Economic 'Armageddon' predicted

[LoungeMachine]

Originally posted by Big Train


I don't feel that there is anything wrong with the system or even Dubya's tax policies themselves, .

Wha???????????????????


BT, seriously.

You're bright, articulate, and pretty damn well informned

NOTHING WRONG WITH SHRUBS TAX POLICIES?

Jesus H Christ.

I need a drink

[Big Train]

Have a drink on me. I don't think it's the policies, I think it is the execution.

Taxes are raised on goods and services being sold. If those goods and services arent sold, there are no taxes. The problem with this economy is two fold and it falls more on the "working stiff". Excessive debt and lack of dominating industries. America doesn't do shit anymore. We don't dominate anything in particular and we don't make much. We are an intelluctal property economy and those ideas are rarely protected (I'm in the music business, nobody IN THIS COUNTRY gives a fuck about our intellectual property). With nothing tangible to do or sell, we are having problems getting things moving again. You don't create new industries however, by taxing those who finance the new industries.

I will throw you a bone however. I did say nothing is wrong with his TAX policies, but I do have a problem with his Immigration policies as it relates to taxes (after my first cup of java). The problem with mexican workers isn't that they take away jobs, it's that the tax base they create isn't enough to offset costs (something we know a great deal about in So cal). So there, I disagree with him there. Happy?

[blueturk]

[i]

This statement I didn't know and I'd love to know where you got the following fact :

We all know that someone making $200,000 a year is taxed less percentage-wise than someone who makes $40,000 a year.

Why so reluctant to discuss Greenspan? [/B]

[blueturk]

[i] by BIG TRAIN

This statement I didn't know and I'd love to know where you got the following fact :

We all know that someone making $200,000 a year is taxed less percentage-wise than someone who makes $40,000 a year.

Why so reluctant to discuss Greenspan? [/B]

[blueturk]

[i] by BIG TRAIN

This statement I didn't know and I'd love to know where you got the following fact :

We all know that someone making $200,000 a year is taxed less percentage-wise than someone who makes $40,000 a year.

[/B]

OK,I was wrong.Actually someone pulling in $203,700 will get 59.9% of the new tax cuts,raising their income by 3.3%.Somebody making $38,100 will get 8.3% of the cut,raising their income by 2.2%.I won't even start on the top 1% who will get 70 TIMES the tax cut that the middle fifth will get.And PLEASE don't tell me that this money will trickle down to ME.As for the immigration policies,I think a LOT of people (pro and anti-Bush) are scratching their heads and wondering what's up.And don't ask me how I ended up posting 3 times either.Sorry about that!

[ELVIS]

You people need to learn how to quote...

[blueturk]

Originally posted by ELVIS
You people need to learn how to quote...

Nobody's perfect....

[ELVIS]

:D

[BIG GOOSE]

Originally posted by FORD
Thanks for waiting until AFTER THE ELECTION to mention the economic failures of the BCE, Steve.

It's been out there for ages just the mainstream press couldn't give a shit 'til now.

[Big Train]

This is whats wrong with America financially:

From an AP story this morning on Wal Mart's opening early..


By the time Wal-Mart's store in a Buffalo, N.Y. suburb of Hamburg opened its doors at 6 a.m., 1,000 people had formed a lined that spanned the entire store front, despite temperatures of 31 degrees.

"It's our tradition," said Ruth Pompeo, of Lackawanna, N.Y, who was up at 3 a.m. and in line by 4:30 a.m. with her 11-year-old niece Shelby Strack. "I don't know what I'm here to grab, actually, " she said. "Whatever I can."

[blueturk]

Originally posted by Big Train
This is whats wrong with America financially:

From an AP story this morning on Wal Mart's opening early..


By the time Wal-Mart's store in a Buffalo, N.Y. suburb of Hamburg opened its doors at 6 a.m., 1,000 people had formed a lined that spanned the entire store front, despite temperatures of 31 degrees.

"It's our tradition," said Ruth Pompeo, of Lackawanna, N.Y, who was up at 3 a.m. and in line by 4:30 a.m. with her 11-year-old niece Shelby Strack. "I don't know what I'm here to grab, actually, " she said. "Whatever I can."

I don't think that this admittedly empty-headed individual is representative of everybody who goes through this ritual.Some people are just on tight budgets and need the big discounts that can only be found at an ungodly hour on the day after Thanksgiving.

[Cathedral]

The sky is falling, the sky is falling!

I live within my budget, finally, and i am able to save money after all my bills are paid...In my opinion we have it much better than any era before us.
Also, tax cuts put more money in the consumers pockets which in turn allows them to spend more, which keeps the machine rolling.

But nothing lasts forever, so prepare for hard times as in the past, they will surely come again.

[FORD]

Originally posted by BIG GOOSE
It's been out there for ages just the mainstream press couldn't give a shit 'til now.

Exactly.... and the fact that you know more about Bush's failures in Sydney Australia than the Busheep in the US do is proof enough of that.

You must still have a free press down under. Don't let Murdoch buy any more of it!

[FORD]

Originally posted by Big Train
This is whats wrong with America financially:

From an AP story this morning on Wal Mart's opening early..


By the time Wal-Mart's store in a Buffalo, N.Y. suburb of Hamburg opened its doors at 6 a.m., 1,000 people had formed a lined that spanned the entire store front, despite temperatures of 31 degrees.

"It's our tradition," said Ruth Pompeo, of Lackawanna, N.Y, who was up at 3 a.m. and in line by 4:30 a.m. with her 11-year-old niece Shelby Strack. "I don't know what I'm here to grab, actually, " she said. "Whatever I can."

Won't get any argument from me about Wal Mart sucking. Aside from Halliburton, they're probably the most vile corporation on the planet.

As far as the Black Friday shopping nightmare itself, that's become as much of a holiday tradition as turkey itself. Not that I endorse it, and sure as Hell don't participate - in fact you will not find me anywhere near a mall on the weekends anytime between now and the middle of January - but enough people do to keep the practice a viable one.

Actually, in communities where something other than Wal Mart exists, Black Friday is probably a benefit to the local economy, since the benefits of 3-5 extra hours of morning business will also bleed over into gas stations, fast food joints that serve breakfast, and even cops who are usually bored shitless at 5:00 AM, now get to ticket speeders trying to get to the mall before anyone else.

All of which contributes tax revenue of course. So though I despise the whole idea of the day personally, I can't say Black Friday's bad for the economy.

[Big Train]

To me, it just reminds me of all that I don't like. People talk about how strapped they are and how the working man gets stiffed, then you see something like that. Most of them probably drove there in SUV's, getting 10 MPG, bought big ticket items on credit cards @ 18% and usually much worse and will be paying off this morning of gluttony for the rest of the year. No planning ahead, no budgeting. I watched a program on PBS the other night on credit cards. The avg. American family has 8K in credit card debt. The average American family has 90% of their net worth leveraed. BY way of comparision, the average Russian has just 20 dollars of debt and the average chinese 200 dollars. This lack of debt is helping to fuel their economy. It's a cash and carry economy, but as long as they can keep working and retain their cash, the need to consume will continue. We as a nation need a serious lesson in financial planning and restraint.