49% of wage earners are not paying taxes....
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| Economy |
| Examiner Editorial: Bribing the public with the public's money |
| 2010-09-12 |
| [Washington Examiner] A new report by the Federal Reserve points to "widespread signs of deceleration" in the U.S. economy. No kidding! These signs follow what the Fed calls a "burst" of growth in the last quarter of 2009 and first quarter of 2010 triggered by President Obama's $862 billion stimulus package. Unfortunately, the burst failed to help anybody except special interests like unions and public employees. Note the Fed's evasive word choice: Another word for "decelerating" would be "contracting." That's what happens in an economy debilitated by high unemployment, government over-regulation, spiraling public debt, and whopping tax increases looming for the most productive people and businesses. The Fed report also warned that consumers are not spending like they used to. In other words, they are instead prudently doing what Washington politicians seem incapable of doing -- reducing debt instead of piling on more of it. Consumers are thus casting an overwhelming vote of "no confidence" in Washington's ability to put the nation back on the road to prosperity in the age of Obama. When you add taxpayer bailouts of ineptly or dishonestly managed corporations and a massive expansion of health care entitlements, it becomes clear that America is at a historic crossroad. We are fast approaching a tipping point where those dependent on government largesse outnumber those taxed to pay for it. According to the Heritage Foundation's 2010 Index of Dependence on Government, the number of Americans receiving a government check jumped nearly 14 percent in 2009 - the largest single-year increase since 1970 and 49 percent higher than in 2001. In May, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported that the portion of personal income Americans received from private sector paychecks declined to a record low of 41.9 percent, while income from government programs climbed 17.9 percent. And with nearly half of American wage earners now paying no federal income taxes, the burden of increasing levels of government spending on housing, health care, welfare, education and other entitlements is being borne by a shrinking pool of taxpayers. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #7 If you don't pay taxes, you shouldn't get a vote. Skin in the game = a voice in how the game is run. Otherwise, if your life is suckling off the gubbamint teat, you're out |
| Posted by: Frank G 2010-09-12 18:29 |
| #6 And with nearly half of American wage earners now paying no federal income taxes, the burden of increasing levels of government spending on housing, health care, welfare, education and other entitlements is being borne by a shrinking pool of taxpayers. 49% of wage earners are not paying taxes.... |
| Posted by: Goodluck 2010-09-12 17:05 |
| #5 Separately, I'm hearing things privately that strongly suggest within a decade or two a lot of the things that we currently use oil for will no longer need oil. Things like significantly improved batteries, significantly reduced energy use for common energy hogs, that kind of thing. Some seriously useful inventions are approaching manufacturability. (If I knew any details I would have to work on not engaging in insider trading, so it's a good thing for the state of my soul that I only know that level of generality). This suggests we are approaching a new jump in productivity and reason-to-purchase on the one hand, and a serious reduction in the importance of petroleum production -- just as new petroleum producers come into production around the world on the other. We may win the war against the Caliphatists by default, when the states that support the idea collapse for lack of income. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-09-12 16:22 |
| #4 As someone wrote in these pages recently, the economy is not going to improve until consumer and bank debt are significantly reduced. Consumers have been doing their part by increasing savings and paying down debt in recent months, according to recent reports -- particularly credit card debt. And banks have been quietly rebuilding their balance sheets by not lending out much, from what I've heard. No doubt somewhere in windowless back rooms of-the-books investments are quietly being unwound, or so one hopes. On the other side of the ledger, China is apparently back in the market for U.S. Treasuries for the first time since last September, followed closely by Japan. So it appears they haven't been able to find a safer haven than the US dollar, no matter how hard they tried... and it was clear from the shouting how much they did try. On the third hand, if Americans have been cutting back on unnecessary purchases, it seems to me in my ignorance that the first thing they likely have been cutting is all the unnecessary ticky-tacky stuff from China... which would mean China is buying US Treasuries out of their reserves, not current cash flow, making life very interesting in the middle term. If somebody who actually understands financial things could comment on that in a way I'm capable of understanding, I'd be grateful. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-09-12 15:21 |
| #3 Solutions simple. Manufacturing and re-industrializing the US...which requires facing the twin issues of Chinese currency manipulation-undercover subsidy-terrible quality control-and plain out dishonesty, coupled with energy independence which requires lots of nuclear power, domestic drilling, and elimination of middle eastern lobbying of Congress. It took decades to get this screwed up, lets get started undoing it. Just needs will and politicians that are actual grownups, not spoiled elites or self-absorbed ingrates. |
| Posted by: NoMoreBS 2010-09-12 13:47 |
| #2 The major tipping point (not mentioned in this article) is the 70% of the US economy that used to depend on US consumers buying stuff they don't much need. US consumers are having a 'come to Jesus' moment, are less willing to go into debt in order to buy trivia, they have cut way back, and could yet cut back even more. The economy, if it is to be rebuilt, will have to be rebuilt along other lines. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2010-09-12 13:22 |
| #1 Yes, the 'best and brightest' are clear cutting and strip mining the economy. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2010-09-12 11:17 |