Democratic Underground Latest Greatest Lobby Journals Search Options Help Login
Google

Don't worry your pretty little head, the economy will be okay...here's why:

Printer-friendly format Printer-friendly format
Printer-friendly format Email this thread to a friend
Printer-friendly format Bookmark this thread
This topic is archived.
Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU
 
politicaholic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:19 PM
Original message
Don't worry your pretty little head, the economy will be okay...here's why:
Bush's 2008 Stimulus Package: Pros & Cons


"I got your stimulus
package right here!"


The U.S. market and businesses are afraid of the "R" word. And just when we thought "Romorehugeprofits" wasn't a word, the president finds a way to make a recession profitable for normal americans (Note: "normal americans" make an income of $150,000 per year or more, the rest are immigrants that happened to be born in the U.S. who should really just go back to Huddled-masses-istan where they belong). He proposes deep tax cuts for small business. This will give these businesses an incentive to hire new people...in theory. A theory that has been disproved as of the Reagan era, which kind of makes it a non-theory, but scientific method aside, lets look at the pros and cons of this stimulus package:

Pro- The business will show more profits through lower taxes. With this, the owners and investors of said business will be able to buy your foreclosed house at rock bottom prices.

Con- Your family gets so much closer by living in a cramped apartment. See? They stimulate the economy AND promote family values. No cons here!

Pro- $145 billion is too much money to do the job of warding off recession, so this is a great opportunity to divert some of the money to places that really need it such as the Iraq War and to help thwart Iran's Massive Nuclear Warhead Program (proof pending).

Con- You don't get your house back and you're living in your car, but you get the opportunity to explore culinary possibilities such as: http://www.wisebread.com/cooking-great-meals-with-your-car-engine-the-heat-is-on Con? I don't think so.

Pro- The stimulus package increases the deficit, which helps America. How? Well, Bush could explain it to you in plain english that everyone could understand using small words, hand gestures, pops, clicks, and a well placed series of grunts, but what's the point? If you could possibly understand then you would already be rich...and not a liberal.

Con- I'm sure you've heard the term, "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day, but teach a man a fish and he will eat for a lifetime." Well, the government is giving your employer a fish, go ask them for a piece of it. Oh...that would be considered a cost of living increase and Jack in the Box's $.99 value menu hasn't gone up, so since that's a clear indicator that the cost of living hasn't gone up, go find your own damn fish.


This is the Stimulator.
Bush requests that you wear
one until 1/9/09. Thank you.


Obviously we just haven't given Reaganomics enough of a chance! Okay, I'm going to say it...Bill Bernanke, head of the Federal Reserve, is horribly spineless and ineffective at his job. It could be because the only reason he's Fed Chair is that he's willing to ignore the massive mathematic holes in Supply Side Economics and is reeeeally really good at nodding. Or it could be because he's still figuring out how to use the little calculator on his computer. Bill, if you're reading this, click your Start menu on the bottom left of your screen, then click...nevermind, just call me i'll walk you through it.

Solution I hate to bitch and not offer up a solution. Of course I'm not an economist, accountant, or owner of multiplication table flash cards, but I do pay attention. Here goes:
1) Put a hold on all foreclosures until April 16th when all GROSS taxable incomes (before write offs) are calculated. Adjust mortgage payments for those currently in foreclosure to 25% of their gross income for the next 24 months. This will adjust the interest rates for the consumer. Give the lenders the opportunity to write off only the current market rate shortfall thus keeping them solvent and allowing people in foreclosure to readjust their credit.
2) Eliminate interest only mortgages and lower the Debt to Income Ratio for future mortgages to 36% of the total gross income.
3) Offer a new employee tax credit to the small and medium business categories. The employees must work 32 hours or more and must be employed for at least 120 days.
4) Put energy subsidies in jeopardy if rates aren't adjusted down by 15%. (And a hearty guffaw ripples through the White House)
5) Lower taxes for households $60,000 gross income.
6) Increase child tax credit for households of $75,000 or less. (2007 retroactive)
7) Increase the import tax on all foreign made goods by .3%. ("Tax increase? What the...that's you liberals answer for everything!")
8) Increase tax on all outsourced white collar jobs. ("Another tax increase! Sure, they're foreigners, but still they're American-ish. At least they don't live next door to me.")
9) Increase taxes 1% for households of three or less with an annual gross income of $150,000 or more. ("Oh my god! And what do you expect that would do to the sales of summer houses in 2008? Didn't think about that did ya smart guy?")
10) I could go on, but the more freedom of speech I use, the more liberal I look, and as we all know, "Liberals hate the constitution."

Conclusion- I can only come to one. Bush is trying to make the next administration look as bad as possible by digging a hole that is unfillable. I would like to wrap this up with Fun With Metaphors: The stimulus package is a cute stuffed animal in which the Bush administration has placed a grenade upon retreat so to kill their enemy. Unfortunately, politics is not a war, citizens are not soldiers, and history is not pre-written, it is investigated by history majors...history majors that work a hell of a lot harder than George W. Bush did when he was a history major.



Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
aint_no_life_nowhere Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:22 PM
Response to Original message
1. "a well placed series of grunts" LOL
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Richard Steele Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:22 PM
Response to Original message
2. K&R
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Jed Dilligan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:24 PM
Response to Original message
3. K&R for humor and sensible proposal! nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
blondeatlast Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:25 PM
Response to Original message
4. Wow--this is BRILLIANT and funny. K&R. nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
nickyt Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:33 PM
Response to Original message
5. Awesome post!! If you aren't already earning big bucks as a writer, I'll be very mad!
Repeat: MARvelous work!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
ursi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:34 PM
Response to Original message
6. This is cool!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
NanceGreggs Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:43 PM
Response to Original message
7. This here is one of those BBB posts ...
Blatantly Beyond Brilliant!!!

:applause: :applause: :applause:

Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
upi402 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:49 PM
Response to Original message
8. I mind my fish
it makes good pops clicks and grunts which are very instructive.
and I am getting reeaaaalllly good at nodding too.


great post! what fun.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
politicaholic Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 08:43 PM
Response to Reply #8
11. thanks!! my fish just floats around sending telekinetic messages...
"the cat is evil...the cat must go!"
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
upi402 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 12:03 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. LOL
Beautiful!
:rofl:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
crikkett Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 07:18 AM
Response to Reply #11
14. I think you mean telepathic messages
telekenesis is where your fish's mind sends the cat flying out the window.

Great OP!!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SammyWinstonJack Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 06:49 PM
Response to Original message
9. Very good!
:applause: :applause:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
gateley Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 07:21 PM
Response to Original message
10. K&R! nt
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Ghost Dog Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Fri Jan-18-08 09:32 PM
Response to Original message
12. Hup.
'Nough said.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rassah Donating Member (38 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 04:13 PM
Response to Original message
15. Part of 2, and 7...
are probably a bad idea. I'm all for lowering the debt-to-income ratio requirements, but there is no reason to eliminate interest-only loans. Maybe limit them to investment property only... If the bank is willing to take the risk, buying property with a sizeable enough downpayment, renting it out, and only paying interest on the loan is a good way to make money. As for #7, any sort of tarrifs, or taxes on imports, are only bad for economy, and the country implementing the tarrifs. I know economics, and that's just a fact. It would be better if import taxes, such as ones on sugar, were eliminated instead.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
truedelphi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 06:09 PM
Response to Reply #15
16. Welcome aboard the DU choo choo
Edited on Sat Jan-19-08 06:10 PM by truedelphi
Hope you have a fun ride.

Even if you only learn half as much as I have learned on this site, you will be overwhelmed!
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Rassah Donating Member (38 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 12:03 PM
Response to Reply #16
19. thanks, but...
Been here since probably '99 or 2000. Just don't post much.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
Kazak Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 06:13 PM
Response to Original message
17. They came in with a plan to sink America.
I don't expect them to leave without trying too!

:scared:
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
scarface2004 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sat Jan-19-08 08:11 PM
Response to Original message
18. actually raising business taxes would spur investment!
if business taxes were 65% instead of 35% the benefit of buying equipment would be 65 cents on the dollar instead of 35 cents, pushing business to spend more intead of keeping the profit. right now taxes are so low businesses figure its better not to invest, since there is less of a tax benefit. watch what would happen if the rate was raised to 70%, then dropped to 35% in a couple of years. business would push spending into the 70% years because of the increased tax benefit.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
CranialRectaLoopbak Donating Member (61 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 02:40 PM
Response to Original message
20. I'm still trying to understand why free market Repubic-hairs are offerening any plan.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
truedelphi Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 02:47 PM
Response to Original message
21. Someone should memo Bush to the efffect that whatever he tries he flunks out at
Maybe the economy is tanking, but it will tank more if he even thinks about attempting to save it
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
f the letter Donating Member (402 posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 06:18 PM
Response to Original message
22. Wow this is a good post
i'm working through your solution.. interesting stuff
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
cutlassmama Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 07:35 PM
Response to Original message
23. K&R. It would be nice to see the 2 billion he took from Social Security
Disability returned to the program so that people trying to live on $500/mo or so could have their "fair share" instead of being cut.
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
SoCalDem Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Sun Jan-20-08 08:04 PM
Response to Original message
24. Bush plan circa October
Edited on Sun Jan-20-08 08:07 PM by SoCalDem
http://journals.democraticunderground.com/SoCalDem/76


Posted by SoCalDem in General Discussion

Tue Oct 30th 2007, 03:57 PM

That comfy well-paying job you still have or may have recently lost, or fear losing, is no problem to worry your pretty mind over anymore.

George has a $6 Billion plan for your future.

He has apparently decided that a "European style" extended unemployment compensation plan just "won't work" here, so here's his plan.

George's plan is for Re-training™ for the "Service Economy™" .

Yes, that's right, folks. That degree that you slaved to get, and are still paying for 15 years later, may no longer be part of the globalization plan. It just is not practical or profitable anymore..

