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[nenjin]

That was realistically the only compromise that could come from this. We cannot have anything resembling a reasonable debate on this thing with default looming.

Then again, with all the time we HAD, we couldn't come to a reasonable agreement either.

I'm still waiting for the Tea Party reaction. Extending the debt ceiling that far without anything more substantive might cause them to reject it.

[mainiac]

The tax thing is horrible.  Before the democrats would have had filibuster leverage over any attempt to extend the Bush tax cuts.  Now it's a simple majority vote to extend them or to dig us even deeper in the hole.  This is just a first glance assessment though, I may not be getting the right impression of what the tax thing is from the early reports.

[nenjin]

From what I read somewhere, the Bush tax cuts up come again for renewal at the end of this year? Or maybe 2012. Either way, the plan is for Obama to veto them regardless of if they pass both houses. Whether that happens, or he caves to pressure, remains to be seen.

[Jackrabbit]

I would just like to note that while I do enjoy the lofty taxes we enjoy here in the States I would like any future reform to them to adopt the European system of taxes being included with the price of an item. If something costs a Euro it does not cost you a Euro and like five cents or something. Bundle that stuff up. Increase taxes another 10% I dont care, just make this thing easier.

Every once in a blue moon, I'll go to a store that actually prices and labels things that way.  Not "99 cents plus 8.5% sales tax", but just "One Dollar" square.  Stadiums do it that way, because the last thing they need is people holding up the line fumbling around with change, so they keep the complication on their end.  Why that idea is such a mystery to every other realm of business baffles me.

Wow, really? That sounds incredibly byzantine. We have the equivalent of our sales tax included in the marked price, like pretty much every other country on earth. Why wouldn't you be doing that?

[Luke_Prowler]

Marketing, I'd assume. People aren't as excited about a $1.06 item as much as a $1 _{with a %6 tax} one.

[RedKing]

From what I read somewhere, the Bush tax cuts up come again for renewal at the end of this year? Or maybe 2012. Either way, the plan is for Obama to veto them regardless of if they pass both houses. Whether that happens, or he caves to pressure, remains to be seen.

Does it really? I had thought ordering Navy SEALs to bust a cap in Bin Laden might have shown that Barack had grown a pair, but other than that....show me where he's displayed testicular fortitude. He'll cave, unless he loses in 2012 and the tax cuts come up for renewal during his lame-duck tenure. And then his successor, President Crazypants will just reinstate them as soon as he gets in office.

[Phmcw]

http://www.challenges.fr/actualite/monde/20110801.CHA1308/usa-ces-millionnaires-qui-veulent-etre-taxes-pour-sauver-leur-pays.html

Great to see that money doesn't always turn you into a bastard : Patriotic millionaires are making a petition to end Bush tax cut to save their country.

It's absolutely hilarious as well.

[Nadaka]

c

Great to see that money doesn't always turn you into a bastard : Patriotic millionaires are making a petition to end Bush tax cut to save their country.

It's absolutely hilarious as well.

Bill Gates and George Soros have said the same IIRC. Good luck not having the right spin that into a conspiracy theory.

[Heron TSG]

http://www.challenges.fr/actualite/monde/20110801.CHA1308/usa-ces-millionnaires-qui-veulent-etre-taxes-pour-sauver-leur-pays.html

Great to see that money doesn't always turn you into a bastard : Patriotic millionaires are making a petition to end Bush tax cut to save their country.

It's absolutely hilarious as well.

That is fantastic.

[Virex]

http://www.challenges.fr/actualite/monde/20110801.CHA1308/usa-ces-millionnaires-qui-veulent-etre-taxes-pour-sauver-leur-pays.html

Great to see that money doesn't always turn you into a bastard : Patriotic millionaires are making a petition to end Bush tax cut to save their country.

It's absolutely hilarious as well.

That makes me wonder who's behind the tax cuts anyway.


Fake edit: Oh I see, that source says that the majority of the tea party members in the parliament is a millionaire (If my French is to be trusted). Gee, no wonder they're so opposed to taxing the rich...

[RedKing]

This article pretty much sums up what I'm feeling now.

The stimulus debate

What Obama said:


It is absolutely true that we can't depend on government alone to create jobs or economic growth. That is and must be the role of the private sector. But at this particular moment, with the private sector so weakened by this recession, the federal government is the only entity left with the resources to jolt our economy back into life.


What we wish he'd said:


For eight years, the GOP did the loyal bidding of their corporate sponsors. They sucked hard-earned cash from the pockets of working Americans and funneled it to the gambling addicts of Wall Street, who, in turn, trashed the economy and left millions out of work. It’s now my job to clean up their mess. Until such a time as the private sector grows a set of balls – and a conscience – the government will have to help. To those Republicans now whining about excess spending: You had your shot. You blew it. Unless you’d care to explain why you spent the taxpayers' money like a drunk frat boy at a Las Vegas whorehouse, shut the fuck up and get out of the way.

For starters.

[Nadaka]

Redking: That was beautiful, it expresses a lot of what I feel, and more eloquently than I could.

[mainiac]

I would have much prefered

"Now that we have another depression level economic crises, I am saddened to see that my republican colleges are doing everything they can to emulate Herbert Hoover.  I will do my best to remember the lessons of FDR."

[Phmcw]

Two relevant, and interesting article I've just read: http://www.alternet.org/story/151827/the_6_biggest_lies_about_the_u.s._debt/?page=entire
http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/07/2011726131835154941.html
Oppinion?

[RedKing]

I like the AJ one. Unfortunately, in the US both political parties are neoliberal economically, so we have no one protecting us from the excesses of the system. And the notions of capitalism and of how "success" and "freedom" are measured are utterly steeped in capitalism. Quitting your soul-crushing but well-paid job to do subsistence farming with your loved ones would be viewed as a completely insane choice by most. And even though the latter actually sounds appealing to me, even I would probably be unable to actually make that leap and "unplug" from the system, out of fear that the friends and family would forever think of me as "that weirdo that turned into a hippie and ruined his family's life".