How would you turn the economy around?

[Wild Cobra]

I think the primary thing we need to do, is to return manufacturing jobs to our nation. If I were in power to do so, I would change our way of taxation. A national sales tax, no income tax, and tariffs.

[boutons_deux]

"return manufacturing jobs to our nation"

A Glimpse of the Oligarchy’s View of the Future for US Workers

That’s the future: jobs at about $13-18 an hour are compe ive with Chinese labor, considering other costs, so that’s what we get. The oligarchy is certain state and federal government will enforce that policy, just like the Greek and Spanish police, and George Washington’s militia.

http://firedoglake.com/2012/09/30/a-...or-us-workers/

States have cut $10Bs from education, which is a great investment in the future of the next generations.

[Wild Cobra]

I see ShazBot only has complaints. No solutions.

Anyone else?

[boutons_deux]

Security Force Arrests Supporters of Striking Walmart Warehouse Workers

Community, faith and labor organizations mobilized this afternoon for a rally and civil disobedience action in support of thirty-eight workers on strike at a Walmart warehouse in Elwood, Illinois. They marched down to this distribution center, and, at least thirteen clergy and community leaders sat down and blocked an entrance to the center to prevent goods from arriving or leaving the warehouse. After the leaders sat down in the road, a security force believed to be the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System Mobile Field Force, clad in riot gear, marched out and surrounded the leaders.

The security force arrested all of the people committing civil disobedience. They had an officer with a camera taking video of the action. They also drove a Humvee with an Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) out into the street and parked fifty to one hundred feet away from where people were being arrested. The warehouse was, according to Warehouse Workers for Justice (WWJ), completely shut down.

Live streamer “MoccupyChi” was on hand and captured the entire action, including the paramilitary force that greeted those engaged in nonviolent action.

Walmart had a private security force on hand to arrest clergy and community leaders there to support workers because the distribution center is located in a Foreign Trade Zone (FTZ). The distribution center, as WWJ’s website details, is also “one of the most important transportation and distribution hubs in the world.”

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/201...house-workers/

And right-wingers here, including WC, ridicule and sneer at OWS demonstrators protesting the UCA/VWRC/1% control of the country.

[boutons_deux]

WC was the one saying American workers salaries were too high to compete with the Chinese and Indians. Well, now they aren't too high, 2/3 of country lives from paycheck-to-paycheck, and he wants to fix it.

[Wild Cobra]

How does blocking the flow of goods help the economy?

They were rightfully arrested.

Do you have any solutions, or do you just want to rant?

Are you going to be part of the problem, or part of the solution?

[Wild Cobra]

WC was the one saying American workers salaries were too high to compete with the Chinese and Indians. Well, now they aren't too high, 2/3 of country lives from paycheck-to-paycheck, and he wants to fix it.

Again, like I said in the other thread, how can you make a good response when you argue an incorrect point that someone makes.

I never said what you are saying I said. You have to twist my words like a master politician that you hate so much to do so.

[boutons_deux]

John Deere and Holt Caterpillar are two the worst empolyee-bashers in the country. That's American mfg for you. How would YOU fix that?

There ain't no fix. The War on Employees (salaries, benefits) is long over, and the Employers/Investors won.

If somebody sits down in the street to draw attention, you call in the for-profit riot police.

[Wild Cobra]

ShazBot...

You are like a child running down the street and crying because your diaper is filled with .

Love to hear any solution you may have. Otherwise, can't you complain else where?

What is your solution to the problem at hand?

[LnGrrrR]

Well, I know you'd piss off New Hampshirites... they don't have sales tax, and it's a major selling point to get people from Massachusetts to buy goods there. As well, I can't even imagine what the sales tax/tariffs would have to be to make up for the revenue brought in from income taxes. Finally, I like the idea of tariffs, but it seems every economist doesn't. *shrug*

[Wild Cobra]

Well, I know you'd piss off New Hampshirites... they don't have sales tax, and it's a major selling point to get people from Massachusetts to buy goods there. As well, I can't even imagine what the sales tax/tariffs would have to be to make up for the revenue brought in from income taxes. Finally, I like the idea of tariffs, but it seems every economist doesn't. *shrug*

A national sales tax would be equal everywhere.

