Barack makes this a good news day..

By the way, Rico, thanks for the informative post.

 

Obviously, the problem with raising the payroll tax is that all taxes are unpopular with the American people ... raising the payroll tax 3.5 percent (you would pay half that and your employer the other half) would fix it permanently and when I saw that number, I was thinking the same thing you were. Just do it!

Barack is thinking along those lines with his proposal, but aiming the SS fix at the rich rather than putting the tax on the lower and middle classes (who make up the majority of people paying the FICA tax now and would be stuck paying that increased 1.75-percent of their paycheck to a tax in the midst of a recession). All of the policy proposals I have seen from Obama are aimed at middle and lower class tax relief while hitting the top 3-percent of earners ... who have had eight great years with Dubya in office.

 

You're welcome. I'm glad somebody got something out of it (since I pulled down two textbooks to write it!!). Econ was a fun major. I've been a political junkie all of my adult life, but I actually understand what's being proposed much more now than I did before. I was watching Obama's speech on his idea for a second-round of stimulus checks this week and I remember yelling to Mrs. Rico that Obama was proposing another useless stimulus package. I was disappointed in him. But all-in-all, I think he's a great candidate who will focus his policies on the middle and lower classes, people who were all but forgotten the past eight years.

 

Thank you ... I was hoping that wouldn't completely fly over everyone's head.

 

Ummm ... it wasn't a politician, it was an academic (MIT Professor of Economics Jonathan Gruber), who was citing the Social Security Trustees Report from 2004. This from the trustees' web site on who they are: "The SSA Chief Actuary Stephen Goss and his staff of nonpartisan experts produce the numbers in the Trustees Report."

So, the numbers came not from a politician and not a partisan report/study but rather a non-partisan group of experts. Just because you don't like the numbers doesn't make them wrong.

I'm clearly in favor of keeping SS solvent for the long haul (see my previous post on poverty, the elderly, SS and how they relate) ... you're clearly for doing away with it ... Obama has proposed an economically feasible solution for keeping it funded for generations to come ... the 3.5 percent FICA tax increase Gruber cites is another way of doing it ... By all means, call and harass John McCain to get on the Privatizing SS Express again. That strategy worked out so well when Bush claimed all that political capital after the 2004 elections and went around the country pushing the idea. Maybe Bush could hop on the "Express" with McCain and they could pitch the idea together in a series of public appearances.

And on second thought, this Privatization Tour I'm dreaming about with Bush and McCain traveling the country by bus could benefit both sides ... it would help Obama with the old white folks he's having a little trouble with and it would help McCain shore up the Bush base

 

More proof that Obama is struggling with the white, uneducated male demographic.

 

Voters seem to be, or they just don't want to know the cold hard truth.

The politicians wouldn't spend millions on ads criticizing their opponents for voting in favor of higher taxes or supporting tax increases if neither were the case.

 

After he drilled corporate CEOs in the tex of his alleged bridge-building MLK Day speech, it was extremely predictable that this proposal was going to come soon after he secured the nomination. Typical DNC class warfare pandering.

 

As opposed to the Republicans' version of class warfare, in which they complain how they want to have Americans keep more of their money, while trying to get rid of the overtime laws in this country?

Americans would be paying less in taxes, if the Repubs had their way. They also would be earning less, thanks to Bush's schemes on getting rid of the 40-hour workweek and classifying more white-collar professions as exempt. Heck, you have Repubs who kick and scream about the minimum wage going up an extra dollar or two an hour, when it hadn't been increased in 10 years.

 

I think it's time to admit that we're not a Republic, nor a Democracy, but a Corporate Monarchy with activist judges as the only counterbalance. And that, my friends, is not a sure good thing.

 

Another great day for Barack. Today he discussed the need for federal tax that will bring gas to $7 per gallon. Extra would go to alternative energy development. Finally a man with a plan.