Econ 101 refuted

[jhetley]

So Fearless Leader expects to pay for both wars and for the Katrina relief/rebuilding without raising taxes....

Comments

[copperwise.livejournal.com]

Well, he and all of his friends could donate their pocket change...

[ellyssian.livejournal.com]

Don't worry, there's folks like Coburn who want to make sure Shrub doesn't overspend, and our money goes where it's needed most! (ref. my post (http://www.livejournal.com/users/ellyssian/80490.html))

I'm not bitter, much

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

Sure. He starts by closing many VA hospitals and clinics across the country. Cost of living raises for retirees? For get 'em. Expensive medical care and prescription drugs drive up the cost of health care for retirees so stop authorizing essential care and drugs.

Promised medical care will still be available for the poor and indigent at VA hospitals, providing they can come up with several hundred dollars a year for the enrollment fee. Why the fee? According to the Bush administration its to prevent rich people from taking advantage of the low cost medical care available at the VA. Maybe that works on his planet, but it isn't working here.

I guess, though he'd be loathe to admit it, it's a Darwinian process. Anyone worth saving managed to make enough money during his lifetime to afford proper health care. Everyone else should do the decent thing and die off quietly and save everyone else the money and trouble or caring for them.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

"People ask how we can make money, when all we do is make change. The answer is one word.

"Volume."

See, cutting taxes increases growth, meaning there's more money to be taxed. Cutting taxes to 0 would increase growth *so much* that there'd be infinite growth, leading to actual tax income without any actual taxes! Isn't that amazing!

Re: I'm not bitter, much

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

You sound as if you think Those People have earned VA benefits or something....

Re: I'm not bitter, much

[tsjafo.livejournal.com]

*snerk*

*cleans coke off keyboard*

*grin*

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

You may find this amusing -- very black humor, but humor nonetheless.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

The only other way to bring in revenue is to sell government bonds. That's actually very much in line with what Alexander Hamilton wanted back in the late 18th century. He felt that those who had the biggest stake in America would invest the most into it.

The problem is that right now, the people with the most invested in America are the Chinese government. Given how cash-rich China is due to the way that the Yuan is tied to the Dollar, they have lots of dollars to invest into American government bonds.

I leave the conclusion of this as an exercise in Political Science 101.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

Bonds have to be paid off with _something_. I remember Parental Units clipping coupons on WWII bonds for decades after VJ Day. ((Hell, still have some "First (Second, Third, Fourth) Liberty Loan" buttons floating around the ancestral cultch from The Great War.))

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

How utterly, deliciously, tasteless....

[wcg.livejournal.com]

You're right. The bonds must eventually be paid off. So we either issue more bonds or raise taxes. Whichever happens, it's not going to happen on the current guy's watch.

Of course, Congress could always impose some fiscal discipline all by themselves. But 'tain't likely.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I think that using "fiscal discipline" in the same sentence as "Congress" requires the presence of some strong negative modifiers. Otherwise, you risk tearing a rift in the trans-dimensional fabric of the universe.

No, the fiscal pain won't happen on Shrub's watch. That's one of the reasons he gripes my conservative ass.