Too Big To Fail. Not Too Strong
The Koch Attack On Solar Energy
Recovery Has Created More Low-Wage Jobs Than Better-Paid Ones
Coburn Says Let Free Market Decide Race To The Bottom On Wages
Scalia Makes Huge Factual Error In Supreme Court Opinion
Do Fewer Unions Make Countries More Competitive?
There's No Evidence Privatization Works, But it Marches On
How Global Warming Is Scorching The United States
Charter Schools Fail: Report Calls Their Magic Into Question
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind
If America is truly Number One [positive connotation implied], as so many citizens are fond of saying and displaying on their t-shirts, why do we (as a percent of our total population) throw more of our citizens in jail than any other country in the world?
I mean, if we're all so great just because of our American-ism, why are we throwing so many of our gifted and naturally-better-simply-by-being-born-in-the-U.S. citizens into prison?
We imprison more of our own citizens than Rwanda, Cuba or Russia, to name just a few. You know, those bad and backwards countries we hear talk radio gas-bags and chest-thumping politicians belittling every time a camera or microphone is put in front of their face.
That Moral Authority the U.S. uses to march around the globe, it's left the building.
That Moral Authority the U.S. uses to march around the globe, it's left the building.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
Another Lost Opportunity
Demolition vs. reconstruction of Interstate 794
Tear down this freeway spur, replace it with surface streets and the results will be a better connected downtown Milwaukee, with more land for development and much lower road maintenance costs.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
Are We Still Supposed To Take The Wisconsin Republican Party Seriously?
State GOP To Vote On Whether Wisconsin Should Secede From The Union
The Wisconsin Republican Party will be voting this weekend on whether it endorses the right to secede from the rest of the country and nullify any federal law, a clear departure from the legacy of Abraham Lincoln...
It also asserts the right, "under extreme circumstances," to secede from the United States of America.
Weekend Reading
Wisconsin's Health System Ranks In Top 10 In National Report
The Privatization Backlash
Backlash Against Privatization Is Growing in States and Cities Across the US
Biggest Infrastructure Need: States
Scott Walker's Health Care Dilemma
John Doe Probe Raises Issue Of Potential Conflicts With Justices
Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin's Voter ID Law
Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Could Cost State More Than $1 Million
FOX Find Another Anti-Government Wingnut [David Clarke] To Prop Up
Ill-Advised Sheriff [David Clarke] Who Warned Of Second American Revolution
Walker Declines To Commit To Four-Year Wisconsin Term
Corporate Tax Attacks In The States
The Most Important Economic Chart
Time To Raise The U.S. Minimum Wage
A Chart That Demands Attention
A Rough Guide To Spotting Bad Science
A Chart To Share With People Who Complain About People On Welfare
The Privatization Backlash
Backlash Against Privatization Is Growing in States and Cities Across the US
Biggest Infrastructure Need: States
Scott Walker's Health Care Dilemma
John Doe Probe Raises Issue Of Potential Conflicts With Justices
Federal Judge Strikes Down Wisconsin's Voter ID Law
Wisconsin Voter ID Ruling Could Cost State More Than $1 Million
FOX Find Another Anti-Government Wingnut [David Clarke] To Prop Up
Ill-Advised Sheriff [David Clarke] Who Warned Of Second American Revolution
Walker Declines To Commit To Four-Year Wisconsin Term
Corporate Tax Attacks In The States
The Most Important Economic Chart
A Chart To Share With People Who Complain About People On Welfare
Saturday, April 26, 2014
The Math and Taxes of Stadium Boondoggles
Jim Owczarski over at OnMilwaukee feels Milwaukee should "Stop whining and pay the arena freight."
He's talked to a few people about the Miller Park tax, it wasn't a big deal to them, so a new basketball arena shouldn't be a big deal for anyone else either.
Owczarski then uses an example of buying a car to clarify his point, "People get all worked up over the idea of a tax, than the actual number itself. Let's be real. If you're buying a $30,000 car, an extra $200 or whatever it comes out to isn't a big deal in the scheme of it."
So we can see why Jim doesn't have a big problem with taxes or paying them - he doesn't understand them and he's not very good at math. If you're buying a new car in Milwaukee County, your paying a 5.6% sales and use tax on it, which is a $1,680 tax on a $30,000 car.
Most people probably do have a difference of opinion if you're talking $200 or $1,680. To which, Jim says, "Do a better job negotiating that [the tax] out of your final [car] price if you're that upset by it." Just as we can negotiate with team owners - making them pay the majority of costs for their team.
