Mr. Obama, put forward a long over due jobs/stimulus package to a joint session of Congress and while my conservative friends would hate to hear me say it, it was a good start. I must admit I’m seriously tired of hearing Obama drone on about taxing the rich or how Buffett wants to pay more taxes by closing loop holes, but that said I like elements of his plan.
Reducing both the employee and employer ( small businesses) social security taxes is a strong step in the right direction. Small businesses need relief and as a CEO of a small business I’m happy about this.
Giving incentives for companies to hire long term unemployed is also a good step in the right direction.
Finally, I don’t like government jobs programs; however, if you are going to do it, the best place to do it is in infrastructure projects as the President proposes.
The Republicans should not dismiss this Plan with partisan politics, instead they should use this as an opportunity to improve and add to Mr Obama’s plan. They should pass his plan with the following additions:
1. Allow a one- time repatriation of off-shore profits back to the US at a flat 20% tax rate. With off shore untaxed profits of roughly 2 trillion dollars the treasury could raise some fast cash to help pay for Obama’s plan. The repatriated profits aftertax could be used by corporations to invest in new business leading to more jobs.
2. Eliminate the capital gains tax for investments made into small business permeant. Small business creates over 50% of the jobs in the US. Let’s create an ongoing incentive to invest in the Google’s and Apple’s of tomorrow today.
3. Eliminate all tax loop holes to all of Warren Buffett’s companies. Also introduce a windfall tax on the expected profits he’ll make from investing in Bank of America a TARP sponsored bank and any other assets he buys that the government rescued. His shareholders will be pissed but it should make him happy as he seems to want to pay more taxes. I seriously doubt that Warren Buffett personally pays lower taxes than a secretary does – this is self serving disingenuous rhetoric from Obama about the man in Omaha who is looking to stay in the good graces of this Adminstration. Good graces that will allow him to feed from the trough of TARP sponsored assets that our government has invested in, that he wants to buy on the cheap.
4. Allow families to deduct the cost of tuition for there dependents and allow tax credits for displaced workers to go back to school. We need to focus on having good jobs, but we also need to focus on having well prepared workers as well.
5. Eliminate unnecessary regulations that prohibit growth.
I’m sure there is more that can be done but this is a good start and will boost employment, investment and increase the tax base. The Republicans have an opportunity to contribute to the President’s plan, I’ll be watching for leadership by Congress.
It has been a long journey since 9/11 and we have stumbled along the way to be sure. However, we need to take stock of where we are and what has been accomplished on this journey we did not seek. This article does a nice job of giving us perspective as we mark the 10th Anniversary of 9/11.
This should not come as a surprise to anyone. We are headed in the wrong direction and it will continue as long as we have a leader that coddles us into believing we can get out of this simply by taxing the rich. We need a serious jobs program that starts with:
1. Elimination of capital gains taxes permanently for investments in companies with less than 10 million dollars in revenue.
2. A simplified tax code that creates incentives for increased investment and employee productivity.
3. Elimination of regulations that make us less competitive overseas.
4. Reduce taxes on repatriated income earned overseas by multi-nationals – reduce the rate to 20%.
5. Allow parents to deduct 50% of educational expenses for their children to go to college if their housold income is less that $100k.
6. Cut entitlement programs across the board by 10%. It hurts but we can’t afford it. Everyone suffers.
I came across this article in the Mercury News this morning about San Jose falling on Hard Times and cutting their doggie bag budget. Admittedly San Jose is more of a Tech Mecca than Huntington Beach but we have a good Dog Beach and our bags are safe for now
This is some good news! In spite of Washington doing everything it can to slow the economy down it still is growing over last year. Comments about a government shutdown or social security checks not being sent out next month if the debt ceiling is not lifted does not help the economy or a consumption based economy. I sure wish those guys worked in the real world. Well back to work – I have a real job to do
This should be interesting But according to judges from a European panel, the Italian government should consider taking down the cross in some public spaces, in particular in schools.
