Ted Rall for July 28, 2010

Obama passed a $787B save the economy bill and watched unemployment go from 7.5% to 10.% He passed $1T ObamaCare. He accepted donations from Wall Street. He got the banks to stop lending. He added thousands of regulations on small business. He told each company for every new employee he would increase their health care costs. He told business that their taxes were going to go up so be prepared.

Bellyachers! What possibly more could Tom and Kim want?

Let’s see the Conservatives complain that Obama isn’t creating enough new jobs, and that he isn’t creating them fast enough.

My point - Stop and think about why does he have to create “new” jobs, what happened to the old jobs?

Oh, that’s right they were destoryed when the economy crashed, you remember don’t you it was when all of us got BUSHED!

Do you think that maybe the crash we even worse that we realized, and that it is still taking away jobs. You know like when you are trying to fix a hole in a ship and the water is rushing in faster then you bail it out.

By the way the banks stopped lending a long time ago, that is why small business were dying in 06 & 07, Bush didn’t notice until the banks themselves started to fail – remember him suddenly appearing on TV (in the middle of Presidential campanin) saying that his “advisors” were telling that there may be a problem and best thing to do is just GIVE the banks billions and they would fix everything.

“He got the banks to stop lending”

Was that before or after they were handed almost a billion dollars in no-strings-attached tax-dollars from Bush?

“He told business that their taxes were going to go up so be prepared.”

Which ones? The ones who can reap a billion dollars in profit from their taxes? The ones who don’t pay any taxes in the U.S. but benefit from government subsidies? Small businesses – oh wait http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2010/jul/27/stephen-hayes/so-called-wealthy-are-actually-small-business-owne/

In the 1950s the income tax rate for the wealthiest individuals was more than 90% – and the country was never more prosperous.

“meanwhile my social security is frozen waiting for that to happen.”

Maybe you should stop sucking from the government’s teat and get off of your lazy butt and get out into the work force and actually work for a living. The country’s going down the tube because people like you think you are entitled to the money you’ve put into it over the years. *

“In the 1950s the income tax rate for the wealthiest individuals was more than 90% – and the country was never more prosperous.”

Socialist. The fact that you don’t see the top 1% have seen their pay rates increase 280% vs. the bottom’s 25% as failed policy means you’re just a Neo-Socialist Communist Liberal Atheist who hates America. *

Worse than that – I hate my own species.

Hey Jade, looking at an increase as a percentage instead of a specific amount is missing the big picture. If I make $1 million dollars a year, and with tax credits, pay $1000 in tax. An increase of 280% raises my tax AMOUNT from $1000 to $3800. I still made $1 million dollars. How hard will the additional $2800 hit my lifestyle?? I am against raising taxes just to raise taxes but if there is a benefit to society what is wrong with that? Social Security is not an entitlement. During my working years I PAID INTO THAT PROGRAM. I am just getting my money back. Back in the day when I WAS working for a living, 100% of my salary was taxed as my contribution to Social Security. Those making more than $106K per year had anything OVER that amount exempt from that tax. Talk about sucking at the teat of society.. Those individuals had a tax break I did not get. None of that group complained THEN about the tax break they got but now feel that those that did not qualify for that tax break don’t deserve to get back what they paid in.

^ Wow, you have weird thinking. If you earned under $106,000/year you put in XYZ dollars and now collect ABC dollars. If the man next door earned $100,000M/year he put in penny for penny XYZ just as you did and collects penny for penny ABC just exactly like you.

What is your beef? You wanted him to put in double your contribution and still collect the same as you or do you want him to be able to collect more than you do?

With thinking like that no wonder you never earned more than $106,000.

My beef is with those that consider Social Security an entitlement program. To answer your other question, if they paid more into it, that is their money, they should get that out of it. They feel that any change in the tax code that effects only them will be bad for the economy. Yet they have been living with a tax code that effected only them. A portion of their salary was tax exempt. Why ??

The trouble that Social Security is in right now is partially due to the fact that reserves in the program were borrowed by the federal government to fund other programs and those loans are not being paid back. If you want that program eliminated fine. If you don’t, and it is still going to be around, then treat everyone equally. Apply that deduction to one’s entire salary. Why is that NOT fair??

@AJLCAB - I mark my tongue-in-cheek or otherwise facetious comments with a trailing asterisk (*). <3

I’m a moderate, not an ultra-conservative.

@AJLCAB

I still don’t understand what you want to have happen. Apparently you feel the upper limit of $106,000 to pay SSI should be eliminated. You seem to say then those people should get more money at retirement as compensation. But the plans proposed are to keep the payout levels at what they currently are. The purpose for removing the cap is an additional tax on the better compensated because the system is bankrupt.

The end result would be some people would literally pay in more money each month than they would get back in their entire lifetime. Do you see why they might complain?

Pity the unfairly victimized rich folks – who don’t have to worry about how to pay their electric bills each month!

Returning to the tax rates of the Eisenhower years would restore some equilibrium to the system. Listening to the wealthy complain about paying 39% instead of 36% is just a cruel joke to the rest of us.

^ Just because the richest people in the country have accumulated most of the country’s wealth in the past few years doesn’t justify class warfare. After all, it’s only class warfare if the upper class are adversely affected. Socialism is only acceptable if’s for the rich’s benefit. *

You should just learn to work harder and accept that you’ll go nowhere. *

When Bush passed the presidency to Obama, he handed Obama a huge place of s__t sandwiches, and now people are complaining that Obama is eating them fast enough. Let’s not forget the two biggest causes of our deficits are the two Bush Wars and the Bush tax cuts for the rich. The Congressional Budget Office says so… Domestic spending is NOT what has caused this…. see the chart …. http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/02/deficits I have posted this several times in several places, and nobody has ever tried to refute it. The RW only has their viral emails they send back and forth to each other and an alternate reality in which they simply parrot Rush and Fox.

@Bigmack: Can you give a permalink to the specific article? That page is updated constantly with new topics.

@Jade: Class warfare is the only kind worth fighting.

I’d just like to be able to buy an apple for a nickel.

churchill, when Warren Buffett says he pays taxes at a lower rate than his secretary, I believe him. That just ain’t right.

^ Warren Buffet obviously hates rich people or he wouldn’t rat them out! *

And what’s interesting is that the percentage he claims he can pay is without cheating.

let’s see…

if kim can sell apples at 5 cents apiece and make a profit, how much do the apples cost kim to buy wholesale ???

Every time you post, human, it’s like you reach through the InterTubes and slap me square across the face.

Or something.

“lifebyc said, about 14 hours ago

What a refreshing surprise. Most of these “comments” sections online aren’t worth reading. Kudos to these folks - discussing issues, debating heatedly but with class, no ad hominem attacks, no ridiculous drivel, no inane profanities, but a healthy heated debate. Well done, all.”

You’ve missed all fun stuff. Stick around for awhile…

NEOCONMAN -

i’m glad now that i bought that arid piece of land - it’s going to be the new coastline and i’ll be raking it in - ahh, REAL ESTATE !! i’ll get to play in your league .

http://www.gocomics.com/comic_page/explore/317043?page=27

Although the marginal rate during the 50’s was 91% for folks making about 400 thousand, no one was actually paying it.

That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make them pay it now!

@Human - Tinkerbell is indeed awesome.

( I was quite entertained by your “links” )

/I-would-like-to-thank-all-those-who-made-this-possible./_Life-may-suck-but-these-little-things-make-it-a-little-less-of-something-I-just-wish-would-end-soon

cute.

how do you get the pictures in?

and the links.