What would you do to revive the US economy?

[patokapirate]

I would like to see the corp tax eliminated all together. Corp taxes would be shifted to the people who own the companies, the stockholders. You would see two things happen. Companies would be forced to pay dividends and the stockholder would decide to reinvest in the company or buy a new boat/car/house/ect. Day traders would be required to pay taxes on stock they owned. If you owned stock on one day and sold it later that day or the next you are in for 1/365 of yearly earnings, Or credited for loss. This might hurt the day traders. Boo Hoo. There is enough cash in company coffers now being hoarded to avoid taxes to spend our way out of this situation.

And for the record I do own stocks. So I'm not trying to stick it to the man, I'm trying to become the man. LOL

 

[Summer Fun II]

Gary, Did Wingtard the Super Genius apply for a job with ya. :grin: . :lol:

 

[rickyp52]

Can you back up YOUR tired old argument? I posted 3 jobs 2 months ago. One for a patent attorney and two for engineers with 0-5 years experience. I expected "thousands" of resumes. I got 4 resumes for the patent attorney and about 20 for the engineering jobs. I will tell you in one of the interviews, I asked "What makes you excited about wanting to work here?"... The answer I got was "I didn't call you, you called me." No joke. I've only filled one of the positions so far. It's hard to get people qualified let alone motivated... and these positions are a hell of a lot higher than $40K/year. The engineering positions are still unfilled... almost all of the applicants were wanting a green card/visa sponsor to come here from India and Pakistan.

Oh yeah.. the patent guy working here now is a CSR member... he used to think I'm an ass... now he knows.

I'm stunned. We must live in two different worlds. I know a lot of motivated and well qualified people who can't find employment period, let alone in their field of study.

I'll give you an example of what I mean about people being desperate for work. My wife is an admissions counselor in the health careers area at a local community college. She posted an 18 hour per week/$22 per hour advising position with zero benefits, masters degree required, and had 489 applicants. And the job was only posted for one week on the college website. Only about half the appicants had a masters, but you can see from the numbers how desperate people are.

 

[osd9]

I had a couple other CSR members apply... but they wanted google style lunches at work and be able to play in a rock band on the weekends.

Those applicants were from the 'other' site.They're lazy over there!!!

 

[Ka1oxd]

This has been a sore point to me for a while. So I am going to start this off with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

In 1933, The Glass-Segal Act was passed which prevented the banks from becoming so powerful that they were out of control. This act contained the controls to prevent the wealthy from becoming greedy. From the end of WWII to the 70's was the greatest era of prosperity for both the middle class and the wealthy. In the 70's the tearing apart of that act started the series of events that led us back to where bankers and rich corporations ruled.

My local news paper was a column about how the different countries and how the ratio of pay between the CEO and the average worker. Japan 11:1; Germany 12:1; France 15:1, Italy 20:1 Canada 20:1; .....USA 475:1.

A separate article showed in just the last decade, the wage increase for the middle class was less than 2% compared to greater than 22% for the upper 5% of the income earners.

Another article I read recently showed out of the fortune 400 companies, 80 of those companies had a net gain of taxes of less than 0. This was showing what they paid in taxes and what money the government paid them in subsidies or bail outs. Many of those 400 companies paid less than 22% while only a very few paid greater than 30% in taxes.

Another article showed that 3 times the government has allowed corporations to bring over seas wealth back into the country under several programs at reduced tax rates. The intent was to increase jobs at home. Did not work.

The Supreme Court now allows corporations freedom of speech by allowing unlimited contributions to political agendas and creation of political action committees to spread the business agenda over the people.

The current method of campaigning has created a system where the politicians are bought and paid for by big corporations.

Until such time that the elected officials can no longer be bought and paid for by these special interest groups, nothing will change, the rich will get richer, and the middle class will loose and become the poor. Our government is nothing more than a straw government for businesses.

Sorry for my rant, but back in the 90's I was making over $120k a year, now I am down to $80k.

 

[rickyp52]

This has been a sore point to me for a while. So I am going to start this off with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

In 1933, The Glass-Segal Act was passed which prevented the banks from becoming so powerful that they were out of control. This act contained the controls to prevent the wealthy from becoming greedy. From the end of WWII to the 70's was the greatest era of prosperity for both the middle class and the wealthy. In the 70's the tearing apart of that act started the series of events that led us back to where bankers and rich corporations ruled.

