This is what a Donald double down looks like.

I live in Oregon, and for the most part, Oregon is just that place that sits between Washington and California. Yet, midway through Obama's presidency, Oregon, especially the Portland area, was having the hottest economy in the country. Turned out, that as Republican governors and state legislatures were blocking all stimulus efforts, Oregon's governor and state legislature welcomed the stimulus with open arms. They even raised taxes (on the wealthy and on corporations) to better leverage the stimulus money. Most of this went to public works projects, like mass transit lines and improvements to the railroad lines. Trains in Oregon run smoother, faster, and quieter than in other states, thanks to the stimulus money. We also got a couple of old bridges replaced. Similarly, by combing money from the ACA, stimulus money, private donations, and state funds, they have greatly improved the health care system throughout most of Oregon.

Being as the construction industry was hit the hardest by Bush's economic downfall, these construction jobs rippled through the economy and brought Oregon to life.

Oregon operates on what I think is referred to as the Nordic model. That is most public work is done in a government/private business partnership. That is to say that the government entity acts mostly as a central organizing center, but the actual work is done by private contractors, in a competitive bidding process. Thus, an increase in government programs usually means more work for private citizens. I think that it is a much better economic ideology than the Republican one.

I also like the economic model they have in Boulder Colorado. It is centered around the University of Colorado, Colorado's public research university. Coupled with that are national laboratories for NIST, NOAA, NREL, NASA, and the DOE. The third part of the equation is the high concentration of high tech companies. There is a symbiotic relationship that benefits all three, and being as Boulder is the center of the universe, a relationship that benefits all of mankind.

 

Thank you and I will always remind you with this graphic,

 

It was unfunded mandates that forced states to raise taxes. During Reagan's term, congress changed the rules. They stopped fully funding things that they had mandated, requiring the states to pick up the shortfall. Mostly, most states did so by increasing taxes. In those states where citizen initiated ballot measures are possible, measures have been passed requiring a vote of the people in order to increase taxes or fees.

 

Hey, with Biden the best the Dim-o-crats can do, get yourself mentally prepared for 4 MORE YEARS! I hope you enjoy it!

 

Wise men know that life is a collection of experiences- of things we do everyday... and at the end of life the man will look back at the things he has invested his life in, the things he has done, the way he has treated others- and he will smile... or puke on himself.

I will smile. You have got to be a lot younger than me, so perhaps there is still time for you to learn and make better choices.

 

You are welcome to that opinion. Clearly a strong defense is a necessity. But we spend more than the next 10 countries COMBINED on defense. Our defense spending is inherently wasteful as has been for decades.

 

If that's true, there isn't going to be a barf bag in the world big enough for Don when the times comes.

 

Utterly irrelevant statistic. Our defense spending should be considered in light of our overseas commitments. You can't blame the defense budget for the U.S. govt. deciding we should defend every corner of the Earth. Ultimately that is on the American people.

Plus, in the U.S. defense spending is supposed to be wasteful. The Pentagon is set up with a bunch of competing factions in part so there is no chance of a rise of a so called "man on horseback". This competition between factions in the defense establishment is inherently wasteful.

 

Name one tax cut supported by Dems....

 

Dems haven’t meet a tax they did not like making other people pay

 

any tax cut that benefits the middle class more then the rich, name one tax cut republicans have proposed that fits that bill

 

There will never be 100% or 0% taxation.

The Laugher Curve is based on BS...and has proven itself to be exactly that time and again

 

The one they just passed. I didn’t expect you to actually name any tax cut the Dems supported

 

It makes no difference whether there will be zero percent or one hundred percent tax rate. They would result in zero revenue. Somewhere between those two extremes there would be a rate that would yield the maximum tax revenue. Explain how that cannot be true rather than just denying that it can not be true.

 

"Somewhere". Yes...that's scientific.

Guess what? The Laugher Curve is a bad joke...on the American people

 

If you're claiming that the recent tax cut favored the middle class and poor more than the wealthy and corporations, you really are...well the mods won't let me say...

 

The middle class, the poor don’t pay income taxes. Just look at the percentage rates lowered. The middle class got the larger cut

Corp tax cuts were a different beast but they benefit us all.

 

One might consider that if there is a 10% tax cut, the wealthy get a larger dollar benefit than the less wealthy, even though percentage is the same. Of course, since the top 10% of taxpayers are already paying 70% to the total tax receipts, the middle class is already being subsidized very strongly. If we all just paid equal shares of the national budget, then we would be distributing those costs evenly. Would you complain about paying an even share of the bill?
Of course you would. You certainly haven't complained about those 10% carrying you so far, and apparently think they should be paying 100% instead of 70%.
That is the gratitude of people who live off the productivity of others, yet never appreciate what is being done for them.

 

Are you ******** me unfunded mandates began with LBJ's great society.

 

you mean the one with mega tax cuts for the mega corps, wow, how fast they forget this was another tax cut for the rich with a temporary carrot for the middle class

 

we have a progressive tax system, we can give the middle class bigger tax cuts then the rich or give tax credits to everyone equally

 

Reagan era unfunded mandates are whatd drove states with voter initiatives, to enact laws reguiring a vote of the people.

 

We also have a system which insures inequality- in that the majority who are not rich, can vote to tax the rich so that they will not have to pay a fair share. If the power of your vote was based on the amount of tax you contribute to the cost of operating our government- that would be a much more equal system. The rich would still pay more, of course- like a flat tax; 10% of income increases as income increases. We don't do that. We charge more tax if you make more- but we also take a larger portion of your income at the same time. To a point, this is justifiable... to a point. Then it becomes usury.

There's a simple story, an example that illustrates the way the lower-income voters see this and puts it in perspective:


Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this…
The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do.

The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said, “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20". Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80.

The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So the first four men were unaffected. They would still drink for free. But what about the other six men ? How could they divide the $20 windfall so that everyone would get his "fair" share?

They realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being paid to drink his beer.

So, the bar owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by a higher percentage the poorer he was, to follow the principle of the tax system they had been using, and he proceeded to work out the amounts he suggested that each should now pay.

And so the fifth man, like the first four, now paid nothing (100% saving). The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% saving). The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% saving). The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% saving). The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% saving). The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% saving).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to drink for free. But, once outside the bar, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20 saving,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man,”but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more benefit than me!” “That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back, when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison, “we didn’t get anything at all. This new tax system exploits the poor!”

The nine men surrounded the tenth and beat him up.
The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for drinks so the nine sat down and had their beers without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and government ministers, is how our taxsystem works. The people who already pay the highest taxes will naturally get the most benefit from a tax reduction. Tax them too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up anymore. In fact, they might start drinking overseas, where the atmosphere is somewhat friendlier.

David R. Kamerschen, Ph.D. — Professor of Economics.

 

the rich buy the politicians, thus buy the laws sadly

why should the working class do all the work and not earn a living wage?

 

A statement that made no sense. You either have no idea what unfunded mandates are or you are conflating multiple things here.