Outsourced jobs are just a fact of life in the New Age™ .. it's nothing personal.

You may start salivating when you see ads for Fancy Feast on tv, but don't worry, George has your back.

The beauty of the plan is that while you are "Re-training™" you use your Visa and or Master Card to make that house payment, car payment and other bills. When you are though with your Re-training™ , you can sell that house to the many entrepreneurs who will be eagerly buying up houses in this bargain-housing extravaganza. Maybe one of them will even hire you to distribute flyers to other soon-to-be sellers.. In a Service Economy™ there are many ways to make money.

If you give him/her a good enough "deal" on your former house, you might even be able to rent it, and never again have to worry about the upkeep on it. It's a win-win.

The job you originally trained for may have come with a health care benefits program and some paid vacation, but surely your "new career" as a "service worker" will afford you adventurous living like you've never experienced before.

Multiple part time jobs offer you the opportunity to get to know a wide variety of new people, and the experience of learning how MANY businesses do their business. It will definitely cut down on the old one-job/one-career stagnation that so many Americans have suffered from for far too long.

You may have the opportunity to learn to cook..(and, in some restaurants they even give you a discount on food for your break), or to make reservations to exciting destinations.... or to discover the inner workings of a developing child's mind and personality, as you do daycare,....or you could become an environmentalist as you carefully test automobile emissions...you could bridge the generation gap while you tend to the needs of the Greatest Generation™ ..(imagine the stories they will tell you as you change their bedding)

Like the great outdoors? The Service Economy™ offers you opportunities too...School children will always need to cross streets carefully... commune with nature as you do leaf removal...cars need TLC too, and that cool water on a hot day feels pretty good... Lawn care is a highly sought-after job, and by taking one, you are doing your part in "Border Security™"..(Every anglo who washes cars & does lawns, eliminates the need for a guest worker to come here for that job)

Fruits & vegetables are good for you, and as a fruit extraction engineer, you will have easy access to many nutritious foods, all day long.(be sure and wipe them off before you eat them as you pick them, though)

Even our president values manual labor, and he works in the great outdoors, cutting brush, as often as his busy schedule allows.

This is an opportunity... a challenge..a widening vista.. It's an adventure..so embrace it without fear.

Money is the root of all evil™, and downsizing is good for the soul. That big house you used to fret about, and struggle to keep the lawn mowed, and to keep the house maintained..? well fear not.. A nice tidy, personal-sized apartment is the wave of the future. You will be on the cutting edge of the "new way forward".

No more need for those wasteful gym memberships.. Take an apartment on the 3rd floor.. Who needs a Stair-master™ when you can climb those stairs for free? (add groceries and/or laundry, and think of the pounds you will lose)..

An apartment also has other advantages.. It will encourage those obnoxious kids to finally move out on their own. They can surely find a service job , and an apartment of their own.

Younger kids will thank you, since they will now get the opportunity to really get to know their siblings, by sharing a room, and by spending quality sibling-time as they prepare meals together and wait for you to come home from one of your jobs. They will be so happy to see you, and will hang on your every word, as you recount the vivid experiences of your day.

Apartments also are often conveniently located near medical services. When you look for your apartment, be sure to look for signs that advertise their services. They often say "Clinica Familia"..

Which brings me to the best part. Diversity.. You too can experience the excitement of living abroad as you downsize.. WITHOUT EVER HAVING TO LEAVE THE GOOD OLE US of A.

It's a well-known fact that the most recent immigrants to our country , tend to cluster in apartment-zones, so you can even learn a foreign language, and never have to pay high prices for those Berlitz™ tapes..

Apartments are also usually located near bus routes, so you can get rid of that pesky car, too. Your new service job providers will be happy to work with you to accommodate your new exciting schedule.

The transformation to the Service Economization of America™ will be like nothing we have ever seen before, and you will be a pioneer on the brink of the future..

The New Middle Class™ is lean, and fit, and hungry for the New Success™ that awaits them.

Congratulations!..You've earned it
Printer Friendly | Permalink |  | Top
 
DU AdBot (1000+ posts) Click to send private message to this author Click to view 
this author's profile Click to add 
this author to your buddy list Click to add 
this author to your Ignore list Mon May 06th 2024, 08:56 PM
Response to Original message
Advertisements [?]
 Top

Home » Discuss » Archives » General Discussion (1/22-2007 thru 12/14/2010) Donate to DU

Powered by DCForum+ Version 1.1 Copyright 1997-2002 DCScripts.com
Software has been extensively modified by the DU administrators


Important Notices: By participating on this discussion board, visitors agree to abide by the rules outlined on our Rules page. Messages posted on the Democratic Underground Discussion Forums are the opinions of the individuals who post them, and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Democratic Underground, LLC.

Home  |  Discussion Forums  |  Journals |  Store  |  Donate

About DU  |  Contact Us  |  Privacy Policy

Got a message for Democratic Underground? Click here to send us a message.

© 2001 - 2011 Democratic Underground, LLC