“President Donald Trump is more than 19 months into an administration engulfed in so much controversy that it may overshadow a tremendous achievement, namely an economic boom uniquely his,” Jeff Cox writes for CNBC. “During his time in office, the economy has achieved feats most experts thought impossible. GDP is growing at a 3 percent-plus rate. The unemployment rate is near a 50-year low. Meanwhile, the stock market has jumped 27 percent amid a surge in corporate profits.”
“Friday brought another round of good news: Nonfarm payrolls rose by a better-than-expected 201,000 and wages, the last missing piece of the economic recovery, increased by 2.9 percent year over year to the highest level since April 2009. That made it the best gain since the recession ended in June 2009,” Cox writes. Even critics of the president “acknowledge that the current numbers are a uniquely Trumpian achievement and not owed to policies already set in motion when he took office.”
“Indeed, the economy does seem to be on fire, and it’s fairly easy to draw a straight line from Trump’s policies to the current trends,” Cox writes. “Business confidence is soaring, in part thanks to a softer regulatory environment. Consumer sentiment by one measure is at its highest level in 18 years. Corporate profits, owed in good part to last year’s tax cuts, are coming close to setting records. Each of those accomplishments can be tied either directly to new policies or at least indirectly through a brimming sense of hope from businesses that the White House is back on their side.”
Much more in the full article here.
“The United States created 201,000 new jobs in August, keeping the unemployment rate at an 18-year low and generating the fastest increase in worker pay since the end of the Great Recession,” Jeffry Bartash reports for MarketWatch. “The increase in hiring in August was another solid gain that reflects broad strength in an economy that accelerated in the spring and showed little sign of slowing down toward the end of summer. ”
“The biggest news in the August employment report was a sharp increase in pay. The average wage paid to American workers rose by 10 cents to $27.16 an hour. What’s more, the yearly rate of pay increases climbed to 2.9% from 2.7%, marking the highest level since June 2009,” Bartash reports. “The economy has produced an average of 207,000 new jobs a month so far this year — faster than the pace of hiring in both 2017 and 2016.”
“Most companies are hiring and layoffs have tumbled to a nearly 50-year low,” Bartash reports. “‘Today’s strong economy is finally translating into wage gains for more workers,’ said Andrew Chamberlain, chief economist of the labor-market research firm Glassdoor. ‘For now, the U.S. economy broadly remains on a solid growth path, the labor market included,’ said Jim Baird, chief investment officer at Plante Moran Financial Advisors. ‘As long as businesses remain upbeat in their outlook, hiring and the labor market should remain solid, and the economy should follow suit.'”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Cutting taxes and regulations certainly seems to have contributed to lifting the U.S. economy. Growing consumer confidence and increasing wages bode very well indeed for companies like Apple and for the economy in general.
SEE ALSO:
Nasdaq set to chalk up its biggest August percentage gain in 18 years – August 31, 2018
Apple shares hit new all-time intraday and closing highs – August 30, 2018
U.S. economy logs best performance in nearly 4 years – August 29, 2018
Consumer confidence pops in August to highest level since October 2000 – August 29, 2018
Second-quarter U.S. GDP jumps 4.1% boosting hopes that economy is ready to break out of decade-long slumber – July 27, 2018
Dow rises as Wall Street weighs strong U.S. jobs report, Trump administration’s China tariffs – July 6, 2018
What Apple’s $100 billion buyback plan says about President Trump’s tax cuts – May 2, 2018
U.S. consumer confidence hits 14-year high – March 16, 2018
Dow and S&P 500 close higher on upbeat U.S. labor market data – February 22, 2018
Apple gives employees $2,500 bonuses after President Trump signed the GOP’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act – January 17, 2018
U.S. sees strongest holiday sales since 2010 – January 12, 2018
Dow, S&P 500 and Nasdaq rocket to new all-time records – January 11, 2018
S&P 500 and Nasdaq rise to records on first trading day of 2018 – January 2, 2018
U.S. employment jumps more than expected in November, boosts U.S. stocks – December 8, 2017
U.S. third-quarter GDP revised to three-year high of 3.3% – November 29, 2017
Goldman Sachs sees U.S. unemployment rate hitting lowest level since the late-1960s – November 20, 2017
American consumer confidence soars to highest level since December 2000 – October 31, 2017
U.S. jobless claims plunge to lowest level since 1973 – October 19, 2017
U.S. economy picks up steam; second-quarter GDP up 3.0% reflecting robust consumer spending and strong business investment – August 30, 2017
U.S. consumer confidence shows Americans upbeat on jobs, economy – July 25, 2017
Tell that to DEMONcrats, they will deny it or they imply that Obama set the ground for it.
