Fiscal Fitness: Taxes, Budgets, and the Economy

[chasfh]

Let's launch this topic with a tax tweet.

 

 

[Archie]

Aren't all the politicians the same. It doesn't matter what party they are from they represent their own interests.

[Tiger337]

1 hour ago, Archie said:

Aren't all the politicians the same. It doesn't matter what party they are from they represent their own interests.

I don't disagree.  They are good at pretending to be interested in their constituents, but they are primarily interested in themselves.  Another thing they are good at is taking credit for good things that happen (that have little or nothing to do with them) while blaming others for bad things that happen.  Your best hope is that their self interests will help you in some indirect way.  

[pfife]

guys there's no way Archie is Stan.  Or he's a really good actor.

[Hongbit]

2 hours ago, Archie said:

Aren't all the politicians the same. It doesn't matter what party they are from they represent their own interests.

This is the first thing you’ve said that I agree with wholeheartedly. 

[pfife]

2 hours ago, Archie said:

Aren't all the politicians the same. It doesn't matter what party they are from they represent their own interests.

sounds like capitalism to me my friend

[John_Brian_K]

I was not sure where to put this, but this may be the right place.  I have a renter who applied for assistance for rent and his utility bills.  The utilities all got their payments for him last month.  I have not received the rent portion of the payments I was supposed to get 10-14-21.  It just got me thinking to how It feels like the little guy with the small business is getting squeezed.  DTE can afford to fade that guys payment in perpetuity in reality...when my renter does not pay his rent I have to pay it...it would not take long for him to not pay his rent (or for the county to send that payment) before I will be in a very sticky situation.  He is 2 months behind as of right now.  Trying to be a nice guy I let him use those payments towards current rent, because well he applied for assistance, because he needs it, and I did not want to squeeze him.

Also I think it is crappy that I spent over a year trying to get funding for my small business, getting a very small amount and hearing commercials about how they have billions still left in loans to "qualified small businesses".  We shut our doors 2 months ago because I was dumping money into it and basically ran out and it it just bugs me to see those commercials when I literally spent every day the past year trying to fill out apps, call people and beg to get some loans to help the business make it.  50k and we may have been able to weather the storm and there would still be 5 employees getting paychecks.

[CMRivdogs]

Sometimes I wonder whether they’re for us or agin us

 

 

[pfife]

I feel like our choices are: against us... and even more against us.

[chasfh]

31 minutes ago, CMRivdogs said:

Sometimes I wonder whether they’re for us or agin us

 

 

 

They are for pharmaceutical company executives who are wealthy homeowners, so what we are witnessing here is the old two birds-one stone strategy.

[Tiger337]

57 minutes ago, pfife said:

I feel like our choices are: against us... and even more against us.

They aren't really against us.  They don't care about us.  

[Mr.TaterSalad]

16 hours ago, pfife said:

I feel like our choices are: against us... and even more against us.

We had two solid "for us" choices in Bernie and Warren and we went with the "less against us" choice in Joe.

[Motown Bombers]

5 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

We had two solid "for us" choices in Bernie and Warren and we went with the "less against us" choice in Joe.

Well sometimes you don't always get what you want. The Bernie or bust people could've sucked it up and put on their big boy pants and voted for Hillary and worked down ballot like the Republicans do. Instead they have their purity contests, lose elections, and get nothing done. 

[chasfh]

Ugh

 

 

[Archie]

2 hours ago, Motown Bombers said:

Well sometimes you don't always get what you want. The Bernie or bust people could've sucked it up and put on their big boy pants and voted for Hillary and worked down ballot like the Republicans do. Instead they have their purity contests, lose elections, and get nothing done. 

At least Bernie or Warren would have been running the country and been in charge.  Biden seems to be asleep at the wheel while someone else is making decisions behind the scenes.

[chasfh]

 

[chasfh]

This is interesting.

 

I understand this is one company acting and one company does not an entire economy drive—but Target is the one of the largest retailers in the country. Could they be a harbinger for what other similarly-sized retailers have been and are now doing? Because if a lot of the largest retailers are doing this same thing, that might could put a dent in the inflation and supply-chain juggernaut.

Or is this merely a one-off?

[gehringer_2]

10 minutes ago, chasfh said:

This is interesting.

