Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for July 22, 2011

Come on, Vista Bill, I’d rather see you in first place, but “winning” (no thanks to Charlie Sheen) first post is just too tempting.

Yep! I betcha’ the caller is an American citizen!

If not a very good one.

R.Rascal’s remark in panel 4 — “So 10% is still in play” — is pure genius! It “cracked” (again, no thanks to Charlie Sheen) me up. And who said Jeff was “stupid” or an “idiot”? Huh? Huh?

And somehow, if personal tax rates are increased for the wealthy, it will hurt the economy. However, most large companies are operated as corporations or similar business entities where there is a fiduciary duty to the shareholders. Evidently, if the people who manage these entities are wealthy, they must be legally and ethically challenged, and will abandon their fiduciary duties.

At first I thought Trudeau was working a Wisconsin angle (yesterday’s reference to “teachers”), but the third and fourth panels prove otherwise:- WI is a state, not a nation.- All Americans know about loopholes.I’m utterly confused by this week’s series. Nobody who has the power to amass 90% of national wealth without inviting outright insurrection lacks the power to get the 10% in play. Because only governments have that much thieving power.

My well-established company used to pride itself on not ever having any RIFs (Reduction In Force). The first one happened in 2008. Then another one in 2009. Both with preparatory announcements to the employees. I guess they are not proud anymore, because nowadays our RIFs are somewhat regular, and not ever announced. It’s like we are not even supposed to notice, let alone know. Shhhh! It’s a secret! Those employees who still have jobs there go to work and notice that some people just aren’t there anymore. When you ask where did they go, you get the generic “So-and-So doesn’t work here anymore,” and a meaningful look that says “end of subject.”I can’t believe how some Americans still believe that tax breaks for the wealthy create jobs. Well, the wealthy have had their very-generous tax breaks for many years now, and they still aren’t creating the jobs, but they ARE getting significantly wealthier. Anything good trickle down on you today?

What about the people to fix the machines?

The victime of RIF-RAFF? Watch R.I. for latest test.

So the Cheney tax-cuts didn’t work? What about the subsidies? And let’s mention Bush 1’s NAFTA.

Giving more money to the rich and corps via tax cuts does not help the economy in its current condition: they are already sitting on piles of cash. There is nothing worth investing in, because nobody is buying. Why? because they have no money.

Interest rates are incredibly low— there will never be a deal like this again. Gov’t borrow and spend on roads, bridges, power grid, rail, clean energy: all this stuff will have to be done eventually, do it now while it’s cheap and will also boost the economy.Boost in economymore revenuepayoff of investment. Basic Keynes, and due to the special conditions now will not result in over-inflation.

Remember we are in a special situation where the normal fiscal rules don’t apply. Fed, for instance, can’t lower rates: they’re already bottomed out.

“Employees are the rungs on the ladder of success…………………………do not hesitate to step on them.” – Ferengi Rules of Aquisition

I agree with Trudeau in this arc. Our corporate overlords have grown so powerful they are controlling our politicians. Something must be done.

There really is not reason that the rich shouldn’t have all the wealth. Except then they’d have to give away dough to keep the game going. Like loaning your opponent money to keep a game of Monopoly going when you have all the properties and just want to prolong the agony.

must be the Koch brothers on the phone

This would be funny if it weren’t so painfully close to the truth. The richer and more powerful they get,m the more they want, and they don’t care in the least that they’re destroying the backbone of the country with their greed.

‘Duty to stockholders’ for a multinational corporation operating in the USA does not mean any patriotic duty to America. .NONE AT ALL. Why should it?.Much of their stock is today owned in Europe, China, the oil producing Arab companies etc. This is part of the New World Order.Moreover, the average American may not hold any stock, the unemployed have largely liquidated theirs. The poor never had any. So there can be no duty to them. .If money can be made by firing Americans and hiring Indians or Chinese, multinational CEOs are constrained to do that. If not, they may be fired themselves or lose their bonuses.

That is IMO what this cartoon is about.

You MUST see the movie “Company Man.” It is a great depiction of the CEO and the people who work for him or did until he broke up the old company and laid them off. Available at Netflix and probably your neighborhood video store if there is one left.

Noted several days ago it was the Koch brothers, now evident they had Roger Ailes hack the rascal’s phone.(Rupert’s been occupied with the print side of their operations.)