My local news paper was a column about how the different countries and how the ratio of pay between the CEO and the average worker. Japan 11:1; Germany 12:1; France 15:1, Italy 20:1 Canada 20:1; .....USA 475:1.

A separate article showed in just the last decade, the wage increase for the middle class was less than 2% compared to greater than 22% for the upper 5% of the income earners.

Another article I read recently showed out of the fortune 400 companies, 80 of those companies had a net gain of taxes of less than 0. This was showing what they paid in taxes and what money the government paid them in subsidies or bail outs. Many of those 400 companies paid less than 22% while only a very few paid greater than 30% in taxes.

Another article showed that 3 times the government has allowed corporations to bring over seas wealth back into the country under several programs at reduced tax rates. The intent was to increase jobs at home. Did not work.

The Supreme Court now allows corporations freedom of speech by allowing unlimited contributions to political agendas and creation of political action committees to spread the business agenda over the people.

The current method of campaigning has created a system where the politicians are bought and paid for by big corporations.

Until such time that the elected officials can no longer be bought and paid for by these special interest groups, nothing will change, the rich will get richer, and the middle class will loose and become the poor. Our government is nothing more than a straw government for businesses.

Sorry for my rant, but back in the 90's I was making over $120k a year, now I am down to $80k.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Thanks for the spot on "rant".

 

[D-Sill-D]

This has been a sore point to me for a while. So I am going to start this off with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

In 1933, The Glass-Segal Act was passed which prevented the banks from becoming so powerful that they were out of control. This act contained the controls to prevent the wealthy from becoming greedy. From the end of WWII to the 70's was the greatest era of prosperity for both the middle class and the wealthy. In the 70's the tearing apart of that act started the series of events that led us back to where bankers and rich corporations ruled.

My local news paper was a column about how the different countries and how the ratio of pay between the CEO and the average worker. Japan 11:1; Germany 12:1; France 15:1, Italy 20:1 Canada 20:1; .....USA 475:1.

A separate article showed in just the last decade, the wage increase for the middle class was less than 2% compared to greater than 22% for the upper 5% of the income earners.

Another article I read recently showed out of the fortune 400 companies, 80 of those companies had a net gain of taxes of less than 0. This was showing what they paid in taxes and what money the government paid them in subsidies or bail outs. Many of those 400 companies paid less than 22% while only a very few paid greater than 30% in taxes.

Another article showed that 3 times the government has allowed corporations to bring over seas wealth back into the country under several programs at reduced tax rates. The intent was to increase jobs at home. Did not work.

The Supreme Court now allows corporations freedom of speech by allowing unlimited contributions to political agendas and creation of political action committees to spread the business agenda over the people.

The current method of campaigning has created a system where the politicians are bought and paid for by big corporations.

Until such time that the elected officials can no longer be bought and paid for by these special interest groups, nothing will change, the rich will get richer, and the middle class will loose and become the poor. Our government is nothing more than a straw government for businesses.

Sorry for my rant, but back in the 90's I was making over $120k a year, now I am down to $80k.

Unfortunately......this is correct.....and most of the population is probably, at best, only vaguely aware of our slide into a, startling position, of relatively little control over our financial lives......

 

[Pack66Dad]

This has been a sore point to me for a while. So I am going to start this off with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

In 1933, The Glass-Segal Act was passed which prevented the banks from becoming so powerful that they were out of control. This act contained the controls to prevent the wealthy from becoming greedy. From the end of WWII to the 70's was the greatest era of prosperity for both the middle class and the wealthy. In the 70's the tearing apart of that act started the series of events that led us back to where bankers and rich corporations ruled.

My local news paper was a column about how the different countries and how the ratio of pay between the CEO and the average worker. Japan 11:1; Germany 12:1; France 15:1, Italy 20:1 Canada 20:1; .....USA 475:1.

A separate article showed in just the last decade, the wage increase for the middle class was less than 2% compared to greater than 22% for the upper 5% of the income earners.