I find it unbelievable that in a state with such a strong labor history, prudent social investments, and an aversion to boondoggles, so many are suddenly reverse Robin Hoods, wanting the many to subsidize the few. [Yet, when calls are made for the rich to feed the hungry, employ the jobless, house the homeless, or pay more taxes, those people are labeled parasites, moochers, and communists.] Bribery is now an accepted form of negotiation. Taxpayers must fund private team owners' cost of doing business.
Sports are a great diversion and entertainment option, but they are not economic catalysts. They typically represent less than 1 percent of a local economy. Often, much, much less.
Jim then moves forward with the Major League City argument, "If the new ownership group winds up having to sell the team back to the NBA in 2017, the people of Wisconsin will relegate their marquee city a second-class citizen on the national landscape." Even with the Brewers still here, by not having the Bucks - who haven't competed for over a decade and have had among the worst attendance among NBA teams - suddenly Milwaukee will fall off the map.
Austin, El Paso, Louisville, Las Vegas, Albuquerque, Rochester, Birmingham, Hartford, Richmond, Providence, Virginia Beach, Riverside and Tucson are just a few larger U.S. cities that have no major league sports team. 25 of the states have no professional sport team. All second-class cities and states, no doubt.
Owczarski closes with a flourish of gobbledygook, "If the Brewers are left alone, Milwaukee becomes … what? San Antonio? Oklahoma City? Jacksonville? Ugh. I'm sure some would like it to become Portland, but the city won't allow for strip clubs Downtown and, frankly, we don't have an ocean about two hours away. Name every important city in this country. Professional sports are an integral part of its culture, and its economy. It is here in Milwaukee, too. I'm a taxpayer and I won't mind keeping it that way."
San Antonio, Oklahoma City and Jacksonville are all faster-growing and larger cities, Yeah, we'd hate to be like that, not to mention their warmer weather. Portland's success is due to downtown strip clubs? We may not have an ocean, but we have the two largest Great Lakes nearby (one within minutes for most citizens). See two paragraphs above for important cities without professional teams. Also, most wouldn't consider a less-than-1% economic-impact an "integral" part of the economy.
It seems taxpayers are again hurtling toward more corporate welfare in the form of another stadium subsidy. The boosters' regurgitated arguments have been dubious, at best, and have often been proven false. There may be a place for the public in helping to finance local sport facilities or site preparation. But it's a minimal one. Taxpayers should not be footing 70%, or more, of facility cost, which has been the typical amount over the past few decades.
For Further Reading:
Buck The System
Buck You
Big League Confusion
Stadium Swindle
More Bradley Center Bull
The Time Is Now?
Is There Anything A Stadium Can't Solve?
The Legalized Bribery That Is Sports Subsidization
It's A Scandal! It's A Outrage!
Bradley Center Boosters Keep Pounding That Drum
Overblown Bradley Center Impacts
Buck You
Big League Confusion
Stadium Swindle
More Bradley Center Bull
The Time Is Now?
Is There Anything A Stadium Can't Solve?
The Legalized Bribery That Is Sports Subsidization
It's A Scandal! It's A Outrage!
Bradley Center Boosters Keep Pounding That Drum
Overblown Bradley Center Impacts
The Real Moochers
As usual, the biggest government moochers are the well-connected, not the downtrodden:
- Cliven Bundy is part of a long tradition: corporate mooching
- New GAO Report: Federal Government Not Collecting a "Fair Return" from Drilling on Public Lands
- Government Accountability Office: Taxpayers Getting Stiffed by Flawed Federal Coal Lease System
- Unfair Share: How Oil and Gas Drillers Avoid Paying Royalties
- Step right up, Big Coal, for America’s Big Coal Giveaway
- A Sweetheart Deal For Big Coal Is A Slap In The Face To American Families
- A Fair Share: The Case of Updating Federal Royalties
- A Comparison of the Share of Revenue Received from Oil and Gas Production by the Federal Government and Other Resource Owners
- The Public's Airwaves
- The Price of Free Airwaves
- The Sorry State of Corporate Taxes
- The U.S. Has A Low Corporate Tax
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wisconsin Job Growth
2013 2014 Change
Wisconsin ....................| 2,815,900 | 2,845,900 | 30,000
The net total private jobs added since January 2011 - 102,300.
Shouldn't we be hearing/reading more about the spectacular failure of job creation under the Walker administration? Governor Walker is 147,000 jobs short of his 250,000-jobs proclamation.
Does anyone really believe this amount of job growth will occur within the next six months?
Does anyone really believe this amount of job growth will occur within the next six months?
The unions had to be destroyed. According to the revisionist Republican history, public workers had ruined the economy. Tax cuts and deregulation - the usual Republican elixirs - were going to save the state/world.
Mr. Walker told Wisconsin voters he was going to create 250,000 jobs during his term.
