5 ms·

What else could you call it? You can't drop taxes on the wealthiest Americans who are seeing the lions share of wealth transferred to them and then have the go

by tw04 6y ago

What else could you call it? You can't drop taxes on the wealthiest Americans who are seeing the lions share of wealth transferred to them and then have the government spend like a drunken sailor to try to keep the economy from tanking. SOMEONE has to pay for those stimulus checks and it appears right now it's turning into a loan that our great grandchildren will bear the responsibility of so that Bezos and Co can see an extra 0 at the end of their net worth.

maxerickson 6y ago
The government can just keep borrowing until the currency collapses, there is no need to actually pay the debt down.
- zaroth 6y ago
  The word “need” presupposes a particular outcome. You don’t “need” to breathe, unless you want to live. The universe doesn’t “need” to keep existing. So in language, when we say we need something, it’s a need for a particular and often presumptive / implied outcome. In this case the purpose of the government is to provide for the general welfare of its citizens. The value of the US dollar depends on the “full faith and credit” of the United States actually meaning something. Therefore the government does need to show a willingness and ability to pay its debts. The perceived future rate of inflation is a major variable in determining the interest rate that the US has to pay on its debt. Also, the US government needs to control the level of inflation in order to have a functioning economy. Given the widely accepted theory that printing arbitrarily large sums of money over time drives inflation, there are competing forces that act in the short and long term that would dictate the right amount of money to print now, or into the future. Since the ultimate goal is to stabilize and grow the economy, the government does in fact need to not borrow until the currency collapses, and needs to be able to keep its debt to some reasonable multiple of GDP.
  - maxerickson 6y ago
    You need more money sloshing around as the economy grows or you get deflation. Really, I'm gonna post 'borrowing is fine' in reply to lots of messages that act like the US government is running a household budget.
    - harambae 6y ago
      Can the current rate of spending continue indefinitely with normal necessities remaining affordable for the majority of individuals? If not, when will it end?
GordonS 6y ago
I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I recently read that Trump's tax cuts for the rich cost more than the stimulus checks.
throwaway5752 6y ago
Bezos literally got his phone hacked by foreign intelligence services for being supportive of the party that wants to fix this situation. He's benefiting because Amazon is well run and well positioned for this. He couldn't control how the response was managed and he doesn't control tax policy. Do a better job of blaming the people who are actually at fault, or you are abetting them.
- tw04 6y ago
  Amazon has been using tax havens for years and years. Amazon has been actively preventing unionization of employees. Jeff Bezos has personally donated to both political parties. Don't confuse his personal dislike of Trump with some sort of undying support of the Democratic party or their tax policies.
  - throwaway5752 6y ago
    Of course he donates to both political parties, he's not a moron. Of course he uses the most advantageous legal tax strategy available. Almost every US company prevents union organization (nothing they've done comes close to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart#Labor_union_opposition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart#Labor_uni..., and I wouldn't be surprised if companies astroturfed union initiatives in competitors) He is a private citizen and just because he's wealthy it's not his job to fix the US financial system. I don't have time or inclination to rehash it all so https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_of_Jeff_Bezos%27s_phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_of_Jeff_Bezos%27s_phone, but he owns WaPo and the hacking was probably retribution re Khashoggi. There was nothing done about it because "somebody" didn't like the WaPo editorial stance.
    - tw04 6y ago
      >Of course he uses the most advantageous legal tax strategy available. Almost every US company prevents union organization >just because he's wealthy it's not his job to fix the US financial system. In other words, he should be lumped in with all the other billionaires that avoid taxes and aren't doing anything to uphold the social contract.

by tw04 6y ago

maxerickson 6y ago

The government can just keep borrowing until the currency collapses, there is no need to actually pay the debt down.

zaroth 6y ago
The word “need” presupposes a particular outcome. You don’t “need” to breathe, unless you want to live. The universe doesn’t “need” to keep existing. So in language, when we say we need something, it’s a need for a particular and often presumptive / implied outcome. In this case the purpose of the government is to provide for the general welfare of its citizens. The value of the US dollar depends on the “full faith and credit” of the United States actually meaning something. Therefore the government does need to show a willingness and ability to pay its debts. The perceived future rate of inflation is a major variable in determining the interest rate that the US has to pay on its debt. Also, the US government needs to control the level of inflation in order to have a functioning economy. Given the widely accepted theory that printing arbitrarily large sums of money over time drives inflation, there are competing forces that act in the short and long term that would dictate the right amount of money to print now, or into the future. Since the ultimate goal is to stabilize and grow the economy, the government does in fact need to not borrow until the currency collapses, and needs to be able to keep its debt to some reasonable multiple of GDP.
- maxerickson 6y ago
  You need more money sloshing around as the economy grows or you get deflation. Really, I'm gonna post 'borrowing is fine' in reply to lots of messages that act like the US government is running a household budget.
  - harambae 6y ago
    Can the current rate of spending continue indefinitely with normal necessities remaining affordable for the majority of individuals? If not, when will it end?

GordonS 6y ago

I don't have the numbers in front of me, but I recently read that Trump's tax cuts for the rich cost more than the stimulus checks.

throwaway5752 6y ago

Bezos literally got his phone hacked by foreign intelligence services for being supportive of the party that wants to fix this situation. He's benefiting because Amazon is well run and well positioned for this. He couldn't control how the response was managed and he doesn't control tax policy. Do a better job of blaming the people who are actually at fault, or you are abetting them.

tw04 6y ago
Amazon has been using tax havens for years and years. Amazon has been actively preventing unionization of employees. Jeff Bezos has personally donated to both political parties. Don't confuse his personal dislike of Trump with some sort of undying support of the Democratic party or their tax policies.
- throwaway5752 6y ago
  Of course he donates to both political parties, he's not a moron. Of course he uses the most advantageous legal tax strategy available. Almost every US company prevents union organization (nothing they've done comes close to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart#Labor_union_opposition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism_of_Walmart#Labor_uni..., and I wouldn't be surprised if companies astroturfed union initiatives in competitors) He is a private citizen and just because he's wealthy it's not his job to fix the US financial system. I don't have time or inclination to rehash it all so https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_of_Jeff_Bezos%27s_phone https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_of_Jeff_Bezos%27s_phone, but he owns WaPo and the hacking was probably retribution re Khashoggi. There was nothing done about it because "somebody" didn't like the WaPo editorial stance.
  - tw04 6y ago
    >Of course he uses the most advantageous legal tax strategy available. Almost every US company prevents union organization >just because he's wealthy it's not his job to fix the US financial system. In other words, he should be lumped in with all the other billionaires that avoid taxes and aren't doing anything to uphold the social contract.