Another article I read recently showed out of the fortune 400 companies, 80 of those companies had a net gain of taxes of less than 0. This was showing what they paid in taxes and what money the government paid them in subsidies or bail outs. Many of those 400 companies paid less than 22% while only a very few paid greater than 30% in taxes.

Another article showed that 3 times the government has allowed corporations to bring over seas wealth back into the country under several programs at reduced tax rates. The intent was to increase jobs at home. Did not work.

The Supreme Court now allows corporations freedom of speech by allowing unlimited contributions to political agendas and creation of political action committees to spread the business agenda over the people.

The current method of campaigning has created a system where the politicians are bought and paid for by big corporations.

Until such time that the elected officials can no longer be bought and paid for by these special interest groups, nothing will change, the rich will get richer, and the middle class will loose and become the poor. Our government is nothing more than a straw government for businesses.

Sorry for my rant, but back in the 90's I was making over $120k a year, now I am down to $80k.

 

[northern]

patokapirate
Canada tried what you recommend. They were called Trust Units. They were first in the oil and gas industry. All profits from the company after expenses were paid to the unit holders who then clamed the payment as income; if not tax sheltered. Payment was normally between 6 to 10 with some as high as 16 percent. Some did well and some companies went under. In the end the federal goverment cancelled the Trust Companies and made them become dividend paying companies. This reulted in companies paying less to the share holders but more federal tax. Trust units were very popular in RSP (tax sheltered retirment funds). This reulted in NOW TAX to the goverment being less.

 

[MonacoMike]

When I was young there were factories in just about every city in the U.S., both big and small. Many cities were founded on manufacturing. But today practically every one of these factories have closed down, boarded up and left to decay. Former industrial areas of America are now literal ghost towns.

This issue is easily answered by history as I have previously posted. The world has changed in the last 50 years and we have to adjust to it or I guess we could whine about it. MM

Something few Americans realize is that in the aftermath of WWII almost all manufacturing in the world was destroyed except for our USA. Most of Europe was bombed out, we know what happened in Japan, and China was a third world country. We had the ONLY manufacturing base in the world so most of us grew up with no manufacturing competition and that competition has grown steadily over our lives.

 

[MonacoMike]

Can you please connect the dots for me on how the government taking money from someone creates a job? Are you suggesting that the government impose some sort of non-income tax based on how much wealth someone has? So lets say I have a business that I built from nothing and I sell it for $40 million... give the state and feds $10 million... create 70 $100K/year jobs... decide to retire with $30 mil in the bank... Are you suggesting the government should keep coming back to the well and take more money every year? What is "fair share"? I'm doing the over 50% income tax thing now and have dopes telling me that it's not "fair share"... you watching too much MSNBC?

My concern is that going after people who become successful means no one "new" ever has a chance of becoming successful... I guess that fixes the "envy" problem. The bottom line is there is no easy way to become wealthy. You have to risk a lot and then there is only a chance you get there. I applaud people who start with nothing, risk it all, and sit on "oodles of cash." There is no reason more people can't do that. My belief is the government can create opportunity but it's role is to not guarantee outcomes and "level the field." Someone needs to help me understand how "the man" is holding anyone back from starting a company... or is it people just want other people to do that "risk" (home on the line, etc) and then demand part of it.

The silence is deafening. MM

 

[MonacoMike]

My personal list:

Reduce taxes on corporations to be the lowest of the top 15 producing nations.

Stop crony capitalism, No government money to private business other than purchases.

Eliminate the capital gains tax.

Greatly reduce regulation and stop competitors from using it to hold others out of the market.

Get the government out of business. From home lending to flood insurance.

This has been a sore point to me for a while. So I am going to start this off with a quote from Thomas Jefferson:

"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

In 1933, The Glass-Segal Act was passed which prevented the banks from becoming so powerful that they were out of control. This act contained the controls to prevent the wealthy from becoming greedy. From the end of WWII to the 70's was the greatest era of prosperity for both the middle class and the wealthy. In the 70's the tearing apart of that act started the series of events that led us back to where bankers and rich corporations ruled.

