Greenspan Chides Republicans For Pushing To Extend Bush Tax Cuts
(h/t David)
I do believe hell has frozen over. First Alan Greenspan admits his ideological beliefs were wrong, he's now telling the Republicans it would be "disastrous" to extend the Bush tax cuts without paying for them, thus attacking the centerpiece of their dogma (that tax cuts pay for themselves):
Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan said that the push by congressional Republicans to extend the Bush tax cuts without offsetting the costs elsewhere could end up being "disastrous" for the economy.
In an interview on NBC's "Meet the Press," Greenspan expressed his disagreement with the conservative argument that tax cuts essentially pay for themselves by generating revenue and productivity among recipients.
"They do not," said Greenspan.
"I'm very much in favor of tax cuts but not with borrowed money and the problem that we have gotten into in recent years is spending programs with borrowed money, tax cuts with borrowed money," he said. "And at the end of the day that proves disastrous. My view is I don't think we can play subtle policy here."
The comments from the former Fed chief were an elaboration of a position he outlined in an interview earlier in the week. Speaking with PBS' Judy Woodruff, Greenspan expressed his opposition to passing legislation that would hold tax rates steady (under law the tax cuts Bush passed ten years ago are going to expire, thereby bringing rates back to Clinton-era levels). President Obama has pledged to continue the tax breaks for those individuals making under $200,000 and those families earning less than $250,000.
But Republicans want the entire package kept in place. Even so, they have declined to say how they would pay for it, saying, in part, that keeping the Bush tax cuts in place will pay for itself.
In addition to throwing cold water on that theory, Greenspan also weighed in on broader economic issues and trends. The former Fed Chairman relayed some sobering economic predictions, saying he expected the nation's unemployment rate to remain at its current level, mainly because there were few tools left to change it.
Wasn't he for em before he was agin em?
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
???
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
He was for them in 2001:
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2010/08/02/greensp...
...which, as you implied, makes me winder if they're going to swift boat him from the right. They're dumb enough.
w00t!
Spending programs, ha! He could just say perpetual war, because that is the colossus that towers over all, but that would be asking too much.
The problem in Washington, and consequently for anyone attempting to critique the insanity, is that the colossus is BIPARTISAN.
statusquObama, change you can only pretend in
If they would look at their own pie charts. The military is almost half of our spending.
It also uses 50% of our petroleum.
So where would be a great place to make big cuts to save big money?
Too Oedipal for me...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
It's around 30% when we're not fighting anyone.
According to what I have marked on my calendar, we'll be pulling our troops out of Iraq any day now, and then doing the same in exactly one year in Afghanistan.
After that, the milk and honey will be flowing freely for all of us serfs. Right....?
Well, until we 'need' to attack Iran for having some of those imaginary WMD's - gotta' do it to protect Bibi (and to keep the oil flowing).
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
will begin pulling out at the end of this month...all that will be left will be peacekeeping and teaching troops. But, being the cynic that I am, I'm not holding my breath.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
I had beans for dinner last night...
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Isn't it amazing how many RepoCons have to go to confessional before they die so that their souls can rest easy. The Americans poor souls who are paying the prices for the RepoCons sins just die poor.
Living with the Repocons in charge of this country is like sitting in a canvas tent with a pack of hungry jackels outside.
The only time we are safe from them is when they have dragged a few million of us out of the tent and sated themselves for a little while.
You can't tell me that Greenspan just remembered in Econ 101 lesson on how to keep you bank book in balance. After all he got his slice of everybody else's pie just like he planned for himself and his buddies. He is sated now and he's really old so he is trying to white wash his history as chair of probably the worst FED chair history.
There is simply no other explanation for it.
All this means is that Greenspan was a lying old bullsh*tter for years, and he sucked up to whoever was in the White House to keep his job.
What makes me really laugh (rather than weep)is that the current neo-cons base all their arguments on how "right" Greenspan was.
Which also makes me very suspect of any reporting done on the subject by his spouse, Andrea Mitchell.
Democratic Party progressive, Vietnam veteran and proud Union member for 41 years
(as if he were ever really "on") from all remaining physical contact in their marriage. The thought of him changing his own Depends was more than the putz could bear any longer.