Mr. Walker knowingly misinformed voters.
Mr. Walker knowingly misinformed voters.
Hopefully the consequences for such failure will be a new governor for Wisconsin in November.
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Weekend Reading
Why We’re in a New Gilded Age
Milwaukee Bucks Drawing Attention From Potential Buyers
Annualized Returns & the Average Investor
The Myth of Income Equality, Courtesy of AEI
Who The Job Creators Really Are
How Capitalism Enriches The Few Rather Than The Many
The Short Guide To Capital In The 21st Century
Milwaukee Bucks Drawing Attention From Potential Buyers
Annualized Returns & the Average Investor
The Myth of Income Equality, Courtesy of AEI
Who The Job Creators Really Are
How Capitalism Enriches The Few Rather Than The Many
The Short Guide To Capital In The 21st Century
Monday, March 24, 2014
Fortune 500 Companies Paying Little Or Nothing In State Income Taxes
Negative Income Tax For Corporate-personage ... It's The Wisconsin Way
Hey, all you hard-working, under-compensated Wisconsin folks: How would you like to pay a state income tax rate of 4.3 percent? Or, if that's too much, how about 2.2 percent? Still too rich for ya? Well, then, how about a Wisconsin state income tax of NEGATIVE ONE PERCENT? Yes, the state would PAY YOU a refund on zero taxes owed! Wow!
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Midweek Reading
Oops: The Texas Miracle That Isn't
Subsidizing The Corporate 1 Percent
The Baloney Detection Kit
The Shocking Numbers Behind Corporate Welfare
Formula For Measuring Poverty Dates To 1963
You Can't Lure Entrepreneurs With Tax Cuts
Fortune 500 Companies Receive $63 Billion In Subsidies
The Rent Seeker, Posing As Visionary
The Costs Of Bad 401(K) Plans
Obamacare Critics Still Just Tell One Side Of The Jobs Story
Whole Foods: America's Temple Of Pseudoscience
Here's How Much Your State Is Losing If It Didn't Expand Medicare
What's Good For American Corporations Isn't Necessarily Good For Americans
Subsidizing The Corporate 1 Percent
The Baloney Detection Kit
The Shocking Numbers Behind Corporate Welfare
Formula For Measuring Poverty Dates To 1963
You Can't Lure Entrepreneurs With Tax Cuts
Fortune 500 Companies Receive $63 Billion In Subsidies
The Rent Seeker, Posing As Visionary
The Costs Of Bad 401(K) Plans
Obamacare Critics Still Just Tell One Side Of The Jobs Story
Whole Foods: America's Temple Of Pseudoscience
Here's How Much Your State Is Losing If It Didn't Expand Medicare
What's Good For American Corporations Isn't Necessarily Good For Americans
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Sunday, February 23, 2014
The Last Days Of A Scoundrel?
Gov. Scott Walker declined again Sunday to answer whether he knew of the existence of a secret email system in his Milwaukee County executive office.
Instead, during the appearance on "Fox News Sunday," Walker called the controversy over the release of thousands of emails "old news" and said Democrats were trying to switch the subject from his budget successes.I guess if you consider borrowing and digging the state deeper into debt than when your administration began, kudos, well done, Mr. Walker.
"If you look at the facts out there, this is old news," Walker said. "This is about a case that was closed last March. A Democratic district attorney in Milwaukee County spent multiple years looking at all this information.
"The 27,000-plus pages of documents that were just released this week have been looked at by a team led by a Democrat from Milwaukee County, and last March he announced the end of that case, plain and simple. It's old news."Which, when the district attorney ended his investigation, brought charges against numerous individuals working for Mr. Walker.
His comments echoed those he made Friday while speaking to reporters for the first time since the release of the documents.
Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm's office launched an investigation in May 2010, lasting nearly three years and leading to the convictions of six individuals, including three Walker aides, an appointee and a major campaign contributor.
Documents released Wednesday linked Walker to a secret email system that was used in his county office. The documents also showed close ties between his campaign operation and taxpayer-paid staff members during the months leading to the November 2010 election for governor.Now we have documents, discovered by further investigation, tying the governor to the secret e-mail system used for illegal campaign (and who knows what else, at this point) activities.
"Fox News Sunday" host Chris Wallace pressed Walker on whether he knew there was a private email account.
Walker responded, "Again, it's one of those where I point out the district attorney looked into every single one of those issues."
Wallace interjected: "But sir, you're not answering my question."
Walker said, "No, because I'm not going to get into 27,000 different pieces of information."