They are not doing it with freedom as they are "heavily regulated", they are doing it with crony capitalism. MM

 

[320Bob]

A very large stimulus package of 1-1.5 trillion paid for with taxing the ultra rich and corporations their fair share. Sorry, you asked my opinion. Most of this could be accomplished by simply closing loopholes in our tax laws. Trying to feed our economic engine from the top down just ain't working folks. Nothing is trickling down if you get my drift. If tax cuts for the wealthy and corporations was the answer, where are the jobs? Big Corps and the ultra rich are sitting on oodles of cash, but they are not creating jobs, and why should they when there is no demand? Our middle class is dead and buried, and until the middle class is revived and once again the driving force of our ecomomic engine we are screwed.

Why don't you point the finger at the appropriate villain responsible for a good share of Michigan's economic plight? It's not the weathly but rather the government. By imposing CAFE rules on US auto companies schackled with high union labor costs, GM, Ford & Chrysler were forced to build small high mileage cars that had to compete with Japan, Korea and the like who were not shackled with high union labor costs. They had to produce these cars at little or no profit to "average" with larger vehicles that were profitable. This lead to continuous cycles of factory closings and layoffs. And then there was the Subprime Mortgage program started under Clinton. This allowed banks to give loans to people who were not creditworthy enough to truly afford home ownership. The result being the foreclosures and depressed home prices for all of us. I am sure the inability to sell their houses in Michigan to move elsewhere in the country where there are jobs in another factor contibuting to the high unemployment where you live.

 

[MonacoMike]

My local news paper was a column about how the different countries and how the ratio of pay between the CEO and the average worker. Japan 11:1; Germany 12:1; France 15:1, Italy 20:1 Canada 20:1; .....USA 475:1.

A separate article showed in just the last decade, the wage increase for the middle class was less than 2% compared to greater than 22% for the upper 5% of the income earners.

Another article I read recently showed out of the fortune 400 companies, 80 of those companies had a net gain of taxes of less than 0. This was showing what they paid in taxes and what money the government paid them in subsidies or bail outs. Many of those 400 companies paid less than 22% while only a very few paid greater than 30% in taxes.

Who cares what the other guy makes? It is NOT your business, as long as he does not infringe on your rights and ability to work or earn. Money is not a zero sum game, if the "rich" get richer all get richer. Corporations are incapable of paying taxes. The taxes they send in either belong to the purchasers who paid too much, the shareholders who got too little, or employess who were paid less, that money belongs to someone, corporations are just a conduit and a tax collector for the government. MM

 

[MonacoMike]

The Supreme Court now allows corporations freedom of speech by allowing unlimited contributions to political agendas and creation of political action committees to spread the business agenda over the people.

The current method of campaigning has created a system where the politicians are bought and paid for by big corporations.

Until such time that the elected officials can no longer be bought and paid for by these special interest groups, nothing will change, the rich will get richer, and the middle class will loose and become the poor. Our government is nothing more than a straw government for businesses.

What do you not like about the first amendment and freedom of speech? The socialist organizations you support go after our companies (see Bobs example of the auto industry) and you think they shouldn't be able to respond. I don't get it??? MM

 

[Four Suns]

The silence is deafening. MM

I agree... Someone PLEASE connect the dots how government taking money from people (rich or poor) creates a job? Anyone?

 

[wetpaint]

Come on Gary......Of course taking money from the rich will creates more jobs!!!!!! Government/Public Secter jobs!!!!

 

[katricol]

I am really enjoying this thread...we have some smart people on this board of ALL political theories.

 

[bigblockcutlass]

I just would like to know how everbody was brought up and how they make there living today to reflect there view on how to fix this mess, or what is wrong with it?

 

[Four Suns]

This is what kills me about this forum now. This is supposed to be a forum around Sea Rays. Have you all checked out what these things cost? Go check out a new 52 DB... or a new 47 DB... You don't buy these boats by working 9 to 5 putting fenders on a car in Detroit. The people on here that own these machines are mostly business owners that built their own wealth and have a hobby with an expensive toy. Coming on here and talking about how these people are not paying their "fair share" is absurd. The government taking their boats away won't get you a better job. I don't care what MSNBC tells you.

Maybe we need a different board for people who like Sea Rays, cruising, etc and don't have to listen to the "I made some bad decisions in my career and like to whine and you need to pay for it" crowd... hmmm...