 

I understand this is one company acting and one company does not an entire economy drive—but Target is the one of the largest retailers in the country. Could they be a harbinger for what other similarly-sized retailers have been and are now doing? Because if a lot of the largest retailers are doing this same thing, that might could put a dent in the inflation and supply-chain juggernaut.

Or is this merely a one-off?

this isn't the first story I've read about inventory overrun. But there are going to be continuing problems with supply chains from  China until Xi finally accepts that China is going to have to live with COVID just like everywhere else. I've been watching video cards and Raspberry Pis. Video card prices down off their highs but still not to normal. Raspberry Pis still 4x what they should be.

Edited June 7, 2022 by gehringer_2

[ewsieg]

7 hours ago, chasfh said:

Or is this merely a one-off?

Oh how I hope so.  I hoped the Tigers would compete for a wild-card this year as well for what that's worth.

[ewsieg]

This seems to fit here

 

[ewsieg]

Question for those on this board that have spent the last few years bashing Manchin, if BBB was pushed through, at the numbers Biden wanted, where do you think inflation is at right now?  Same, better, worse?

[gehringer_2]

16 minutes ago, ewsieg said:

Question for those on this board that have spent the last few years bashing Manchin, if BBB was pushed through, at the numbers Biden wanted, where do you think inflation is at right now?  Same, better, worse?

good question. You'd have to have some analysis of the where the supply chains for the infrastructure projects were. They may not have been nearly as constrained as a percentage of project cost as consumer spending. And a  lot of infrastructure outlay goes directly to wages, which can also be inflationary. But maybe the biggest potential swing and biggest unknown is that if BBB had passed, it is certainly possible the Fed Reserve would have started tightening much sooner. But of course that is purely speculative. I can say that when Bernanke was Fed chair, he often talked about how Fed monetary policy has to take Federal fiscal policy into account, but I don't really have any sense or knowledge of Powell's leadership on the issue and certainly not the other board members(!), only that at least one Fed chair in recent years had it on his dashboard. The Fed was looking for signals in the confusion of the pandemic and erred seriously on the expansive side to get us where we are. Would big federal budget outlays have been the signal that would have gotten them ahead of this curve - maybe doubtful but certainly possible.

Edited June 8, 2022 by gehringer_2

[chasfh]

8 hours ago, ewsieg said:

Oh how I hope so.  I hoped the Tigers would compete for a wild-card this year as well for what that's worth.

So to be clear, are you hoping it is a one-off situation and that other major retailers are not going to drop their prices in response to a self-imposed inventory glut? You prefer prices to be kept higher and inventory be kept tight? Am I understanding you right here?

[Mr.TaterSalad]

On 11/3/2021 at 12:16 PM, Archie said:

At least Bernie or Warren would have been running the country and been in charge.  Biden seems to be asleep at the wheel while someone else is making decisions behind the scenes.

You're thinking of George W. Bush and that was Dick Cheney calling the shots.

[Mr.TaterSalad]

10 hours ago, ewsieg said:

Question for those on this board that have spent the last few years bashing Manchin, if BBB was pushed through, at the numbers Biden wanted, where do you think inflation is at right now?  Same, better, worse?

I read data from the San Francisco Fed that said the American Rescue Plan contributed to about .3% of inflation. I read data as well that blamed it for anywhere between 1% to 3% of the current inflationary increase. Progressive economist Dean Baker said 1% and America Enterprise Institute had the 3% figure. Lets not forget, Biden only had $1,400 stimulus checks in the American Rescue Plan. Trump wanted $2,000 checks initially at the end of 2020.

I refuse to except the idea that wages need to be depressed and kept low overall for working class folks in order to keep inflation low. I think prices by corporations and businesses need to be held in check better, not working people's wages.

Inflation in the UK is up 9% year-to-date. In Germany it is up 7.4% year-to-date, 5.1% in Australia, and a staggering 12/3% in Brazil. So while the economic stimulus pushed up inflation here in the US a small percent, you're seeing globally, that inflation is a problem for many countries.

I think had Biden's BBB passed in its fullest form, i.e the $3.5 trillion package that folks like Biden, Bernie, Warren, and the progressives in Congress had initially wanted, it probably drives up core inflation a little bit overall, but lowers costs on things that are apart of the bill. I think drug prices, child care costs, and other items that were apart of the BBB bill would be slightly lower as a result of the federal government stepping in with either stimulus or using its negotiating power.

Edited June 8, 2022 by Mr.TaterSalad