The governor continued, "The bottom line is a Democrat who led the district attorneys office, looked at all this, decided not to charge anything other than the individuals you mentioned, who were people who had worked for the county in the past but don't work for me today.Wow. Talk about being detached from reality. "Decided not to charge anything other than the individuals you mentioned." So Walker does realize his former employees were charged with committing illegal acts for his benefit. (Which is probably why they're not working for him anymore.) Now, more information points to the governor being involved with and knowing about such activities. Yep, old news. Move along.
"I think that's pretty straightforward. It's one of those things where they want to keep pushing this issue into the forefront because in the end the folks running against us can't counter our positive message when it comes to the economy and creating budget surpluses."Or, maybe those interested in the truth and honest politics just want to point out what a corrupt, lying bunch of Machiavellians the Walker administration has been all along. I'm so glad Walker has had such a positive message about the economy, but most Wisconsin workers actually want to see positives that translate to earnings, not just platitudes. And, as mentioned earlier, those "surpluses" are illusory. So, Walker's message doesn't hold water, and now we're finding out their whole operation is fraught with dishonest activities.
Mike Tate, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin, said there are additional questions that Walker needs to answer.
"What we continue to see is the further erosion of public trust in the governor's judgment," Tate said. "Did he know his staff was breaking the law, and if he didn't, how is that possible with what has come to light? How will his public and campaign staffs interact moving forward? And how do citizens know that their tax dollars won't be misused by mixing private-public staff going into an election year?"Luckily some are still looking into the e-mails and documents concerning Walker's improprieties. It's highly unlikely things are going to get better for Mr. Walker.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
The Art Of Misdirection
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel writes, Walker won’t say whether he knew of secret email system. Directly under this they also link, Soros-backed group pores over emails.
Things are equally corrupt on both sides, don't you know? Even if you do already know, the Journal still wants to remind you.
I'm led to think the Journal wants us to hold judgment on Scott Walker (he's really not a bad guy) but maintain a vigilant eye on these agitating liberal operatives.
I wonder why Republicans (and, now the Journal Sentinel, for some reason) cast such disapproving snarls at George Soros. I get that he funds organizations that try to help human rights, education, and public health. But he's also, as the Republicans would say, a job creator. A businessman who made it big. One of the wealthiest people in the world. Just being megarich usually makes one 99% infallible for Republicans. But Soros is the exception. He supports policies that often align with the Democrats and, for this, there can be no forgiveness.
And, because Soros supports these Democratic policies, that makes him evil and conniving.
But, back to the real story - Scott Walker's illegal campaigning. Isn't it a good thing that someone is looking over these e-mails? It's a pretty big story. Yet another Republican governor involved in petty politics, illegalities, and cover-ups. Shouldn't the Journal be pushing and pestering the Governor to come clean with the details? Open record requests and scouring e-mails?
Walker was the 'straight-shooting, no beating around the bush, get it done and make no excuses' guy.
Walker won't say whether he knew of a secret e-mail system? Come on Mr. Big Talk, Mr. Tough Guy. Weren't you the one who rode into office promising the moon and the stars? You were going to clean up the State, make the tough but needed decisions, and get Wisconsin going again. Oh, and the jobs! You were going to create so many jobs.
But don't worry, it's not your fault Scotty. And we'll be sure to keep an eye on that mean ole George Soros, too.
Saturday Concert: Revolting Cocks
Revolting Cocks: London Astoria, January 24th, 1991
[02]. Beers, Steers & Queers (Take 'em Right Off version)
[03]. Let's get Physical
[04]. In the Neck
[05]. TV Mind
[06]. Union Carbide
[07]. No Devotion
[08]. Something Wonderful
[09]. Chickenshit
[10]. Stainless Steel Providers
[11]. Voice Improvisation
[12]. Attack Ships on Fire
[13]. Razor's Edge
[14]. Get Down
Sunday, February 16, 2014
Memo To Republicans: The ACA War Is Over
The Journal Sentinel really needs to do a better job with their "reporting."
The top story in their Sunday Editorials & Opinion section was Life In The Land Of Make Believe by Kathleen Parker.
Another misconstruction from the right-wing completely misreading data points to claim, again, that the Affordable Car Act (aka Obamacare) is a failure and is destroying America. Anyone with the ability to do a google search, or if you just happen to get your news from somewhere other than FOX News, can quickly dismiss these false, incendiary claims.
Why did the Journal deem this article newsworthy?
Here's just two of Parker's debunked talking points:
Only about 3 million people have signed up for health insurance through the new marketplaces, well below expectations.Parker's 3 million signup number is only the private insurance plan signups. Including Medicaid and CHIP, the minimum estimate for total Affordable Care Act signups is 8.8 million, with a maximum of 14.4 million, thus far. The program got off to a rough start, yet signups are only marginally below expectations. Are Republicans unhappy that more people now have health insurance?
