So, when are my taxes going up?

[theeedude]

Did they have a super majority like Obama and crew?

They had the majority they needed to pass the bill they wanted.

 

[JTsyo]

I don't think we're ever see a drastic cut in services until things get real bad. Best we can hope for is to hold spending at this level and hope economic recovery balances the other side of the sheet.

 

[hal2kilo]

Who is building those shopping centers and high schools?

Glad you asked. The shopping centers probably from some huge conglomerate real estate hedge fund. The funding to build those high schools is from the tax payer consisting mostly highly paid two income government employees or privately employed government contracted people supporting government departments or IT infrastructure.

Who is building all those computers?

Nobody in this country. Where have you been?

 

[Mursilis]

There will always be people who can work hard with there hands but not with there minds.

In a way, I envy those people; humans weren't meant to sit in little cubes 8-10 hours a day, staring at PCs under artificial light. Some of the best jobs I've had involved working with my hands - bike mechanic, facilities maintenance, lawn care, food service, etc. Sure, they were hard, but I liked that part - moving around, getting the blood flowing, being out-of-doors was the best. But unfortunately, it doesn't take much talent or skill to push a mower, paint a railing, or empty a trash barrel, so of course the wages weren't the best. And that's why I work with my mind now, making 5x as much. You're only worth as much as the rareness of your skill set. If being a bike mechanic paid what being a lawyer pays, I'd be out the door in a hot minute.

 

[rudder]

I'm visiting with my brother in the richest county in the US for the third year in a row(Loudon County, Va) No signs of recession here. Still buldling shopping centers, 2 new high schools opening. Guy next store is a hedge fund algorithm designer with a basement full of computers. I think we could aford to skim a little off the top.

It's actually quite discusting. If people only knew how the other 2 per centers live.

Yeh... what is in close proximity to Loudon county? There is no recession anywhere near Washington D.C.

 

[Mursilis]

Yeh... what is in close proximity to Loudon county? There is no recession anywhere near Washington D.C.

Yes and no. Housing values have still fallen (moreso in the outer 'burbs), and unemployment has still risen, but the crash has been softened considerably by the fact that such a large percentage of the workforce is employed by the feds (as feds or as contractors), and there's been no reduction in the federal workforce or in federal spending. It's quite an insulating effect.

 

[hal2kilo]

In a way, I envy those people; humans weren't meant to sit in little cubes 8-10 hours a day, staring at PCs under artificial light. Some of the best jobs I've had involved working with my hands - bike mechanic, facilities maintenance, lawn care, food service, etc. Sure, they were hard, but I liked that part - moving around, getting the blood flowing, being out-of-doors was the best. But unfortunately, it doesn't take much talent or skill to push a mower, paint a railing, or empty a trash barrel, so of course the wages weren't the best. And that's why I work with my mind now, making 5x as much. You're only worth as much as the rareness of your skill set. If being a bike mechanic paid what being a lawyer pays, I'd be out the door in a hot minute.

I long to go back to being a bench tech, but that don't pay the bills. Start the day with a pile of broken things, at the end of the day, you know you actually accomplished something that does somebody some good when that pile moves over to the fixed pile.

Now I write reports about things that got fixed or the status of things that aren't fixed yet keep track of hours, figure out the monthly petty cash and get to throw my 2 minutes of 2 cents in out of a two hour teleconference. It's very nebulus as to what I'm actually accomplishing. But, I'm getting close to the 6 figure club. At one point, I thought that if I made what my age was in k's I'd be doing good.

 

[Darwin333]

Dramatic much? What's Greece got going for it in regards to the global economy. Tourism, olive oil, and maybe wine?

As bad as things are, this country has amazing resources. If things go to shit, it will be worse everywhere else.

I am not saying it will be some sort of mad max scenario, I am just pointing out the obvious. What happens after, I don't know.

As I keep saying though, the math eventually wins.

 

[hal2kilo]

I am not saying it will be some sort of mad max scenario, I am just pointing out the obvious. What happens after, I don't know.

As I keep saying though, the math eventually wins.

We should just have a world Jubilee. That won't go down well with the wealthiest of the wealthy though cause they will finally loose and they don't like that.

And in case anyone thinks I'm a hopeless socialist, why have I had CNBC on all day.

Good week for a change.

 

[Darwin333]

Bullshit. There is not one iota of evidence that economic growth is tied to lower taxes. We had massive amounts of growth from the late 40s through the 90s and taxes were far higher than they are now.

Could you elaborate on "far higher" in terms of revenue?

 

[Fear No Evil]

They had the majority they needed to pass the bill they wanted.

I seriously doubt that was the case.. especially given the use of the filibuster.

 

[Darwin333]

They had the majority they needed to pass the bill they wanted.

Can I quote you on that concerning the performance of the Dems over the last few years?

 

[JEDIYoda]

The reality of the matter is there will NEVER be a balanced budget without a substantial tax increase!!!

 

[hal2kilo]

The reality of the matter is there will NEVER be a balanced budget without a substantial tax increase!!!

Sacrilege!

Tax cuts increase revenues. Everybody knows this.

 

[Ns1]

Retort:

"the top 10 percent of earners account for 22 percent of all spending, for instance, according to Moody's Economy.com. The top 25 percent of all earners account for 45 percent of spending. The bottom 50 percent of earners, by contrast, spend just 29 percent of all the money in the consumer economy."

 

[Jhhnn]

I love the sound of a nice round of doublespeak, which is what repubs are doing.

They went to war and cut taxes to pay for it, and now they rave on about the deficits, and want to cut taxes to pay for that, too.

It worked well in the past, right? It got them re-elected, and that's all that really matters, obviously...

Yeh, yeh, yeh- now it's time to hear the usual song and dance about balancing the budget on the basis of cuts alone, which is pure unadulterated hogwash. If we wanted unemployment to skyrocket, that'd be a good way to accomplish it...

The whole Bush "recovery" was a chimera, except for the uber-class, paid for by looting the real estate market, chaining the middle class to the oars of ever shrinking property values...