Americans don’t believe that tax breaks for the wealthy create jobs, but they also don’t believe that huge government stimulus packages create jobs either. They DO believe that loading taxes and regulations onto businesses will either drive them overseas or out of business. On the state level, the competition factor is very much alive, as business-friendly states are taking away jobs from “moocher” states. Since the US government (falsely) believes it has no compitition, its only solution to paying its bills is to regularly increase the amount of debt it allows itself to carry.

Now that you wealthy idiots have fired everyone who’s going to have any money to buy your products?

Land of the Fee! Love it! Just read an interesting reference to a book about the shift in 18th-19th century England from an agrarian to an industrial society, <The Great Transformation by Karl Polanyi. He describes the shift toward putting a price on everything that began in the 19th century, and that is still in progress. Land and even labor were not commodities until a cultural shift made them so. “Land of the Fee” tells it all in a sound bite!

Yes, I think we do share a similar political philosophy, Leftwingpatriot. But part of that philosophy has to do with fairness in giving equal chances to all to suceed. It is a myth that everyone in America starts out the same, and only the hard workers make it into the wealthy 1%. I fear that America is drifting backward into a feudal type society that prevailed in the Middle Ages in Europe — an aristocracy at the top and everybody else at the bottom. Nothing in the middle. Not till the liberal leftwingers of the Renaissance, Reformation, Scientific Revolution, and Enlightenment created the United States as the “land of the free”. We’re losing it, Leftwingpatriot. We’re losing it. God, please bless America. Please? Please? Please?

Nemesys, I don’t know because I’m not an expert in this area, but read this:

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Q. That money would go toward paying for our future obligations?

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A. And toward paying interest on the federal debt. In fact within 12 years, without an increase in interest rates, interest on the national debt is expected to be the largest item in the budget. And you get nothing for it.

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Source:

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What Every American Should Know About the National Debt

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http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/02/01/what-every-american-should-know-about-the-national-debt/

Everybody: America is becoming a place where you ARE BORN into the wealthy class, not a place where you WORK YOUR WAY into it. Bill Gates and Steve Jobs are rarities, exceptions to the rule. They are not the norm. Paris Hilton represents the norm.

10% of the people control 75% of the wealth in the U.S. It’s not quite 90%, but the Red Rascal can get them there… maybe with a little help from Duke.

Most CEOs got there because of who they know, being willing to sacrifice family for work & an obsession with money and power. They do put in a lot of hours… does that make them worth 300 or more workers? And their pay seldom seems to reflect performance.

The entrepreneurial inventor types sell out & move on for the most part. CEOs of the truly huge companies come from what is basically an American Corporate oligarchy. If you grew up on the wrong side of the tracks & didn’t go to an Ivy League School, you’re not likely to be on the CEO track.

I’m sure people will throw names of CEOs who don’t fit the mold but there are always exceptions.

Hello? Anybody out there? It’s been more than four hours since the last post and more than six hours since the one before that. Any regulars who have posted earlier today? Leftwingpatriot? Nemesys? How about lurkers who want to come out of the closet? Anybody? The mighty convention hall seems to be deserted? Any friendly ghosts? Vista Bill my favorite upbeat poster? Anybody?

Sigh! Guess I’ll have to wait till 10:15 PM to 10:30 PM Pacific coast time. That’s the time when this blog “flips” to tomorrow’s Doonesbury strip.

We are all waiting for tommorrow’s strip

Who says American business leaders can’t look beyond the next quarter’s results. Let’s say I’m running a business and “could” use a few more employees. But if I hired someone today that might help Obama. But if I continue with my present employee level, or lay off a few more, that will ensure the election of President Bachmann who, after killing off health care reform and reform of financial institutions will lead us to the promised land – a land where job creators like me pay no taxes, and where my kids won’t pay any taxes when the worthle . . . bums er, I mean, my wonderful children who haven’t done a lick of work in their lives inherit my business. Well, you ask, who pays to run the country – why the beneficiaries of my job creation. The people I employ. If they deserved to pay no taxes they would be employers not employees.

I miss the days of this strip being intelligent, rather than an extension of the democratic party, much like MSNBCThe top 1% of our nation pays over 95% of the taxes.http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/30/top-1-paid-more-in-federal-income-taxes-than-bottom-95-in-07/So if that’s not enough, what is? What about when our Marxist president says people making 100k a year are included in the “wealthy” bracket and have to pay way more taxes than they can afford? How far does the rabbit hole go?