and when their POS Chinese made computer breaks down, they can call to Pradip… er, “Bobby” about how to fix it, but he doesn't understand English.

"Hey, let's give tax cuts to rich people!"

"Doooy, Oky-Doke!"

Oh, that means we increase taxes on working people. SUCKERS!!!

And of course, if someone might actually figure out that they’ve been had, we can distract them by talking about gay marriage, abortion, guns or some other issue that gets their blood boiling for no good reason.

The ironic thing is that the GOP has engaged in this obscene transfer of wealth, but instead of being angry at the people who perpetrated it, we are angry at the people in the unions who DIDN'T FALL FOR IT.

In short, someone burns down your house, and instead of wanting to punish the arsonist, you want them to burn down your neighbor's house instead.

"DOOOOOY, Oky-doke"

Race to the bottom. They look at teachers and instead of asking why their own work conditions are underpaid, over worked, no protections they reverse it and want everyone to be at the mercy of the CEO's and urge no protections are needed.

Why? .....because! Thats why!

 

[HenryBHough]

Detroit:

The experimental laboratory established to find a vaccine for preventing economic desolation in New York City.

 

[bendog]

might not the reagan bailout of NYC be the experiment for preventing the econ desolation of detroit? jus sayin

 

[Bombur]

The Golden Goose is the middle class and the upper middle class. 1% is an arbitrary number for the most part but the major reason the US can have so much wealth isn't because of the people who own that wealth but the people who produce above and beyond their compensation.

 

[Vox]

well, the 70& or so which voted him in are clearly the brainwashed idiots which think goodies materialize just from thin air.

 

[Vox]

The Golden Goose is the middle class and the upper middle class. 1% is an arbitrary number for the most part but the major reason the US can have so much wealth isn't because of the people who own that wealth but the people who produce above and beyond their compensation.

true, but more and more are scratching their heads and thinking - why do I need to do this - for WHAT? so the bum in the next neighborhood can do nothing for all his/her life?

 

[HenryBHough]

true, but more and more are scratching their heads and thinking - why do I need to do this - for WHAT? so the bum in the next neighborhood can do nothing for all his/her life?

But not yet enough to make a difference. Well, except that ObamaTax mandates have caused a lot of expansion plans to be shelved and hours of operation of stuff like restaurants scaled back. Things like gas stations and dry cleaners (just two examples) to start closing on weekends so staff can be reduced. The trick is to know whether cutting hours will reduce sales or whether the customers will just bend their schedule. The equation does not yield the same results for all.

Not yet.

 

[Vox]

Most of the 1% in NYC make their money in capital gains, which is taxed at a lower rate than middle class wage earners. Ayn Rand propaganda about losing the producers made sense in the 40s, but today we live in a world where the Koch brothers, just two men, can afford to fund entire election cycles... and one hedge fund manager makes more money than all the teachers in NYC combined. Our problem is that we have a distribution system where all the money is stuck on top - indeed, our suppliers are sitting on unprecedented levels of cash - but they can't invest it in the real economy because people on the bottom don't have enough money to buy what is produced - so, as a result, our producers have to manufacture asset bubbles in order to reinvest their surplus into "growth vehicles". This is why so much of the Bush tax cuts flooded into Housing and its ponzi securities and derivatives.

Rather than merely taking care of the suppliers (as we have since 1980), we need to incentivize demand as well - we need consumers who make enough money to buy what they capitalist produces.

Giving the wealthy additional tax incentives (more money) won't change the fact that neoliberalism, globalization and the politics of austerity have driven down wages to the point where workers cannot buy what they produce in sufficient volume to warrant an increase in production. Until the consumer is whole again, it will be more profitable for corporations to sit on cash.

Our largest employer, Walmart, doesn't pay workers enough in wages and benefits to buy stuff. They can barely survive. Henry Ford, one of our greatest capitalists, believed that workers needed to make enough money to buy what they produce. In 1980, with the election of Reagan, we decided to ignore that logic. We drove down wages in order to lower the cost of production so as to incentivize investment, and we expanded credit to the non-wealthy, who have spent the last 30 years going deeper and deeper into debt. This credit orgy gave us a temporary boom, but consumer debt levels have finally come home to roost.

the example of the leftard redistribution paranoia and keynesian coma

 

[Vox]

true, but more and more are scratching their heads and thinking - why do I need to do this - for WHAT? so the bum in the next neighborhood can do nothing for all his/her life?

But not yet enough to make a difference. Well, except that ObamaTax mandates have caused a lot of expansion plans to be shelved and hours of operation of stuff like restaurants scaled back. Things like gas stations and dry cleaners (just two examples) to start closing on weekends so staff can be reduced. The trick is to know whether cutting hours will reduce sales or whether the customers will just bend their schedule. The equation does not yield the same results for all.

Not yet.

agree. The scales are almost tipped but not yet fully.

But it is getting very close.

and looking at those idiots with their scream of more taxes for "evil rich" "fair share" one does not think anything sane is nowhere near.


the redistribution idiots think that the golden goose is really a goose

 

[Bombur]

The Golden Goose is the middle class and the upper middle class. 1% is an arbitrary number for the most part but the major reason the US can have so much wealth isn't because of the people who own that wealth but the people who produce above and beyond their compensation.

true, but more and more are scratching their heads and thinking - why do I need to do this - for WHAT? so the bum in the next neighborhood can do nothing for all his/her life?

There is no doubt that a lot of people are fed a myth about how easy and great it is to live off the government dime. It is understandable because the middle class is being squeezed and the lower class is simply unable to find work and live in neighborhoods that are imploding. It is pretty easy to pit the middle class against the lower class while feeding them bad economics about personal responsibility and the evils of government.

Government most certainly screws up but not in the way most people think.

 

[Vox]

Killing the middle class will kill this nation through destroying buying power of the population. This will destroy the cycle of capitalism.


Who has the buying power within india, china or most of the world??? The middle class. How do you make a middle class you ask??? By educated the lower class and making sure the upper class at the top pays people right.

What you want is a unregulated shithole with two classes and the innovators won't be able to do anything without a middle class that wants their product.

no, it is your masters on the left which want that. A typical fascist society.

but you are too ignorant to realize that.

 

[Vox]

The Golden Goose is the middle class and the upper middle class. 1% is an arbitrary number for the most part but the major reason the US can have so much wealth isn't because of the people who own that wealth but the people who produce above and beyond their compensation.

true, but more and more are scratching their heads and thinking - why do I need to do this - for WHAT? so the bum in the next neighborhood can do nothing for all his/her life?

There is no doubt that a lot of people are fed a myth about how easy and great it is to live off the government dime. It is understandable because the middle class is being squeezed and the lower class is simply unable to find work and live in neighborhoods that are imploding. It is pretty easy to pit the middle class against the lower class while feeding them bad economics about personal responsibility and the evils of government.

Government most certainly screws up but not in the way most people think.

It is easy. It is not vacationing in Rome, but if one actually wants to - one can accommodate that as well.

In 8 states the amount of welfare paid is higher than teacher's salary.

Just this alone should be pretty telling.

And, contrary to the popular myth, the vast majority of those on the government dole are not doing nothing.
They are working - for cash only.

The problem of the shadow economy - that is what is actually looming behind the government on steroids.