MY BUDGET’S BIGGER THAN YR GOD
Mar. 8th, 2009 01:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
defrogAs I’ve stated before, I am not an economist, but seeing as how Republicans are going out of their way to bash President Obama’s stimulus bill and budget as the most evil things to ever be passed by a govt since Stalin – and you Americans in America will be hearing more of that on the Sunday talk shows later today, I’m sure – I thought I’d pass on a few helpful tips in case yr relatives, neighbors or co-workers come up to you tomorrow and go, “SEE? You voted for that evil bastard! When the country goes bankrupt and yr children are forced to become gay Communists, it’ll be ALL YR FAULT!”
CLAIM: Some Americans who make over $250,000 a year are brainstorming ways to decrease their pay in an attempt to avoid paying higher taxes under Obama’s tax increase on the $250k bracket, on the premise that they’ll have more take-home pay after taxes if they stay below the $250k threshhold.
FACT: According to mathematician Mark C. Chu-Carroll, this would only work if the tax increase applied to the entire base rate – which it doesn’t. The increase only applies to money made over the $250,000 mark. He does the math.
CLAIM: On “FOX News Sunday” on March 1, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan told host Chris Wallace that “more than half of the people who pay these higher taxes are the small businesses of America.” Indiana Rep. Mike Pence echoed that claim, telling Bloomberg News that about half of those who make $250,000 are small-business owners.
FACT: According to FactCheck, they’re guessing. The available stats on people making over $250k doesn’t make it clear how many are small businesses. On the other hand, that arguably doesn’t matter because the vast majority of individuals who report business income or losses are not making upwards of $200,000 a year. In fact, only 2% of all those reporting business income in 2009 will earn enough to fall in the top two brackets.
CLAIM: On “FOX News Sunday” on March 1, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona criticizes the Obama budget, saying it “adds more debt to our country’s future than all of the debt from 1789 when George Washington was president right up through Franklin Roosevelt and - and Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush. In other words, in just the 10 years of this budget, we will have more than doubled the debt of the United States of America from its 220-year history.”
FACT: According to FactCheck, leaving aside the fact that the US has been in debt since 1791 (apart from a couple of years in the Jackson administration), it’s true that Obama’s budget will almost double the national public debt by 2019. However, it’s not as unprecedented as Kyl makes out. At least two other presidents have done it. George W Bush nearly doubled the debt during his term. Ronald Reagan nearly tripled it. And Reagan is a fiscal conservative’s wet dream.
DISCLAIMER: Did I mention I am not an economist? Not that it matters, since you can’t get two economists to agree on any of this anyway. But I know a blithering idiot when I see one, and the only one who doesn’t work for Fox News is Lou Dobbs.
Cashing out,
This is dF
CLAIM: Some Americans who make over $250,000 a year are brainstorming ways to decrease their pay in an attempt to avoid paying higher taxes under Obama’s tax increase on the $250k bracket, on the premise that they’ll have more take-home pay after taxes if they stay below the $250k threshhold.
FACT: According to mathematician Mark C. Chu-Carroll, this would only work if the tax increase applied to the entire base rate – which it doesn’t. The increase only applies to money made over the $250,000 mark. He does the math.
CLAIM: On “FOX News Sunday” on March 1, Republican Rep. Paul Ryan told host Chris Wallace that “more than half of the people who pay these higher taxes are the small businesses of America.” Indiana Rep. Mike Pence echoed that claim, telling Bloomberg News that about half of those who make $250,000 are small-business owners.
FACT: According to FactCheck, they’re guessing. The available stats on people making over $250k doesn’t make it clear how many are small businesses. On the other hand, that arguably doesn’t matter because the vast majority of individuals who report business income or losses are not making upwards of $200,000 a year. In fact, only 2% of all those reporting business income in 2009 will earn enough to fall in the top two brackets.
CLAIM: On “FOX News Sunday” on March 1, Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona criticizes the Obama budget, saying it “adds more debt to our country’s future than all of the debt from 1789 when George Washington was president right up through Franklin Roosevelt and - and Lyndon Johnson and George W. Bush. In other words, in just the 10 years of this budget, we will have more than doubled the debt of the United States of America from its 220-year history.”
FACT: According to FactCheck, leaving aside the fact that the US has been in debt since 1791 (apart from a couple of years in the Jackson administration), it’s true that Obama’s budget will almost double the national public debt by 2019. However, it’s not as unprecedented as Kyl makes out. At least two other presidents have done it. George W Bush nearly doubled the debt during his term. Ronald Reagan nearly tripled it. And Reagan is a fiscal conservative’s wet dream.
DISCLAIMER: Did I mention I am not an economist? Not that it matters, since you can’t get two economists to agree on any of this anyway. But I know a blithering idiot when I see one, and the only one who doesn’t work for Fox News is Lou Dobbs.
Cashing out,
This is dF