A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report issued earlier this month estimates that by 2017, the workforce will be reduced by the equivalent of 2 million full-time jobs and 2.3 million by 2021 — because of Obamacare.
Destroying jobs is quite different from people having the choice of whether to work or to raise a family. People no longer need to stay at horrible job to have insurance. This actually opens up jobs for those looking for work.
As the Economic Policy Institute explains, "In December, the number of job seekers was 10.4 million (unemployment data are from the Current Population Survey and can be found here). Thus, there are 10.4 million job seekers and only 4.0 million job openings, meaning that there are only enough job openings for 38.5 percent of job seekers."
Based on their history of being all about the family-unit and saving our children, along with their supposed intense interest in helping the unemployed, one would think the Republicans would support a program that accomplishes both of these goals.
But, in fitting with their typical prescription, Republicans are more interested in power than policy. Facts be damned! There are actual specifics of the Act that can be improved, efficiencies to be gained, by working with Democrats and constructively analyzing and implementing adjustments and/or improvements to the program. But, instead, Republicans are still raging on, spinning fanciful yarns and lying through their teeth, in the (health care) war they've already lost.
For Further Reading:
Health, Work, Lies
Bette In Spokane Blogging
CBO Says Obamacare Will Raise Wages
Obamacare Attacks Failing
No Relationship Between Cutting Tax Rates On Corporate Profits And Job Growth
The Corporate Tax Rate Debate: Lower Taxes on Corporate Profits Not Linked to Job Creation
The American corporate tax system is badly broken. Some corporations pay more than a third of their profits in federal income taxes, while other equally profitable firms pay nothing at all. On average, corporations pay just 12.6 percent of their profits in federal income taxes, according to a recent study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.
Corporate and political leaders keep telling us that cutting corporate tax rates will create jobs.
Our examination of the evidence found no relationship between cutting tax rates on corporate profits and job growth.
We examined the job creation track record of 60 large, profitable U.S. corporations (from a list of 280 Fortune 500 companies) with the highest and lowest effective tax rates between 2008 and 2010 and found:
• 22 of the 30 corporations that paid the highest tax rates (30 percent or more) on their reported profits created almost 200,000 jobs between 2008 and 2012. Only eight of the 30 firms paying high tax rates reported reducing the number of employees between 2008 and 2012.
• The 30 profitable corporations that paid little or no taxes over three years collectively shed 51,289 jobs; half of these low-tax firms created some jobs, and half shed jobs between 2008 and 2012.
• Lowe’s, the nation’s second-largest home improvement store, paid over 36 percent in taxes on reported profits of $9 billion between 2008 and 2010, and hired an additional 28,820 employees between 2008 and 2012.
• Verizon, the nation’s largest wireless provider, reported $32 billion in U.S. profits between 2008 and 2010, yet received tax refunds totaling $951 million and reduced the number of employees by almost 56,000 between 2008 and 2012.
In 2004, when a temporary “tax holiday” on offshore profits was put in place, 58 firms brought $218 billion in profits back to the U.S. under the program, for a savings of $64 billion on their taxes. In the following two years, those 58 firms eliminated 600,000 jobs.
In 2012, U.S. corporations reported earning nearly $1.8 trillion in profits. Had they paid the 35 percent tax rate on those profits, total corporate tax receipts would have been $630 billion (rather than the $242 billion they actually paid), and the deficit would have been reduced by nearly a third.
Today, large U.S. corporations report more than $1 trillion in cash or liquid assets. They have the funds to invest in new jobs, should they choose to do so. We found no evidence that cutting the tax rate on corporate profits induces firms to create new jobs in the United States. However, several legal loopholes and deductions do discourage job creation in the U.S. and should be eliminated. This would raise significant revenue and make the tax code fairer.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Wisconsin Roundup
Corporate Welfare Is Good:
- City May Provide $1.2 Million To Keep Downtown Boston Store Open
- Wisconsin ranks ahead of 33 other states, and the District of Columbia, in corporate welfare payments to business...roughly 10 percent of Wisconsin's budget, or $1.53 billion, is spent on incentives for businesses, or roughly $270 per capita.
- Warren Buffett, Waltons Get Welfare From Wisconsin Taxpayers
- Wisconsin spends at least $1.53 billion per year on incentive programs
- Wisconsin Farm Subsidies
- Corporate welfare in wisconsin
- Wisconsin's Walker and GOP: reward rich friends, punish everyone else
- Wisconsin Bill Banning Local 'Living Wage' Laws Concern Barrett, Abele
- Wal-Mart Relies On Taxpayers To Subsidize Low Wages
- If Republicans Want a 2016 Nominee Who Will Punish The Poor, Scott Walker Is Their Man
- Scott Walker Finds Another Way To Punish The Working Poor
- Scott Walker’s 2016 Pitch: Who Has Punished The Working Poor More Than I Have?