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
responsible.
The current head of the Fed (Ben S. Bernanke) doesn't agree (obviously).
He has said that extending tax cuts which were established under George W. Bush would add to the economic stimulus necessary to get the U.S. economy back on track.
As President Obama should have shown everyone by now, once you are in power, the facts have a way of changing to suit the powerful.
he decides to tell the truth. Does anybody really listen to him anymore ? I know the Repubs spewing their lies don't.
“Our problem, basically, is that we have a very distorted economy, in the sense that there has been a significant recovery, in a limited area, of the economy, amongst high income individuals, who have just had $800 billion added to their 401Ks, and are spending it, and are carrying what consumption there is.”
This was shortly after the end of this video, and I can't help but wonder what he actually meant to say, because 401Ks aren't liquid accounts, that you can just write checks from, to drive the economy through consumption.
Until you respect the citizenship of those with which you disagree, you're not a true American.
who listens to anyone (other than the person saying what you already want to believe?)?? no one has credibility, no one talking in this vast media world has any level of respect for the people they're talking to, and people who say nothing and/or newsertain have millions of viewers and twitter-heads or whatever and its a deep deep sea of retarded opinion and conspiracy. the "news" is useless.
listening to Cantor is beyond anything offensive...gotta love these repubs..I mean...WHO voted that into law (Bush Tax Cuts)..yup...
and we all know how much the repubs LOVE to 'follow the rule of law'...(unless, of course, it affects them adversely...)
jgam
tends to elicit the same response from me-- "Damn, I forgot shotgun shells at Walmart again!!"
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
big al
It was a real treat to see Ed Rendel take Bloomberg out to the woodshed, over the myth that tax cuts only spur growth.
Time for the right wing smear machine to ramp up.
is intended to be a factual statement
Maybe he had a conversation with Mrs. Greenspan.
in a commercial right now begging to renew the Bush tax cuts (by name!).
If Fred's for it, it's gotta be wrong...
"Parachutes are allowed in checked or carry-on baggage, but may not be worn in flight."
---Southwest Airlines
gets all the tax cuts for the uber-wealthy renewed forever, he's got a whole bunch of reverse mortgages for the rest of us...hurry and sign-up now!!
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4LlztpjXtI
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
Will Ayn Rand return from the grave to take away his Objectivist membership card?
the most damaging thing greenspan did nobody is talking about;
he decided to base the prime rate on whether or not wages were under pressure to rise
whenever you saw him saying "the economy is heating up" what he really meant was "there are more jobs then workers and wages are on the rise, we need to put an end to it"
whenever you saw him say the economy can handle a lower prime what he meant was "there is no pressure or downward pressure on wages, we can lower the prime"
his entire philosophy was to make money more difficult to get when wages were on the rise so companies would have to scale back or stop growing
And why isn't he in jail? Gitmo? Abu Grahib?
I find myself asking that question a LOT these days.
The people of privilege will always risk their complete destruction rather than surrender any material part of their advantage." J.K. Galbraith
How? He's always been against fair wages for labor (except his own, of course). He's an anti-labor asshole, and that hasn't changed. Therefore, his word on what's good for the economy or anything else should be regarded as worthless and irrelevant. Doesn't matter if he's right or not. He lied when it suited his purpose, so the best thing we can all do is ignore the old asshole.
What do you expect from a Clinton appointee.
"I mean Romney is the most conservative on illegal immigration and I don't think Ronald Reagan could get elected in California today."
Ann "Clipped" Coulter
Greenspan was appointed to the Fed by Reagan, though Clinton et al kept him on....
"Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of Stupidity" - Frank Leahy
politician, who was talking up Social Security cuts as a 'pragmatic' sacrifice we're just going to have to make.
!!
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
these jerks speak such double-talk it is hard to fathom exactly what they are saying, but with the "virtual economy" how else do you speak about it?
anyhow, the key was when he said tax cuts must be accompanied by spending cuts, how is this any different than the current republican line?
all of which is beside the point, the wealthy don't invest in this country because they can get cheaper labor overseas, finito, end of story.
once again the question becomes, are americans entitled to earn a living, or are they just serfs, peasants, peons? the time is rapidly approaching where this will have to be addressed.