[SA210]

Go after the corrupt politicians, the Federal Reserve and bankster s and corrupt media, prosecute Obama and Bush administrations for war crimes and send a message that war will no longer be tolerated for profit and without a declaration of war. The money saved from overextending ourselves for unnecessary illegal wars would be a huge part of a solution. I'd rather spend money trying corrupt war politicians than money going to murder of innocents abroad as well as unnecessary deaths of US troops.

[LnGrrrR]

A national sales tax would be equal everywhere.

Yes, which is why New Hampshire would be mad about that, because they'd lose a "selling point" for people to come to NH and buy stuff, instead of buying it in taxed states. Just a minor point.

[Wild Cobra]

Yes, which is why New Hampshire would be mad about that, because they'd lose a "selling point" for people to come to NH and buy stuff, instead of buying it in taxed states. Just a minor point.

I understand your point. Looks like I need to elaborate mine. Oregon also has no sales tax. Oregon and New Hampshire will still retain their no state sales tax if they like. I'm speaking of a national sales tax instead of federal income tax. I'm not speaking of states changing the way they do their business. that would be their option.

[Drachen]

not really, they would just say "Hey people, aren't you tired of paying 13% state and federal tax on ALLL of your purchases? Come buys stuff here and only get taxed at the 5% federal rate!"

[boutons_deux]

In a tiny move, Chinese Lenovo to build PCs in USA. 100 workers!

[Wild Cobra]

In a tiny move, Chinese Lenovo to build PCs in USA. 100 workers!

IBM owns 18%. Maybe 18% of the work will be done here?

[TeyshaBlue]

I think the primary thing we need to do, is to return manufacturing jobs to our nation. If I were in power to do so, I would change our way of taxation. A national sales tax, no income tax, and tariffs.

Place an asinine statement tax on you and boutons.

We'd be running a budget surplus in a month.

[TeyshaBlue]

WC was the one saying American workers salaries were too high to compete with the Chinese and Indians. Well, now they aren't too high, 2/3 of country lives from paycheck-to-paycheck, and he wants to fix it.

In the context of the US job market, retail workers salaries <> manufacturing salaries. Holy .

[ElNono]

Not a fan of tariffs, tbh... it's automatic inflation on goods and liquidation of salaries. Plus it doesn't improve our compe ive level, nor it deals with services or outsourcing.

There's no magic bullet, but I'd like to see something along the lines of capping the amount of US bonds and treasuries countries can buy at a percentage of actual investments in the US. While that would force the US to trim the deficit spending (not that bad of an idea), it would also cause countries like China to either invest heavily in the US or go dump their massive earnings from the trade imbalance on riskier markets (or they can keep the money themselves, putting much more pressure on their currency).

I figured all 3 scenarios benefit the US in the long run:

- If they decide to invest in the US, that's a nice China-financed stimulus coming in to help prop up the economy
- If they decide to invest on riskier markets (ie: Europe), then it would prop up the riskier markets and improve the overall health of the worldwide economy.
- If they sit on the money, it will create pressure on their currency and eventually pop, making it expensive enough to create stuff on their country and making us compe ive again.

Just my 2c

[boutons_deux]

Let the USPS become a nation-wide, non-profit banking utility, retail, commercial, mortgages, ATM cards, credit cards with less than 10% APR. A great way for taxpayers to the vampire-squid TBTF banks.

Force the lenders who sold toxic mortgages to F&F to eat every one one of them. cram them all down their throats.

Promote a residential/commercial program for solar and wind installation energy to be purchased by utilities, aka, feed-in tariffs. Extend the wind and solar and insulation tax credits for 10 years. Several 100K, if not way more, jobs right there. And have a big tax credit for solar/wind equipment that is USA-sourced.