- How opting out of Medicaid expansion punishes the poor
- Food stamp cuts punish people for being poor
And, Scott Walker Is A Crook:
- More Evidence That WI Gov. Scott Walker Is Under Investigation
- Scott Walker Investigated in Secret Wisconsin Probe
- Investigation targets Scott Walker recall campaign, political groups
- Evidence Mounting that Walker Campaign Is at Center of Criminal Probe
- Special Prosecutor Named In Investigation Of Possible Criminal Activity Surrounding Scott Walker Recall Election
- There's a New Secret Investigation Roiling Wisconsin's Turbulent Politics
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Sunday Reading
CBO Increases Estimate Of The Cost Of The Housing Bubble Collapse
Charles Lane Is Wrong On NAFTA And The Trans-Pacific Partnership
Home Depot Syndrome, The Purple Squirrel, & America's Job Hunt Rabbit Hole
In Cities, The Average Doctor Wait-Time Is 18.5 Days
Obama, Romney, Ryan All Endorse Retraining for Jobless—But Are They Right?
The Skills Gap Myth
Why Thomas Jefferson Favored Profit Sharing
Charles Lane Is Wrong On NAFTA And The Trans-Pacific Partnership
Home Depot Syndrome, The Purple Squirrel, & America's Job Hunt Rabbit Hole
In Cities, The Average Doctor Wait-Time Is 18.5 Days
Obama, Romney, Ryan All Endorse Retraining for Jobless—But Are They Right?
The Skills Gap Myth
Why Thomas Jefferson Favored Profit Sharing
Friday, February 7, 2014
Sunday, February 2, 2014
How Do U.S. Taxes Compare Internationally?
If you think American taxes are high, think again.
[source]
Among OECD countries only Mexico, Chile and Turkey had lower taxes than the United States as a percentage of GDP. In many European countries taxes exceeded 40 percent of GDP, but those countries generally provide much more extensive government services to their citizens than the United States does.
The United States relies less on consumption taxes—18 percent of total 2008 tax receipts—than any other OECD country. Revenue from such taxes averaged 32 percent of total taxes among the 33 OECD countries. Mexico, in contrast, collected 60 percent of its 2008 tax revenue from consumption taxes.
Personal income taxes made up 38 percent of U.S. tax revenue in 2008, more than in most other OECD countries, where such taxes averaged 26 percent of the total. However, individual taxpayers paid a larger share of tax revenue in Denmark (52 percent) and New Zealand (41 percent).
Corporate income taxes accounted for a slightly larger share of U.S. tax revenue, 7 percent in 2008, than the OECD average of 10 percent.
U.S. employees, on average, contributed more in taxes for retirement and disability insurance—10 percent of total tax receipts—than many of their OECD counterparts, where such taxes accounted for 9 percent of total receipts on average. U.S. employers, however, contributed less: 12 percent of the total compared with OECD employers’ average of 15 percent.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
Who Increased The Debt?
[source]
Republican’s increase our public debt by lowering taxes on the wealthy, raising corporate welfare and starting wars. If you are surprised by this bar graph then you then you need to shop around for a more reliable news source.
Comparing State Pension Costs To Corporate Subsidies And Tax Breaks
Putting State Pension Costs In Context
PUTTING PENSION COSTS IN CONTEXT: NEW REPORT SHOWS CORPORATE TAX SUBSIDIES AND LOOPHOLES OFTEN EXCEED STATE RETIREMENT COSTS
Attacks on Pensions, Safety Net Programs, Distract from Corporate Giveaways that Exacerbate Economic Inequality
Washington D.C., January 30, 2014 — State lawmakers who are considering drastic cuts to the retirement benefits of state workers are simultaneously giving away billions of dollars in corporate tax subsidies and loopholes, often in amounts far exceeding the cost of pensions, according to a new report.
Putting State Pension Costs in Context by Good Jobs First examines 10 states where elected officials are threatening to undermine retirement security by cutting the pension benefits of their teachers, firefighters, police officers, and hundreds of thousands of other public employees. The states included in the report are: Arizona; California; Colorado; Florida; Illinois; Louisiana; Michigan; Missouri; Oklahoma; and Pennsylvania.
The findings show that in each state, the revenue lost to corporations through loopholes and tax breaks outpaces the current cost of pension benefits to state employees.