I thought this was a forum for Apple. What has this to do with it?? I am bloody tired of All the political bulls–t on Apple forums. Let’s get back to computers and electronic toys and drop political news.
Unfortunately, the boys in MDM seem to be strong Trump supporters. Some we get this king]d of stuff on a regular basis.
The fact is that what’s been happening in the economie is inertia from the years before – despite what Teump is doing, which is to destroy the middle class.
He gave a tax cut that affects only the top 0.5% of those in the country, and large corporations.
In doing so, we are going to have the biggest deficit we’ve ever had that wasn’t due to the money put in to combat the Bush recession, by the Republicans, shortly before Bush left Office.
This is also adding $1.5 trillion to our debt.
And now, as a result of the Federal government not having enough money, he just announced that 2 million Federal workers won’t receive their pay raises next year.
Nice, isn’t it?
“He gave a tax cut that affects only the top 0.5% of those in the country, and large corporations.”
Pure bull shit, melgross. Unadulterated Twaddle!
I am an economist and you are spouting full blown grade A Bovine Excement!
I handle the payroll for my business and every single employee from the lowest paid person to the highest paid is getting a larger paycheck due to lower Federal TAXES, melgoss, and that is the unvarnished truth. None of them are are in the top 0.5% of those in the country.
That, sir, makes you a liar, a shill for those who a drumming lies.
Inertia does not grow an economy at a 3-4% rate from a continual 1-2% rate if we were lucky. That is an impossibility and an idiotic claim. Employment is at a 50 year high, while teen and black unemployment are at historic lows. Again, that is not built on the “Inertia” of a doldrummic economy where the only jobs to be had WERE PART TIME SERVICE JOBS!
These are facts, facts you cannot ignore, but I am sure you will because you are ignorant and are wearing partisan blinders and are suffering from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome.
An economist? Really?
And your job is to do the **payroll**?
Well, if you really are an economist, then you would know that all that has been done is to apply classical Keynesian principles, namely a $1T (~8% of GDP) increase in Federal spending through increased deficit spending.
Yes, that’s effectively all that the 2017 Tax cut did, and Keynes’ model predicts that it will result in higher economic activity. BUT…
a) This is a stimulus that only lasts for as long as the Feds have elevated deficit spending – – thus, is a short term strategy and isn’t sustainable;
b) The claims that the tax cut will “pay for itself” through increased revenues to then be taxed … has been made before and **NEVER EVER** been proven to be true.
c) This tax break is really just a loan, with a $1T increase in the FY19 deficit, which increases the National Debt. That loan has to be paid back at some point…and with interest.
Since there’s ~126M US households, that means that the same “typical family’s” share of the $1T debt increase is $7,936…
But that’s just the principle – – there’s also interest to be paid until it is paid off. At the current WSJ Prime Rate of 5%, just the interest payment is roughly $400/year.
Now here’s a simple economics calculation:
Sure, the general public did get a modest — and temporary — tax break. Paul Ryan stated “With this plan, the typical family of four will save $1,182 a year on their taxes.”
So then! Just how long will it take said ‘typical family’ to repay their $7,936 share of the deficit increase from their $1,182/year tax break, particularly when the interest on the principle starts at $400 in the first year?
The answer is that they’ll never break even. The time value of money demands that.
Using a simple loan repayment calculator, a 7 year term on $7,936 at the WSJ Prime of 5% requires payments of $112/month and will incur a total amount of interest paid of $1,486, which means that it totals to $9,422.
Now since the individual tax breaks only lasts for seven (7) years, said typical family is only going to have a total tax break savings of 7*$1182 = $8,274 (even if we ignore that it isn’t going to be this good, since parts of the tax bill which expire before seven years).
In plain English, this means that they have $8,274 to replay a $9,422 debt.
And if you want to claim that increased revenues will make all of this up, then the family needs to get a net average seven year period 14% raise….just to break even.
At +2.9%/year wage growth, it simply is not going to happen.
Why? Because this +14% break-even requirement is not merely the wage endpoint after seven years (i.e., +2%/yr * 7 years = 14%), but is a requirement for a net average increase across seven years.
In simple terms, that means that (2018 wages + 2024 wages)/((2017 wages)*2) > 1.14 and for that to happen, 2024 wages need to be 1.28 * (2018 wages), which if KISS linearized means that the wage increase has to average more than +4%/year for every year for the next seven years in order to break even.
