For example, at the beginning of August, when Washington, DC was debating the debt ceiling crisis, the national debt dominated the airwaves. While it was appropriate for the media then to be covering the deficit due to the debt ceiling debate at the time, there was a stunning lack of coverage of the…
Category: Economy
The Numbers: CBO on income inequality
Several years ago, Senators Max Baucus and Charles Grassley asked the Congressional Budget Office to whip up an analysis of income inequality in America. It took awhile to piece together, but the report’s now out, and the picture’s quite stark. The incomes of the wealthiest 1 percent have nearly tripled since 1979. Everyone else? Not…
The Numbers: U.S with Stimulus vs. U.K. Without
At Tax.com, Martin Sullivan rebuts those who claim that the 2009 Recovery Act (i.e. the stimulus) did nothing to boost the economy. “Republicans constantly remind us that the Obama stimulus — the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — did not work. They voted against it. In the United Kingdom the government…
GDP Grew At 2.5 Percent In The Third Quarter
According to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the U.S. economy grew by 2.5 percent in the third quarter, an improvement over last quarter’s 1.3 percent growth. This quarter’s growth is right in line with analysts’ expectations. via GDP Grew At 2.5 Percent In The Third Quarter | ThinkProgress.
Shell More Than Doubles Profits To $7 Billion
Royal Dutch Shell announced their 2011 third-quarter earnings, reporting profits of $6.98 billion, more than double their profits posted a year ago, bringing their total profits for 2011 to over $21 billion. Below is a quick look at Shell by the numbers: – Shell has spent nearly $8 million on lobbying in 2011, making it…
Vatican Calls For Economic Equality, Sweeping Reform Of Global Financial System
With protesters taking to the streets around the world to fight for better income equality and economic opportunities for the poor and middle classes, the Vatican called Monday for an overhaul of world’s financial systems and a return to a global economy based on ethical behavior and “achievement of a universal common good,”…
US Pays 18 Percent of Israel’s Military Budget
Leave it to the Washington Post’s award-winning national security reporter, Walter Pincus, to put things in perspective. In a new column, Pincus points out a remarkable inequity: While the US faces a fiscal crisis and debates the need for defense cuts, it’s footing the bill for one-fifth of Israel’s military budget—even as that country…
Americans’ Student Loan Balance Now Exceeds $1 Trillion
USA Today parses through New York Federal Reserve’s latest report (pdf) on Household Debt and Credit and finds that for the first time, this year the amount of student loans will surpass the $100 billion mark and the outstanding balance will exceed $1 trillion. That means the amount of credit card debt and student debt…
Consumer Inflation Slows; Food, Energy Prices Up : NPR
Consumers paid more for food and gas last month, although inflation outside those volatile categories was tame. The Labor Department said Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in September, below a 0.4 percent rise in August. Excluding food and energy, so-called core prices increased 0.1 percent, the smallest rise since March. Inflation…
Rediscovering Civil Disobedience
“There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal,” proclaimed Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as he took a risk and spoke out forcefully against the War in Vietnam. As more Americans debate whether to leave the sidelines and join the Occupy Wall Street movement, we should heed Dr. King’s words. Our individual silence is…
Watch: Norquist says don’t raise taxes because Republicans spend too much
When asked why he wouldn’t accept ten dollars in cuts for every dollar in revenue, he points to Republicans who didn’t honor their agreements, spent too much, and raised taxes. He then goes on to talk about unicorns.
Cantor To Give Speech On Income Inequality And ‘How We Make Sure The People At The Top Stay There’
Cantor announced today that he will give an address on income disparity “and how Republicans believe the government could help fix it” on Friday. According to his aide, Cantor will specifically focus on how Washington can help “a single working mom…a small business owner..and how we make sure the people at the top stay there.”…
Billionaire Investor Warren Buffett Would Pay No Income Tax Under Cain’s 999 Plan
Republicans have met the Buffett rule with universal derision, calling it “class warfare.” “If it’s not class warfare, it’s highway robbery,” said 2012 GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain. “Pick my pockets, because that’s what he’s doing!” As it turns out, Cain’s much-touted 999 tax plan would basically do the opposite of the Buffett…
Poll: Americans Overwhelmingly Support First Piece Of Obama Jobs Plan To Prevent Teacher, Firefighter Layoffs
Last week, two Senate Democrats joined Senate Republicans to filubuster President Obama’s jobs plan, even though analysts have found that it could add 1.9 million jobs next year. Now, Democratic lawmakers have decided to introduce Obama’s plan piece-by-piece, beginning with Obama’s $35 billion aid package “to help state and local governments provide funding…
Worry about young businesses, not small businesses
Of course there are more small firms than big ones, and of course the big firms employ more people than the small ones. Bernstein calls this “the most commonly misunderstood fact about the job market,” and he may be right. You often hear that small businesses are the only businesses that really add news jobs….
President Obama: “There doesn’t seem to be much listening going on in Washington these days.”
Railing against Republicans, President Barack Obama on Monday pushed for a jobs package that Congress is splintering into pieces, with Senate Democrats planning to start with a plan to help states hire teachers, police and firefighters. In campaign mode on the road, Obama accused Republicans senators of saying no to helping Americans. via…
The jobs debate on Earth 2
“Republicans,” McCain said on Earth 2, “have a better idea than more tax cuts and government spending. The economy isn’t growing because households are buried under mortgage debt. So we propose to attack the problem at the source. On the advice of Harvard’s Martin Feldstein, we are introducing legislation that would empower the…
The 53% Myth: Working Poor Pay More Of Their Income In State And Local Taxes Than The Rich In 49 States
But the founding principles of the tumblr and the “53 percent” meme itself is flawed. It is true that 47 percent of Americans did not pay net federal income taxes in 2009 — the number is unusually high because of the depression in incomes following the recession — but it is completely false that only…
Our health-care productivity problem, in one chart
For months now, the health sector has led the economy in job creation, producing more than 300,000 more jobs since this time last year. Even as overall job creation sputtered last month, the health sector added 44,000 new positions. But health-care job growth isn’t necessarily a good thing, at least when it comes to controlling…
It’s the Inequality, Stupid | Mother Jones
A huge share of the nation’s economic growth over the past 30 years has gone to the top one-hundredth of one percent, who now make an average of $27 million per household. The average income for the bottom 90 percent of us? $31,244. via It’s the Inequality, Stupid | Mother Jones.