After 10 years of this policy of giving tax cuts to the rich, which was supposed to create jobs ad infinitum, how these titans of the right can still defend the policy. Let alone how thier followers can defend them.
Jobs barely kept up with the population during Bushies first term. In fact, shortly after his being elected, the small factories and shops in Detroit turned into ghost towns. Shops that I used to deliver to that were booming and full of workers working turned into empty parking lots with for sale or for lease signs. Then came his second term, which was even more devastating for the working class.
I can't understand how anyone could compare the economy under Clinton with that of Bush. There is no comparison. As for the tax cuts expiring and taking money "out of the economy", I have a pretty simple solution for the wealthy that don't want to pay the higer brackets. If you raise the workers wages instead of your own, it seems that would lower your tax bracket, put money in the pockets of people who would be working and actually spend it, therefore stimulating the economy, and possibly requiring you to hire more employees to keep up with demand. Now I am not an economist by any means, but that just seems like common sense. It is time these rich business folk realize that if they build it, no one will come unless they can afford to.
under Clinton with that of Bush.
I believe it has something to do with the ignorance of the American people and their 10 minute attention span. If it hasn't been on the TV Machine in the last week, it didn't really happen.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
i've recently heard the republitards saying how the tax cuts pay for themselves...the same BS about giving businesses a break so they can hire more people, trickle down, more taxes on more wages, yada yada yada, blah blah blah. Isn't there a way to crush this garbage once and for all? It doesn't work, yet we still hear it! 10, 20, 30 years after every one knew it didn't work (probably longer). i'm going to go all non-sequitur on your butts and say this is the information age! hooray internet (why do i get a red line under internet, thats not how its spelled?) and mass media...too much info to process, no body believes anything because everybody has an opinion and everyone's opinion is different. Its (mis)information chaos. Someone somewhere needs to start reporting FACTS and, dare i dream, NEWS. otherwise, we're f'd.
"Reagan taught us deficits don't matter. It is our due."
That says it all.
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
..the vast majority of Americans don't think about it or believe it to be true. They are the sheeple wrapped up in American flags, guns and religion and they'll drink the republican't kool-aid right into their graves 'cuz the "right is right for 'Murika!"
Or so they think!
Mickey: "It was an epiphany. Do you know what an epipany is?"
Keoni: "NOT NOW MICKEY!"
color me shocked. i surely thought his previous mea cupla was due to too much meds, or not enough, or a senior moment, something. so, i am happily surprised to see greenspan hasn't decided to regress...
i think greenspan caused systemic harm to our economic well-being during his tenure, but i encourage the neo-greenspan.
and is trying to cleanse his soul so he won't go to hell?
“The greatest evildoers are those who don’t remember because they have never given thought to the matter, and, without remembrance, nothing can hold them back,”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHjqg4yjyPg
(I thought Jews didn't believe in Hell).
Diabolus est Deus Inversus
..."sit down AFTER the election, 'cause this is the ONLY chance to do this, everyone (has) to take responsibility for CUTTING ALL these entitlement programs, which as the MAYOR (I) said are absolutely NECCESSARY. And then PHASE IN the elimination of tax cuts for the rich, over 2 to 3 YEARS, i'll accept that.''
It's great to see a high profile, Democratic Party leader advancing the talking points of Alan Greenspan, John McCain, Michael Bloomberg and Peterson Foundation lackey David Walker in one 25-second exchange.
Thanks Progs/Obots!!!
that excess capital is just as bad if not worse than excess demand. Excess capital causes excessive speculation that is driving the boom and bust cycles we have seen since the Reagan tax cut. We need to let the Bush tax cut expire but we also need to increase the top tax rate on the super rich to 75%. Their excess wealth is killing the economy.
say...they just recently tried to pass $678 billion dollars? out of thin air..do not pay for themselves..magic money.
and yes, you would probably add that to the deficit.
http://blogs.examiner.net/blogs/pensivepete/t...
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