“In states across the country, politicians are attempting to solve the budget woes caused by Wall Street and the Great Recession by cutting the pension benefits of public employees,” said Philip Mattera, Research Director of Good Jobs First. “It is often stated that budgets are a matter of priorities. And our research shows that corporate interests are generally prioritized over teachers, firefighters, police officers, and thousands of other employees who dedicate their lives to public service.”
The average retirement for a member of the Louisiana State Retirement fund is $19,000 a year. Yet, Louisiana gives away about $1.8 billion a year to corporations through corporate subsidies and tax loopholes—totaling about five times the annual pension cost for state workers.
Pennsylvania loses nearly $4 billion annually as a result of corporate subsidies and loopholes—more than two and half times the cost of public pensions. Pennsylvania’s state pensions average a modest $24,000 a year. In Michigan, corporations also enjoy about $1.8 billion in subsidies and tax breaks – more than three times the cost of meeting the state’s commitment to retirees. The list goes on.
These ten states were chosen for analysis because their legislatures are underfunding pensions or elected officials are threatening to cut pension benefits. Actuarial analysis provided the normal cost of funding pensions on a yearly basis, which excludes the costs of making up for past underfunding. Data was derived by examining the latest state tax expenditure reports, state budget documents, and reports by state tax and budget watchdog groups.
“As a matter of honest accounting and fair budgeting, state leaders should examine all forms of spending before they single out pensions or any other expense,” said Mattera. “Corporate tax breaks and loopholes are often poorly understood and little-noticed because they do not get debated as appropriations, nor do they often get sunsetted or audited. But over time they add up to hundreds of millions, or even billions, of dollars per year.”
Friday, January 31, 2014
Give Reality Back To Taxpayers
Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch took to the Journal Sentinel to boast about all Scott Walker has done for Wisconsin and to propose giving the budgetary "surplus" back to the taxpayers.
Kleefisch crows about the improvement in the unemployment rate. "Four years ago, the state's unemployment rate was 9.2%. In fact, Wisconsin lost more than 133,000 jobs and lost 27,000 businesses during Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle's final term in office. After Gov. Walker and I were sworn in, we took aggressive action to get Wisconsin working again. Now, the unemployment rate is the lowest it has been in more than five years at 6.2%."
If you consider borrowing, increasing long-term debt, as a "surplus," then Scott Walker has really been on point. Yet, as most can see, this is merely kicking the can down the road. A bit of smoke and mirrors for Mr. Walker, so he can present the illusion of positive policy outcomes. But in reality, he's just burying Wisconsin is debt so he can advance his own political career.
To come up with her rosy picture, Kleefisch compares the Walker administration's tenure with the peak of the recession. One would expect improvement after hitting rock bottom. They could have taken office and done nothing and things would have shown some improvement. For a truer test, we need to see where we were at before the recession. To show real gains one would expect improvement above and beyond the norm, and improvements that rank near the best among states, especially if one is going to claim his or her policies are doing so much good.
As you can see from the graph below, its awfully convenient to choose 2010 for comparison, rather than any other time before that. When we look back just a bit further, we see Wisconsin still has a way to go to reach full employment. Our current unemployment rate ranks us 22nd among the states. In 2011 and 2012, although we had higher unemployment rates (6.9 and 7.5), we ranked 19th among the states for both years. As far as the state is doing compared to others, we've actually gotten worse.
[source]
Kleefisch talks of turning a deficit into a surplus. "We also took necessary steps to get our fiscal house in order over the past few years. We inherited a $3.6 billion budget deficit when we took office and turned it into a $759 million surplus by the end of the 2011-'13 budget."
As Media Matters commented, "Fox News hyped Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker's economic record, claiming that the governor's economic plan generated a nearly $1 billion budget surplus while ignoring that the current surplus is built upon a projected structural deficit and that the state ranks 28th in the nation for job creation under Walker's tenure." From the same article, "The Legislative Fiscal Bureau: Under Walker's Budget, Wisconsin's Structural Deficit Would Grow To $725 Million. A non-partisan analysis of Walker's most recent budget concluded that the Governor's proposed tax cuts would increase the state's budget shortfall over the coming years. Walker's tax plan hyped by Fox would in fact cost the state $180 million and would ultimately turn the touted surplus into a deficit by 2017."
The Democratic Party of Wisconsin also notes, "When Scott Walker was running for governor, he promised to balance budgets Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP); however, the budget he claims as balanced is anything but when using GAAP. By gutting public education to the tune of $2.6 billion and slashing more than $500 million from public healthcare, along with skillfully kicking the can down the road with accounting tricks that pass debt onto future budgets, Walker has given the appearance of a balanced budget. But when using the GAAP that Walker promised to use, Wisconsin’s deficit will actually be more than $3 billion at the end of the biennium – a larger deficit than Walker inherited."
