posted
I figured this may get kind of flamy, but here's something a friend said to me the other day. (This is whilst we were planning what to do about the world economic forum that we're going to protest about).
"The only time the trickle down effect works, is when you have a leaky roof".
I thought it was an absolute gem, and had to be shared. Of course, I agree. How aboot you?
------------------ "More beer, more beer, more beer, more beer! ARSE!" - Ode to God.
posted
Let's see... A Reaganomics tax cut seems to benefit businesses, because they generally generate a great deal of revenue, and thusly, taxes. so... Business profits rise. Business expands into new building in another location (because you spend money to make money, to get new markets). Business hires 250 new employees. Employees buy new products, thanks to influx of pay. Other businesses profit, expand, hire, etc. If there's more job openings than employees, as happens in a near-full-employment era like we have right now, then salaries become competetive, workers benefit.
meanwhile...
CEO buys new yacht. People must be hired to maintain, pilot, etc. that yacht. These people profit as well.
OR...
Taxes go up. Business which can no longer afford to pay taxes, and still make viable profit, closes doors, lays off workers. New companies cannot afford to start up whilst simultaneously paying new higher taxes. Workers go on welfare, unemployment, or what-have-you government program, thus becoming dependent on Government. Government pays for these programs through taxing the rest of us even more. Downward cycle continues.
I dunno, seems pretty simple which one works to me...
This example is most obvious in Southwestern Pennsylvania since the steel mills closed. Communities without industrial and commercial development DRY UP and DIE. Apathy and crime rise, as does welfare dependence. Almost no new high-employment businesses start up, because of the combination of high taxes, worker apathy, and crime. I mean, the biggest employer in this area right now is &%$ing TELEMARKETERS, for Chris's sake.
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
posted
Trickle-down is directly affected by taxes. Higher tax rates reduce the amount of trickle-down exponentially.
The rich are wealthy, generally because they do the things which generate the most wealth, and kep a percentage of it fr their own use.
The flawed assertion, generally made by the opposition, is that the rich hoard money. They don't. They generally hoard STUFF. But they pay for that stuff, thus circulating money, rather than keeping it.
If you go and buy a CD, who has the money, you or the CD store? Do they keep that money? No, it spreads around: to the employees, the music company, the distributor, the store itself, the artist, etc. (If you live in a state with sales tax, part goes to the government, too.) And THEY spread it around, buying THEIR stuff. It's the butterfly effect. If you choke it off at any one point, it affects the rest.
Since the wealthy possess more money, they naturally are able to purchase more expensive stuff, and a larger volume of stuff, thus driving the wealth engine.
To use an analogy, think of it as an aorta. Blood goes through the aorta, to the major arteries, to the minor arteries, to the capillaries, to the cells. Every cell gets enough blood that way. But block off an artery, or worse, the aorta...
*Hm! That's a new metaphor.. the human body works according to the trickle down theory. I may have to keep that.*
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
posted
Yeah, the spleen starts to horde the blood coming through the aorta, thinking it can distribute the blood more fairly than the already existing system...
How does one fit liberal deficit spending into this?
------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Maybe like the adrenal glands... you seem to pump faster and stronger for a little while, but you more than pay for it later. And if you KEEP pumping adrenaline, the body burns out and you die.
------------------ "Ed Gruberman, you fail to grasp Ty Kwan Leap. Approach me, that you might see." -- The Master
------------------ Ready for the action now, Dangerboy Ready if I'm ready for you, Dangerboy Ready if I want it now, Dangerboy? How dare you, dare you, Dangerboy? How dare you, Dangerboy? I dare you, dare you, Dangerboy...
posted
More like a fiftieth as long. An adrenaline overdose could kill you inside a week, I'm sure. But if not for disease, the body could very well go on functioning indefinitely. (Well, except for the fact that a cell will only reproduce a certain number of times, then stop, thus organ failure due to cellular decay, but the analogy doesn't work that deep.)
------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
How about this one?
"A rising tide does not lift all boats"
Now I understand the basis on Tax Cuts. I also agree that some measure of tax cuts should be implemented. But I do not like a tax cut that makes life total hell for the poor and the less fortunate.
------------------ "My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht." Psychiatrist: "Again."
posted
I second Jeff. HUH?! This is a tax CUT we're talking about. You know, that thing that both cantidates are supposedly proposing, except that Gore's only benefits seven people in Idaho?
And a rising tide DOES lift all boats, so long as the passengers themselves haven't knocked a hole in the bottom.
------------------ "The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
Saltah'na
Chinese Canadian, or 75% Commie Bastard.
Member # 33
posted
Jeff: Not exactly. There is the problem of FINANCING the Tax cut. In Ontario, a tax cut was proposed, but in order to finance the cut, every social assistance program was cut in half. (Social assistance programs bore most of the brunt of the cuts than any other program.) As a result, rents are going through the roof, poor people were getting less help in programs designed to help the lower class (not welfare, mind you), and the fees for job training programs has also shot up. Affordable housing projects have been turned into fancy and high class condominiums for the wealthy, and as a result, the homeless rate has gone up substantially. Recent articles (if I could pull them up) show that the wage of the average lower class person has gone down while the average wage for the upper class citizen has gone up.
As I said before, any tax cut must not be on the backs of the lower class. Ontario's tax cut was done when it was in poor, but recovering financial shape. The U.S. tax cuts are being done at a time of prosperity, which I am not arguing against.
Omega: If you know about waves and tides, you'll know that a rising wave is accompanied by a depression in the water level. So as many boats are being lifted, others are sinking. This is clearly what happened here in Toronto.
------------------ "My Name is Elmer Fudd, Millionaire. I own a Mansion and a Yacht." Psychiatrist: "Again."
[This message has been edited by Tahna Los (edited September 10, 2000).]
Printer-friendly view of this topic
