Recently in Economy Category

Republicans in Congress have blocked a bill for medical care for 9/11 responders because of an alleged concern it would add to the deficit.Yet at the same time Republicans insist on tax cuts for the most wealthy regardless of the impact on the deficit.I wonder sometimes if we live in a legitimate country, or if we all exist and work so a powerful few can prosper.How do average working people who vote Republican tolerate these things?Even if you...

The latest on "The Deal":President Obama at Tuesday's press conference: [I]t's a big, diverse country, and people have a lot of complicated positions, it means that in order to get stuff done we're gonna compromise...This country was founded on compromise."Yesterday: "Vice President Biden told House Democrats on Wednesday that the tax agreement the White House struck with Republicans was essentially final, forcing the divided caucus to decide whether to press its fight for changes in...

Winners and losers in yesterday's episode of "Let's Make A Deal":Big winner (surprise, surprise): The wealthy. The Bush tax rates, with 52.5% of the benefit going to the top 5% of taxpayers, remain in effect for at least the next two years. Just as an aside, these are the same rates which cost about $2.5 trillion, all of it borrowed. What happened to the deficit monster? Hmmm. The capital gains and dividends taxes stay low...

Why is this man smiling?You would be smiling too if you'd just been named de facto President of the United States:"White House officials and Congressional Republicans said Sunday they were closing in on a deal to temporarily continue the Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels, while bitterly frustrated Democratic Congressional leaders began exploring whether they would have the votes for such a package. A day after the Senate rejected President Obama's preferred [yeah,right] tax...

The old Mammoth Cave:The new Mammoth Cave:"White House negotiators and congressional Republicans have the outlines of a deal to extend the Bush-era tax cuts and federal unemployment benefits, which would end a partisan stalemate on Capitol Hill. Under the prospective deal, all the Bush tax cuts would be extended for two years and unemployment benefits would be extended for one, according to congressional sources."  But the extension of unemployment benefits comes with a caveat:"Senior Senate...

American companies have reported record profits for the third quarter of 2010.From the New York Times---"The nation's workers may be struggling, but American companies just had their best quarter ever. American businesses brought in $1.66 trillion at an annual rate in the third quarter, according to a Commerce Department report released Tuesday. That is the highest figure recorded since the government began keeping track over 60 years ago, at least in nominal or non-inflation-adjusted terms. Corporate...

It has been two weeks since Republicans made significant  gains across the country on Election Day.The focus of the election was jobs and the economy. 56% of folks in a recent CBS News poll say the most important issue for the new Congress is jobs and the economy.Yet as millions of Americans still deal with unemployment and underemployment, the Republican focus is on everything but jobs and the economy. Where incoming Republican governors have addressed jobs,...

We've seen this topic a lot lately and from the comments I have read I have to ask the serious question: is deficit reduction really a priority right now? Politicians say it is because the voting public say it is. Then again, I'm not sure if they really believe. I think a lot of people simply don't understand the ramifications that comes along for the ride. It is a lot easier to take pot shots...

An editorial in the New York Times yesterday about the release of the report by the co-chairmen of the deficit commission repeated a phrase that we've heard over and over when it comes to debt and deficits and how we go about getting out of the hole in which we find ourselves-"shared sacrifice.""The proposal, released Wednesday, comes from Erskine Bowles, formerly the chief of staff for President Bill Clinton, and Alan Simpson, the former Republican...

When I looked back at my last piece I realized it wasn't going to be well received. It's funny but Bill Maher hit it on the head when he chastised Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert for letting the right off easy. They said both sides were being unreasonable when it has mainly been the right that has been unreasonable. My last piece was simply a plea to remain reasonable during these tough times. It led...