Economy may not be recovering bad jobs
Spinsanity finally critiques Farenheit 9/11.
Felons on the voting list in Florida.
A very substantial post there. In any case, those are interesting articles.
From today’s Bozeman Chronicle:
I’m surprised there hasn’t been a midnight vigil for Shane Savage. I thought this was a town full of tolerant liberals. Usually you are quite reliable in defending the oppressed minority, Islamic terrorists and the blue-eared western-slope bumblebee. Surely you can find someone else to blame for the illegal acts Mr. Savage has committed. As his friends and family have so compassionately affirmed, his actions weren’t his fault.
A call to liberals who blame the United States for 9/11: Where are you to defend poor Shane?
Shane Savage was convicted in 2003 of threatening to kill a man and a girl and pistol whipping his wife and he escaped from prison last summer for five months.
Why the Chronicle would print this is beyond me. There’s no point, it’s simply a hateful stereotype. We get this every Friday (except this one, strangely) from Tamara Hall. It’s really really pathetic.
Another letter printed today makes an interesting argument:
Now consider the words of Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., in response to President Bush’s State of the Union address: “He has presided over the loss of more jobs than any president since Herbert Hoover.” Sen. Corzine, D-N.J., weighed in with the comment that this was the largest job loss in 75 years. Clear calumnies. President Franklin Roosevelt in May 1937 had an unemployment rate of 12.3 percent, but in May 1938, during the recession within a depression, the unemployment rate was 20.1 percent. It was estimated that unemployed workers rose from 5.1 million in August and September 1937 to 10.8 million in May 1938. (Gene Smiley, “Rethinking the Great Depression”) That’s 5.7 million jobs, almost twice the supposed 3 million jobs “lost under Bush.”
I can’t find Corzine’s statement, but Pelosi’s statement was a comparision of net job loss over a president’s time in office. From Jan 1939 to Jan 1945 11.98 million jobs were created, offsetting the 5.7 million loss in the period he looks at. So, he’s an ass.
From TMW: Many Firms Avoided Taxes in Boom
WASHINGTON – More than 60% of U.S. corporations didn’t pay any federal taxes for 1996 through 2000, years when the economy boomed and corporate profits soared, Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal reported, citing the investigative arm of Congress.
The disclosures from the General Accounting Office are certain to fuel the debate over corporate tax payments in the presidential campaign. Corporate tax receipts have shrunk markedly as a share of overall federal revenue in recent years, and were particularly depressed when the economy soured. By 2003, they had fallen to just 7.4% of overall federal receipts, the lowest rate since 1983, and the second-lowest rate since 1934, federal budget officials say.
The GAO analysis of Internal Revenue Service data comes as tax avoidance by both U.S. and foreign companies also is drawing increased scrutiny from the IRS and Congress. But more so than similar previous reports, the analysis suggests that dodging taxes, both legally and otherwise, has become deeply rooted in U.S. corporate culture. The analysis found that even more foreign-owned companies doing business in the U.S. — about 70% of them — reported that they didn’t owe any U.S. federal taxes during the late 1990s.
Ugh. From a forum I post at:
Capitalism sucks. It conditions us to consider eachother, not as persons, but as means to our own selfish desires. We are all instruments to eachother, to be ‘used and thrown away’ as seen fit, in this insatiable materialistic appetite. A perpetual yearning for ‘more’ that results from a deep spiritual/emotional void in our lives; an expensive car, a six figure salary, a luxurious mansion – all failed attempts at fulfillment. We’ve been handed the magnet, and yet we continue to plow through the haystack with our hands looking for the needle. Our wonderful economic system has infiltrated every aspect of our society and deteriorated our values and social bonds; And that, I think, has led to the crime, the corruption, the greed.. this sick society we live in today. Well, that’s what I think at least.. I could be wrong.
(By bashing Capitalism I am not supporting Communism, so please, no unnecessary comments like – “Yeah!? Well Communism ain’t any better, y’damn Commie!”)
Not that I have any solutions, or really against capitalism, I’m just in a bad mood.
…the economy will be referred to as “moody.”
Courtesy of Rich Bond, silly Republican.
…that a 5.6% unemployment rate doesn’t mean a 94.4% employment rate?
Thanks.
Oh, and while you’re at it, tell him that positive job growth isn’t great by default.
Economic Growth Revised to 8.2%
The economy roared ahead at an astounding 8.2 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the fastest pace in nearly two decades and a much stronger performance than previously thought. It raises hope that a long spell of lackluster business activity is finally over.
First off, it was Bush’s tax cuts that did most of this. No one will deny that. Economies always show impressive growth coming out of a recession, plus the absolutely massive cuts (coupled with people willing to spend more than usual) jumpstarted it in the last quarter. But (there’s always a but), it’s only one quarter. People don’t have the refunds to spend again. And of course, the deficits are so out of control, taxes are going to have to be raised (or SS, medicare, etc go out the window). So this is going to come back to bite everyone who got a cut. But for now, hopefully this gets the economy back on track. It doesn’t make Bush’s policies prudent, he could have got the same result by giving less to the upper class, which will end up costing everyone a ton, and he’s given us an insane deficit.
Euro Soars to Record High Against Dollar
The euro soared to a record high against the dollar Tuesday in a
major boost for many U.S. exporters but deepening the pain for the
continent’s struggling economy and American tourists in Europe.
We’re inching closer to OPEC turning to the Euro instead of using the dollar. Then you should be worried. Very worried.
