Open Thread For October 6, 2017
Obamacare Rates To Rise 25% In Delaware. Less than Highmark had requested. This is what Trump’s sabotaging of Obamacare looks like. Here’s one example. Here’s another. I mean, Iowa and Oklahoma. Not exactly D strongholds.
Wilmington Eastside Project Seeks To Create Arts Habitat. I’m cautiously optimistic. Anything Tina Betz takes on has a chance of success. I wish she’d run for office.
Callistra Gingrich Confirmed As US Ambassador To The Vatican. Trump’s ‘fuck-you’ to the Pope.
FEMA Pulls Disastrous Puerto Rico Stats From Website. Didn’t want anybody to see how many people lack water and electricity. Thankfully, a Spanish language website reports real news.
Anti-Nuclear Campaign Wins Nobel Peace Prize. The group, International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), seeks “to draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons and for its ground-breaking efforts to achieve a treaty-based prohibition of such weapons”.
Why ‘Tax Reform’ Is In Trouble. It’s a Rethug Rubik’s Cube.
The ‘Rules’ Of Debating Gun Control. The rules, of course, are phony, and limit the scope of debating gun policy. Interesting read from The Atlantic.
“Why ‘Tax Reform’ Is In Trouble.”
I heard this sentence on some financial channel yesterday. “Stocks continue to climb as investors anticipate tax reform…”
WTF!?!? This is utter bullshit on so many levels.
There is fake news out there and what isn’t coming from Russia is coming from Bloomberg, Fox Business Channel, and CNBC. These networks are not reporting “business” news. They are giving day traders their daily fix, and pretending it is related to the wider economy.
“Stocks continue to climb as investors anticipate tax reform…”
Tax cuts for the rich aren’t actually good for business. But they are a great short-term play for speculators.
Giving rich people money they don’t need is a big factor in producing investment bubbles. They use the extra bid up the prices of things like stocks, real estate and fine art.
So one big reason the stocks climb is that the filthy rich don’t have many other places to put the money.
Not sure of that cause-and-effect. This run-up is a continuation of what had happened over the past several years. Irrational exuberance is almost always a predictor of a precipitous decline. When everyone goes all-in, it’s time to get out. Last ones in are always the suckers.
Cutting the corporate tax rate is probably good for business, but the individuals who run those businesses use any cuts in corporate taxes to buy back stock or distribute windfall profits to already-rich executives and investors. This destructive short-term behavior is only accelerated by cuts to the individual tax rates for the rich.
The solution is to cut corporate tax rates, while steeply raising tax rates for upper income individuals (the investor class). Business would benefit, but would have incentive to re-invest in the long-term business and employees instead of licking the sugar off the top for themselves.
I’d be in favor of a corporate tax reform that, for every dollar cut from the corporate tax rate, raises individual taxes on the upper brackets by an equal amount of dollars.
Market solutions! Let corporations innovate to a great society. We can code an app to solve poverty (after the shareholders get their cut). Jobs – or universal basic income – or whatever.
If you every wonder why I find John Carney and his ideas repugnant and dumb… see above.
“Not sure of that cause-and-effect.”
Should have included a link for the skeptical:
https://real-economics.blogspot.com/2017/01/why-republican-tax-cuts-always-cause.html
Correct. And remember the government bail out will then turn round and make investors and shareholders whole. Everyone else is on their own.
@alby – not sure if you were referring to me as skeptical, but your link agrees with me: “The fact is that high marginal tax rates strongly correlate with economic growth.”
BTW, the Bush tax cuts were passed by Democrats, not Republicans – not just once but three times.
“This is what Trump’s sabotaging of Obamacare looks like.”
this is what happens when there is a monoply in Delaware (as set up by the politicians)
@Arthur: Wrong. It’s not “set up by the politicians.” It’s dictated by Delaware’s small pool size, high cancer rate and factors like that.
When politicians get involved in insurance, it’s generally to help the insurers. High premiums don’t help insurers in a market with no mandate.
Finally, you act as if insurance companies operate independently instead of as an oligarchy. I”m afraid I’m going to have to ask you for evidence on that one.
Almost 10,000 people shot in Chicago during 2015, 2016, and thus far in 2017. But, most of you don’t know this, I wonder why. Could it be that the liberal media does not report this because for decades Chicago has been controlled by Democrats, and has very strict gun laws, and if the media reported this it would hurt the Dems gun control nonsense?
Actually, Chicago shows why gun restrictions must be national to work. Perhaps you failed to notice that Chicago is connected to the rest of the country, which lacks the restrictions Chicago has. Duh.
Worried that this time people have had enough?