Dump $2T+ into the economy as stimulus, while cancelling all deductions and tax breaks for the 1%, the financial sector, the carbon energy sector.

[baseline bum]

- German-style healthcare where insurance is not for profit and coverage is universal. Bringing healthcare costs down would be an enormous shot in the arm to give the middle and lower classes more disposable income that would be pretty likely to be spent.
- An outright ban on selling sodas, chips, slushes, and deep fried in PreK-12 schools to hopefully get kids into healthier diets and lower our healthcare costs long-term. As it is now the schools are the one place a kid knows he can go eat crap for a meal a day without mom's blessing.
- An educational system similar to the gymnasium system in Germany where students can either do college prep work or learn a trade instead of trying to cram everyone into the college-bound track. That way almost everyone would get something out of his schooling and the whole graduating class wouldn't feel like they have to enroll in a couple of semesters of college before doing anything.
- Subsidies for solar panel development so that it can become an efficient way to power homes and small businesses. I can't understand throwing away that 1000-1400 watts per square meter you get in the daytime on your roof.
- Eliminate our stupid laws forcing ethanol into gasoline to bring down food prices. Ethanol sucks and corn is in everything in this country.
- Continued investment in defense and the space program since it tends to lead to important breakthroughs like the computer, the interstate highway system, satellite communication, and the internet. The part of the defense budget to slash is the money allocating to jerking off in guerrilla wars in the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, etc. like we have been doing for the last 60+ years.

Normally I'd be for aggressive emissions standards for vehicles, but I kind of like the idea of bleeding Saudi Arabia's oil reserves dry before we start moving towards natural gas in our cars in a decade or so. Definitely don't drill in Alaska though, in case we eventually need that oil for war with China.

[boutons_deux]

Raise the federal tax on gasoline over 5 years to about $7. Use the revenue to accelerate battery research.

Classify coal waste as toxic and force the coal companies to clean it all up.

A heavy tax all coal, NG, oil exports when those products come out of US soil.

( btw, Russia sells NG to Europe at $10/unit, while it costs $3/unit in USA. Expect USA price to go back to $10/unit when US LNG terminals start exporting US NG to the world market. Why would NG producers sell the US market cheaper than to the export market? )

[Nbadan]

- German-style healthcare where insurance is not for profit and coverage is universal. Bringing healthcare costs down would be an enormous shot in the arm to give the middle and lower classes more disposable income that would be pretty likely to be spent.
- An outright ban on selling sodas, chips, slushes, and deep fried in PreK-12 schools to hopefully get kids into healthier diets and lower our healthcare costs long-term. As it is now the schools are the one place a kid knows he can go eat crap for a meal a day without mom's blessing.
- An educational system similar to the gymnasium system in Germany where students can either do college prep work or learn a trade instead of trying to cram everyone into the college-bound track. That way almost everyone would get something out of his schooling and the whole graduating class wouldn't feel like they have to enroll in a couple of semesters of college before doing anything.
- Subsidies for solar panel development so that it can become an efficient way to power homes and small businesses. I can't understand throwing away that 1000-1400 watts per square meter you get in the daytime on your roof.
- Eliminate our stupid laws forcing ethanol into gasoline to bring down food prices. Ethanol sucks and corn is in everything in this country.
- Continued investment in defense and the space program since it tends to lead to important breakthroughs like the computer, the interstate highway system, satellite communication, and the internet. The part of the defense budget to slash is the money allocating to jerking off in guerrilla wars in the Middle East, Asia, Central and South America, etc. like we have been doing for the last 60+ years.

Normally I'd be for aggressive emissions standards for vehicles, but I kind of like the idea of bleeding Saudi Arabia's oil reserves dry before we start moving towards natural gas in our cars in a decade or so. Definitely don't drill in Alaska though, in case we eventually need that oil for war with China.

That's not to bad, but I would also tax trades on certain commodities and derivatives to market-regulate over speculation

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Alternative fuels be it fusion, solar, or wind are going to be the next economic boom. We need to be on the forefront. It's not just an efficiency issue, its going to be a HUGE world market.