Archive for the ‘Economy’ Category
Hey Mitt, It Was A Republican Who Was President When The ‘Great Recession’ Began
by David K. Suttonin Economy- May 07, 2012 at 3:44pm
I would like to remind Republicans, particularly presidential candidate Mitt Romney, that it was a Republican who was in the White House when the ‘great recession’ began. Romney can try to spin it as Obama’s economy or Obama’s recession, pretending that Obama was responsible for the worst recession since the great depression, but it was George W. Bush who was president at the time.
Obama has had to clean up the mess that Republicans made and do so with a less than cooperative congress. Even when Democrats controlled the Senate and the House that didn’t mean there was a clear and easy path to get things passed. In hindsight (well, not to some people like economist Paul Krugman) the stimulus was not big enough, but it was probably as large as it could be politically. Republicans like to frame that time period as the time when Obama had a liberal congress that would fall in line, but that simply wasn’t the case. Many Democrats are not liberals. Hell, even Obama isn’t all that liberal, particularly when it comes to the economy. If we had tried some truly liberal ideas three years ago we might be further along in the recovery.
The “Job Creators” Are Doing Quite Well: CEOs Enjoy 15% Rise In Pay
by David K. Suttonin Economy- May 02, 2012 at 4:06pm
As the rest of the economy is slow to recover, compensation for CEOs (you know, the “job creators” Republicans talk about) has risen quite nicely. The average CEO saw a 15% rise in pay in 2011, and that’s after a 28% rise in 2010. How much has your salary increased in the past two years? But we are almost there! If we can just keep the Bush tax cuts in place, or better yet, cut taxes further for the rich then we will begin to see a deluge of job creation. No sarcasm. Honest.
dks
A Brief: The State Of Capitalism In The United States Of America
by David K. Suttonin Economy- April 16, 2012 at 1:41pm
I want to make one point very clear, there has never been a “free market” in the United States. If lobbyists can descend on Washington to sway congress to shape legislation in favor of their clients (corporations) then there is nothing free about the marketplace of capitalism in this country. A free market would mean no oversight, no favors, and no regulations. I’m not saying that would be desirable, I’m simply pointing out a fact that gets overlooked when people talk about the free market. They are talking about something that doesn’t exist.
What we have in the United States is crony capitalism along with privatized profits and socialized risk. The capitalists lobby congress for favorable tax laws and other legislation. In turn government introduces tax “incentives” otherwise called “loopholes” while looking the other way when corporations merge and gobble up other corporations.
‘Only’ 120,000 Jobs Added In March, But Public Sector Job Losses Continue To Shrink
by David K. Suttonin Economy- April 06, 2012 at 1:22pm
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 120,000 jobs were added to the U.S. economy in March. This is the 15th straight month of job gains when combining public and private sector. It is the 25th straight month of private sector job growth. The unemployment rate dropped from 8.3% to 8.2% but this was largely due to people dropping out of the labor market. The breakdown for March is 121,000 private sector jobs added and 1000 public sector jobs lost.
TPM: Unwillingness Of Congress To Spend Slowing Economic Recovery
by David K. Suttonin Economy- March 13, 2012 at 10:08am
Talking Points Memo has a chart showing the difference between government spending during the Reagan economic recovery and the Obama economic recovery. Net change in government spending under Obama has actually decreased after going up modestly in his first two years in office. Contrast that to Reagan where net change in government spending increased year after year through his first term.
Occupy Fairness: Don’t Let The One Percent Define What Is Fair
by David K. Suttonin Economy- March 09, 2012 at 5:46pm
It really does come down to fairness.
Republicans say that high income earners already pay a disproportionate share of total federal tax revenue. They are correct. Republicans say 46% of Americans pay no federal income tax. Again, they are correct. Republicans say it is unfair to increase taxes on people in the top tax bracket. According to who?
U.S. Economy Grew 3% In 4th Quarter 2011
by David K. Suttonin Economy- February 29, 2012 at 4:26pm
The U.S. Economy grew 3% in the last quarter of 2011 according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Sounding Dangerously Conservative: A ‘High’ Gas Price Diatribe
by Steve Schulerin Economy- February 29, 2012 at 1:35pm
The following originally appeared as a comment by Steve Schuler to: Santorum Says $4 Gas Caused 2008 Financial Collapse
You know what? I’m really tired of hearing people whine about high gas prices. The rest of the world laughs at what we call high, and with good reason.
Let’s do some math:
Santorum Says $4 Gas Caused 2008 Financial Collapse
by David K. Suttonin Economy- February 27, 2012 at 10:07pm
Today Rick Santorum said gasoline prices were the cause of mortgage defaults that led to the financial collapse of 2008. “We went into a recession in 2008 because of gasoline prices. The bubble burst in housing because people couldn’t pay their mortgages because we’re looking at $4 a gallon gasoline”, said Santorum. He ignores the housing bubble and risky mortgages that were the actual cause. The collapse was likely accelerated by high gas prices but it would have happened regardless, so it definitely was not the cause.
Spending Cuts Hurt Economy: Romney’s Moment Of Clarity
by David K. Suttonin Economy- February 21, 2012 at 11:46pm
Mitt Romney had a moment of economic clarity today that is in direct violation of conservative credo. At a campaign event in Michigan, Romney said, “If all you’re thinking about doing is cutting spending, why as you cut spending you’ll slow down the economy.”
Well, duh.
