Taxes and unemployment

The gospel according to the republican party is, cut taxes on the rich to reduce unemployment.  And the only problem with that idea is that history as shown again and again the opposite is true.  The periods of our greatest prosperity have corresponded to the periods with the highest marginal tax rates.  And not coincidentally, the periods of high unemployment have typically followed lowering the marginal tax rate on the wealthiest Americans.

One explanation I have read is that when tax rates on the high ends of income are lowered, it tends to encourage speculation, leading to bubbles in the economy.  And we know that bubble will eventually burst and there is hell to pay.

Now the correlation between tax rates and unemployment is something you can look up yourself, but I will site a few examples, just to make the point.

In 1980, the top rate for individual taxes was  70% and unemployment was at 6% and it had been falling since 1975.  In 1981 the top tax rate for individuals was cut to 50%.  This began a series of tax cuts for individuals, corporations, and capital gains.  The unemployment rate rose, spiking at over 10% in 1983.

Yes, you can say that's all ancient history,  which is true.  But it is a pattern that has shown some consistency. 

Another day, another murder

Any murder is tragic, be it is the stranger you read about who was raped and murdered, a shopkeeper killed in an armed robbery, or a public figure who preached that murders are just an unfortunate but inevitable consequence of the constitutional right to keep and bare arms.

Still, I suspect that when making those remarks he never imagined that he would be one of those paying that price.  If he had known, would he have felt the same way?  

If you put yourself out there in the public eye then there has to be at least some awareness that the Mark David Chapmans of the world are out there.  I don't think this one of those, simply a deranged individual fixated on a celebrity.  Was it a political statement?  Was it karma?  I don't pretend to know, nor do I know the potential motive of the primary suspect.

What I suspect though, is that we may very well be headed into an era when the current political rhetoric will trigger more actions of this sort targeting both ends of the political spectrum.

Reasons I really like my neighborhood

 I don't get mail where I live.  This is by choice.  I have a PO box over in the next town which is about a twenty minute bicycle ride away.  It is my not so subtle encouragement to exercise six days a week.

A few doors down from where I live is an entrance to a bike/walking trail.  It runs along a seasonal creek bed, crosses a quiet residential street then continues along the creek for a ways before crossing a rather busy road (there is a crosswalk and light for pedestrians and cyclists to cross ) and then it continues through a small park. After the park I have to switch to the bike lane on the parallel street.

Returning from the post office I saw this along the trail.  The bird did not seem concerned when I stopped to take the picture.

 

 

 

After taking the picture I continued on to the residential crossing and detoured onto the street just because the ride is a little bit longer. that way. The more I ride the easier it gets. That's when I rode by this house.  I have driven passed it many times, and seen the sign but being on a bicycle instead of diving a car made it easier to stop and take a picture.  I couldn't resist the opportunity to do that.

 

 This isn't the only sign reflecting pro-immigration sentiment in the neighborhood, but it just struck me at the moment.

So, I like the vibe, I like cycling on the creek side trail, and I like that I can ride my bike, or even walk to the downtown from here.  It is the kind of downtown that existed in a lot of small towns before highway 101 was turned into freeway..  

Unlike many of those towns, this downtown has survived. There is a road parallel to the freeway that goes through the downtown that was highway 101 until the freeway was constructed.  It is still well traveled, I presume mostly by locals. It has restaurants, bars, small stores and a large park all within walking distance.

The vanishing Republican town halls

This probably won't come up, because what I have been reading indicates that during the most recent recess, Republicans have mostly been avoiding their constituents.  I am guessing that facing their constituents is uncomfortable, sort of like waking up in a dirty motel room next to someone you don't recognize.  

But if your representative does dare to show their face and take questions from from you, their employers, then here is a question to ask them..

"When you were voting to take health care away from many of your constituents, were you also voting to take away your own?"

  

Political contributions, half truths, and lies.

 Because I am still working, I can afford to make the occasional hundred dollar contribution to political and social causes.  In another 12 days that will be less true.  But even after I retire at the end of May, I will continue to send $25/month to Doctors without Borders.

I get regular emails from Doctors without Borders asking for additional contributions, but I will wait and see how my retirement budget is working for me before adding to that.  It is the political emails I want to talk about today.

If I give fifty dollars, I am almost instantly asked to give a hundred. If I give to one candidate, then suddenly candidates from all over the country are asking for money.  And so many of the emails insult my intelligence. Like the 'surveys' that end with a pitch for money, and don't provide a way to submit the survey unless a contribution is entered. 

 Then there is "If we can get 100 people to give $100 by midnight then we will be able to do (fill in the blank) and they are talking about an election 6 months away when there isn't even a declared candidate.  I will continue to contribute to political and social causes that seem worthy, in amounts that are within my means.  But here's the caveat, if you are treating me like an idiot, and behaving like a con man, then I will be treating you like a con man.

Where are we now, and where are we going?

 If you haven't already figured that out, go read (or re-read) George Orwell's Animal Farm.  

 

Then you will understand exactly what the plans for the current administration are.