Selling $1 candy bars didn’t raise enough money for the school. Rather than try and sell something people might actually find of value, school officials decided on a sure-fire tactic: sell test scores.
That’s right!
A twenty dollar donation gets your child not one, but TWO ten point bumps on their tests. Silly me: here I was thinking that education was about . . . well educating kids. But it’s all about the money.
The principal justifies this:
Extra points on two tests won’t make a difference in a student’s final grade, she said.
It’s wrong to think that “one particular grade could change the entire focus of nine weeks,” Shepherd said.
When was the last time this lady stepped foot into a classroom? Everyone knows, except her, that tests count for the biggest percentage of a childs overall grade. Often times between 60 and 70%. That is why they are called TESTS.
Guess what this shining example of leadership for our children just did?
Students who actually earned an A (90 or above) just learned that their slacker C student companion got the same grade as they did. So why study?
Students can now slack off because parents can simply give $20 to the school and all is well. Why study?
Actually I remember a time when students would get expelled from school for offering money in exchange for higher grades. Now it appears that schools believe this is an acceptable model. Hope and Change!
The school board argues that it needs the money because money is simply not available. OK, Fine. Sell t-shirts. Sell sweaters. Sell something that might be of value. But don’t send kids the wrong message simply because you’re facing a tight budget.
Last night, ABC launched it’s reboot of the V television series. As a kid, I remember watching the mini-series in complete awe. How would the rag-tag group of misfits defeat the all-powerful lizard aliens. To make the aliens that much more evil, they stole a page of Hannibal Lectre’s book and gave them a craving for all things human. Kind of gives new meaning to the word “Veal”, doesn’t it?
For months all we had to go by was a commercial that ended with a chilling line. Imagine the scene: a young reporter Chad finally got his big break. He gets to conduct the first world-wide interview with the alien leader Anna (who looks really hot for being a lizard lady). Just seconds before the interview begins, this exchange takes place:
Chad: OK, do you have any questions before we go to air?
Anna: Yes, just be sure not to ask any anything that would paint us in a negative light.
Chad now has to decide: don’t ask tough questions and advance my career OR do my job and destroy my career.
But wait, there’s more. In the series, the aliens promise us “universal health care”. All our problems will be solved; universal health care will be free.
Is this series a parallel to the current administration?
Of course it is. This is what science fiction does: it challenges us by drawing parallels between their fiction and our reality. Star Trek did it and did it well. Battlestar Gallatica was right out of 9/11 attacks and subsequent political changes.
V is doing the same thing with uncanny parallel using quotes from the show:
They are arming themselves with the most powerful weapon out there: devotion.
Science Fiction, once again, is standing up and questioning the world around us. V is a direct result of that. Hopefully this continues. At least until the administration decides to boycott ABC for allowing V.
Just returned from Vacation to find my state (California) and our Nation's leaders have been up to some pretty interesting stuff. I usually do not comment on politics on this blog as it always becomes a right or left argument – Something I'm not interested in J However, it seems to me we have our priorities mixed up in California and as a Nation. Over the last 7 to 10 months we as a Nation have invested (admittedly I'm using the term generously) in large mature monolithic companies who are cutting jobs, bailed out banks who made highly speculative investments and in California we are balancing our state's budget in large part by cutting funding for education. Some questions I'd like to ask our President and California's Governor is how do these policies create jobs, expand the pool of talented resources to fill those jobs, or make us more competitive as a Nation?
I agree with our President, we need to do something with healthcare – it's a mess and I agree we need to stimulate our economy with investment from our government and we do need a healthy financial system. But perhaps our priority for now should be to invest in education not cut it, invest in small businesses that create jobs vs. the large ones who are cutting jobs and focus on policies that make us as a state and as a nation more competitive. I don't have all the answers; but it seems to me if we cannot expand our job creation engine by investing in small businesses (I do mean invest – small business tax credits is not investing) and expand the talent pool through investment in education to fill the new jobs that are created, then we as a nation will not have the tax base to pay for any new health care plan, social security or the trillions we owe to the Chinese. Are we really investing for the future? Is this really as good as it gets?