So then! Did you get a +4% or better raise in 2018? If not, then you’re falling behind.
—-
Oh, and to save some electrons, your “Rich Will Essentially Pay the Same” claim is highly misleading.
In a nutshell, there isn’t a big change in the progressiveness of the tax tables – – for now. But when the individual rates expire in seven (7) years, that will change.
Plus, there’s more:
* the change in the Estate Tax can *only* benefit those with a Net Worth greater than $5M. That’s a bit more than only the 1% … call it the top 2%.
* the changes to business taxes (many of which were permanent, not temporary) are skewed to the more affluent as well, since a higher percentage of them are the owners of said businesses…
…and this includes a new 20% income exemption on “pass through” income.
* And but of course the share of income taxes paid by the top 1% will increase this year compared with last year, because their income includes a larger share of Stock Market investments … and the tax bill’s repatriation windfall resulted in a huge uptick in Corporate Stock buybacks, so their income is expected to be much higher.
* Plus there’s more in the wings being discussed – – FYI, Trump has directed the Treasury and Labor departments to look into delaying the age of required minimum distributions (RMD’s) for retirement plan withdrawals. Allowing a delay in the RMD age (currently 70.5) is of literally no benefit to the middle class because they need to withdraw those funds to live on in retirement. Only the more affluent (who doesn’t need that money to live day to day on) is who benefits from this plan.
The only response your screed requires is that the One Trillion Dollars you are talking about is over 10 years! From 2018 to 2027. So very little of that failed “Kensian” economics has even been spent, Dolt. . . and yes, I am an economist who “handles” the payroll. I’ve also bee a CEO, and founded a fairly good sized charity. So what? I know the figures. They are accurate, and I stand by them. I also provided accurate analysis from two respected academic economists who completely disagree with your false assertions!
The latest analysis based on just the current tax receipts from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office are already showing that the tax cuts are paying for 65% of themselves without compounding their effects on future investment, which always happens, but never to the extent it will this time with almost two trillion of off shore capital being repatriated. . . the effects of which has yet to be accounted for in investment in the US in the CBO figures.
Required menimum distributions? REALLY? You demonstrate you have zero clue what you’re talking about. If someone doesn’t NEED to draw on their retirement fund, WHY SHOULD THEY BE REQUIRED TO WITHDRAW SOME AND PAY TAXES ON IT IF THEY DON’T NEED TO? I’d prefer to leave it in the untaxed IRA or 401 until I need it. . . not withdraw it on a government determined schedule so the IRS can tax it! If the retiree needs it, them a “required minimum withdrawal” is meaningless, they’ll withdraw it, but be penalized if they DRAW TOO MUCH. What’s fair about that, you idiot? The facts are it’s their damn money! Required Minimum Withdrawals ARE NOT the age when a retiree can start drawing on a retirement account, but rather when they MUST start withdrawing. That’s how stupid you want us to be, when it is YOU who is stupid to try to make the claim to scare people with such an innuendo.
The rest of your screed bothering about future value of money is smoke screen, based on unknowables, designed to confuse people. People need spendable money in their paychecks now, not pie-in-the-sky-by-and-by.
“Pass through income” means that a corporation passes the income earned to the investors. Whoopdedoo. They pay taxes AT A HIGHER RATE THAN ANY CORPORATION, HH.
The fact is that corporations simply never pay ANY TAXES. . . All taxes imposed on businesses pass through to be paid by their customers in the form of higher prices. . . or in lower profits to their investors. . . or in lower wages to their employees. Taxes can only be assessed on the people who provide the source of the revenue. You ALWAYS have to figure out where the money is coming from, and that’s who ultimately pays the taxes. It’s always the customers who buy the goods and services the business sells; there is no other source of replaceable money to tax.
Maybe you’d like to expound on Obama’s idiotic, multiple waves of “Quantitative Easing” Approach to bolstering STOCK PRICES with Billions of dollars being poured into bonds (from where without Congressional vote?) and exactly where that money came from, or perhaps where the billions of dollars in un-allocated funds Obama gave Fiat to take Chrysler, which had a Market Cap value of only about $5 Billion, and left its stockholders and its autoworkers holding an empty bag? An autopsy on that deal concluded that the Obama administration BAILED OUT Fiat by giving them Chrysler with the money to do it, screwing the American autoworkers out of their pensions and millions of other Americans out of their pension money invested in Chrysler stocks and bonds. He did the same with GM. . . turning it into Government Motors, cancelling contracts, pensions, and stocks, then gave it to his Union buddies. . . instead of allowing normal bankruptcy reorganization to handle them. Ford made it through. . . by refusing to allow it.. . although he tried. That’s why I drive a Lincoln now.
