With his singular style, Tom Toles tackles the complex issues of the day. This Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist skillfully targets political, economic and social concerns — in particular complicated environmental issues — with a clear-eyed precision that hits the mark every time.
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Quipss said, 4 months ago
As a little bit of education, the concept of printing money for financing the government is
A) not a new and desperate idea to deal with deficit
B) A crazy left wing idea.
The concept had existed essentially since the depression in Canada, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Credit_Party_of_Canada
Originally a right wing idea, the concept is that by making simply printing money and giving it the government could eliminate all taxes at the expense of inflation.
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However this idea by many is believed flawed, This is due to the nature that there is no guarantee as to how much the government would print, as a result the dollar is effectively believed not only to have lost the value of what is printed but also of what could be printed, in other words the dollar has lost all value.
That said a 1 time trillion dollar coin might not have such an effect when you consider the competition
The Japanese Yen, which due to a deflation spiral has been used mainly to exchange for other currency
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The Chinese Renminbi, If you think that 1 trillion dollars is manipulating currency you will have a heart attack
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The Euro…. I’m presuming this needs no explanation
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The indian Rupee, Massive inflation, highly manipulated. Trying to switch over would be the same as putting hand to try to clear a blender.
However it may not be a good idea to gamble the entire currency when a 2% marginal tax raise may be viable.
Quipss said, 4 months ago
adding on, the reason it can’t be issued as a regular coin or bill is not to try and trick anyone, its because the Federal Reserve. A private institution that would print the money at an interest to give to the federal government has a near exclusive monopoly on the US dollar. The platinum is that most people would call a “loophole”
Clark Kent said, 4 months ago
Restore the 75% tax rates on the rich from the 1960’s.
Restore the Glass Steagall act with sharp teeth.
Restore the estate tax which only hit the top 0.5%.
Restore the tax on stock transactions.
Haul the thieves of wall street and the big bank CEO’s into federal court to be tried for their financial crimes.
Bring back our jobs from other countries.
Close most overseas and domestic US military bases.
Put our veterans and the unemployed to work at good union jobs rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure.
Finally, send cheney/shrub/rumsfeld to the world court to be tried for their many war crimes.
Robert Landers said, 4 months ago
@Clark Kent
While I do not agree with every item on your list, not a bad list over all!
But, do you actually expect our current Congress (especially the Tea Party area of the House of Representatives) to even begin to do this?
Well……. there is always 2014!!
Michael wme said, 4 months ago
@Clark Kent
The top rate was 91% on unearned income. The top rate on earned income was 50%. The top rate on long-term capital gains was about 45% (since most of long-term capital gains was really just inflation).
Since profits were taxed away, businesses invested the money updating capital equipment, making US industry the most advanced in the world. Even with salaries three or four times higher than the competition, US labour was so productive it was cheaper to produce in the US!
With low taxes, the rich now take the profits for themselves, the US capital infrastructure has fallen far behind the competition, and Chinese labour can now produce for less per unit than US labour, so that’s where industrial production is going. Chinese wages are rising, and, eventually, the Chinese worker will get more per hour than the US worker, because the productivity will be much higher, and jobs will stay in China because the US lacks the capital to produce efficiently, so unit costs will be higher in the US (and Ss Smoot and Hawley will be resuscitated).
The New York Times reports that the Chinese government reports that air quality is improving in China, but that’s false because the US government assures us that China’s air quality is the worst in the world and getting even worse. Obviously, either China or the US is lying. What is no longer obvious is which one.
Night-Gaunt49 said, 4 months ago
@Michael wme
As far as pollution, China is making more over all than in the USA. But per citizen, we produce more pollution as individuals.
richardelguru
said, 4 months ago
@ Clark
Super, man.
mikefive said, 4 months ago
@Clark Kent
There are times when you display a perception of reality that is stunning.
Omnius said, 4 months ago
This is what happens when our congress is on tea baggers. If it weren’t for the tea bagging terrorists trying to destroy our government and economy we wouldn’t be hearing such nonsense about trillion dollar coins.
What’s next billion dollar babies?
Ms. Ima said, 4 months ago
@Clark Kent
Do you believe Al Gore should pay 75% of his cable sale in taxes?
Ms. Ima said, 4 months ago
@Clark Kent
So how much extra are you paying into the IRS over what you legally owe? No country has ever taxed itself into prosperity. There is a tax on stock transactions. I see you have declared yourself a General in class warfare. O must be proud of you.
What war crimes has America committed? Please document events and dates. No doubt O has perpetrated these ‘war crimes’ also so he can stand trial also.
GreggW
said, 4 months ago
The coin of the realm…of decline.
Radish
said, 4 months ago
Dycel
said, 4 months ago
@Ms. Ima
" No country has ever taxed itself into prosperity"
Funny it seems your ima-it brain can’t see the historical fact that that is exactly what we did after WWII and everyone prospered.
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This brings up the fact that the capitalism pendulum we grew up advocating has swung so far over to the profit only for the sake of profit side. Money for nothing and your taxes are almost free aka the stock market.
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We now live with the after effects of profits without tangable product creation, high debt low growth, low employment growth and economic stagflation except in the areas of derivative traded futures (energy) that continue to increase the costs and inflation of goods and services over actual demand.
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So in short your statement is false we can tax our way to prosperity!
Dycel
said, 4 months ago
@Omnius
What about those who fund the tea baggers? After all the weak minded easily manipulated can be and have been repeatedly utilized, brainwashed by overpaid minions of misinformation aka faux noise (hannity- 40 mil/yr faux contract, limpy’s 50+ mil radio), and the rest conservo-cratic yak radio and full time bloggers.
Its not the tool its the money behind the tool!
A perfect example of this point is the bus crew fools ima, howzit, ansy, taxdodger, snotty, etc here in toonland who repeatedly post the same faux noise black hole misinformation daily.