Kleefisch continues, "And some 100,000 jobs and nearly 13,000 new businesses have been created since we took office." Again, as we can see from the graph below, all this "job creation" has only gotten us back to 2004 levels. Oddly, I remember some politician promising 250,000 new jobs in his first term.
[source]
Republicans always talk about "putting money back into taxpayers pockets." Although Kleefisch didn't mention it in her op-ed, lets take a look at the real median household income in Wisconsin. Are those wonderful Walker policies fattening your wallet? As the graph below shows, the median household actually has less now than they did during the peak of the recession.
[source]
Kleefisch and Walker are giving Wisconsin taxpayers a bigger debt burden, meaningless promises and a false reality.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
One From The Vault
Bargaining Isn't To Blame
How does eliminating collective bargaining reduce deficits?
"States with no collective bargaining rights for any public employees saw an average budget shortfall of 24.8 percent in 2010 while states (including the District of Columbia) with collective bargaining for all public employees had an average budget shortfall of 24.1 percent."
For Further Reading:
Saturday, January 25, 2014
Weekend Reading
Oxfam Finds 85 Elites As Rich As 3.5 Billion People
Trickle-Down Economics Is The Greatest Broken Promise Of Our Lifetime
Here's Why The Idea Of A 'Traditional Marriage' Is Total Bullshit
25 Manners Everyone Needs
Health Care Spending Slows To Historically Low Rate
Income Growth Has Stalled For Most Americans
The Biggest Myths In Economics
No, Raising The Minimum Wage Won't Kill The Economy
8 Subconscious Mistakes Your Brain Makes Everyday
Trickle-Down Economics Is The Greatest Broken Promise Of Our Lifetime
Here's Why The Idea Of A 'Traditional Marriage' Is Total Bullshit
25 Manners Everyone Needs
Health Care Spending Slows To Historically Low Rate
Income Growth Has Stalled For Most Americans
The Biggest Myths In Economics
No, Raising The Minimum Wage Won't Kill The Economy
8 Subconscious Mistakes Your Brain Makes Everyday
Oh! Big Surprise
Top wage earners get biggest benefit from Gov. Scott Walker's tax cuts
"People shouldn't be misled to think there's much in it for the bottom two-fifths of Wisconsin," Peacock said of Walker's latest plan.
Reschovsky said the proposed property tax cut would be of some help overall to renters, since it would help to hold down rent increases. But it would also help state companies with Wisconsin parcels and well-to-do families with vacation homes, not just elderly homeowners struggling to pay their annual tax bills.Top 5% of Wisconsin Residents Get 18% of Tax Cuts Proposed by the Governor
We’re primarily concerned that Governor Walker’s plan ignores holes in the current budget, and creates a deeper hole in the next one – boosting the structural deficit in 2013-15 to $825 million.
That said, many people have asked us about the distribution of the proposed tax cuts, and we asked the Institute for Taxation and Economic Policy (ITEP) to crunch the numbers for us. The ITEP analysis — which focused just on the two major changes in the Governor’s plan — found that the top 5% of Wisconsinites, who made $161,000 or more in 2013, will get 18% of the tax cuts. By contrast, the bottom 40% get just 15% of the benefit.
Tuesday, January 14, 2014
Sunday, January 5, 2014
The American Dream: The 7 Day Work Week
Glenn Grothman, Wisconsin GOP Senator, Fights For A Seven-Day Workweek
For Further Reading:
Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds
The Economy is "Recovering" By Creating More Low-Wage Jobs... Increasingly Filled By Graduates
Wisconsin state Sen. Glenn Grothman (R) is attempting to roll back one of the state's progressive labor laws, arguing that workers should be allowed to work without a day off if they so choose.
"Right now in Wisconsin, you're not supposed to work seven days in a row, which is a little ridiculous because all sorts of people want to work seven days a week," he told The Huffington Post in an interview.Is it that people actually want to work 7 days a week? Or, is it, because so many of America's jobs are low-wage jobs, people now have to work 7 days a week to afford a manageable debt-level coinciding with Keeping Up With The Joneses. Maybe people are now forced to work 7 days a week just to try to maintain some semblance of an evermore elusive American Dream.
For Further Reading:
Majority of New Jobs Pay Low Wages, Study Finds
The Economy is "Recovering" By Creating More Low-Wage Jobs... Increasingly Filled By Graduates
How America created a low-wage work swamp
Bloated corporate profits are costing American workers thousands
Recovery in U.S. Is Lifting Profits, but Not Adding Jobs
Bloated corporate profits are costing American workers thousands
Recovery in U.S. Is Lifting Profits, but Not Adding Jobs
Saturday, January 4, 2014
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