@Swordmaker:
“The only response your screed requires is that the One Trillion Dollars you are talking about is over 10 years!”
Which doesn’t change the conclusion, since the only change that does is to moderate the total amount of interest payments due back: that only can happen *if* Trump’s fiscal policy gets back to a better-than-balanced budget. In what just year has CBO projected a budget surplus? Please be specific.
—
” So very little of that failed “Kensian” economics has even been spent, Dolt.”
Incorrect: the money did get spent, but just not in the fashion that Keynes classically envisioned:
Instead of bottom-line spending on employment growth (jobs) or corporate reinvestments (infrastructure), approximately 80% of it got spent in Stock buybacks … that’s why the Stock Market boomed while wages have continued to stagnate relative to the low unemployment.
From the perspective of the affluent stock market investor, this morph of Kensian principles isn’t a failure: it worked absolutely great. But then again, that’s what’s called a “bubble”.
As an alleged economist, you may recall the technical term “Melt Up”, as well as the manifestations of what that suggests is going to happen, probably within the next 18-24 months.
—-
“The latest analysis based on just the current tax receipts from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office are already showing that the tax cuts are paying for 65% of themselves without compounding their effects on future investment, ”
No, because total receipts are down, -7%. And 65% paying for themselves is still not a positive (more than 100%) return on investment.
And sure, there can be future benefits such as compounding – but there’s also inflation too to consider in counterbalance. The problem you have here is that with the effective time horizon of the 7 years of the individual tax breaks, there’s simply not enough time for compounding to make up the shortfall.
—-
“Required menimum distributions? REALLY? You demonstrate you have zero clue what you’re talking about. If someone doesn’t NEED to draw on their retirement fund, WHY SHOULD THEY BE REQUIRED TO WITHDRAW SOME AND PAY TAXES ON IT IF THEY DON’T NEED TO?”
Because these are –>Tax-Deferred<– accounts, and the RMD is the mechanism by which the Gov't finally collects their tax due.
Change/eliminate the RMD and the result is that primarily the wealthy benefit because they have less need to make RMDs. Therefore, they no longer have to pay those taxes on their tax-deferred retirement savings.
Now what's really deviously clever about all of this is that the non-RMD'ed tax-deferred money eventually rolls over into their Estate, which thanks to the Estate Tax code change means that the 1% gets to add in their tax-free retirement savings into the _additional_ $5M which evades taxation.
"The facts are it’s their damn money!"
Incorrect, because its source was income which was not included in prior income tax filings. The taxes due are delayed – – not eliminated.
—-
"“Pass through income” means that a corporation passes the income earned to the investors. Whoopdedoo. They pay taxes AT A HIGHER RATE THAN ANY CORPORATION, HH."
If its supposedly such a bad deal, then why was it in the Tax Bill?
Because its not a bad deal: the pass-through deduction allows taxpayers to exclude up to 20 percent of their pass-through business income from federal income tax. That literally means a 0% tax rate on this part of the business owner's income.
For example, consider a business owner with $200K in income that's entirely from their corporation. If their tax rate was, say, 25%, then they owed ($200K)*(.25) = $50K in taxes.
But with this 20% pass-through, then 20% of the $200K gets taxed at 0%, so the math becomes (.80)($200K)*(.25) = ($160K)*(.25) = $40K in taxes
Yes, that's a net savings and the effective individual taxation rate in this example dropped from 25% to ($40K/$200K) = 20%.
—-
"The fact is that corporations simply never pay ANY TAXES. . . "
Irrelevant, since the above example is on how the **individual** taxes are being changed to benefit the typically more wealthy business owner.
FYI, before looking into this for your own corporation, do be aware that there had been prohibitions on many White Collar Professions from taking advantage of this – – it appears to primarily have been set up to benefit Real Estate.
—-
"Maybe you’d like to expound on Obama’s idiotic, multiple waves of “Quantitative Easing” Approach to bolstering STOCK PRICES…"
Sure. The comprehension problem you have is that the objective of QE wasn't to bolster stock prices, but rather to protect the overall economy from collapse because of Brokerage Houses which had over-leveraged themselves…in several ways, very much a repeat of 1929.
The alternative policy approach would have been Austerity – which from 1929's outcome we known doesn't benefit Society at large and increases both the severity and duration of the economic downturn (recession)…and FYI, the countries in Europe who tried Austerity this past decade validates that it _still_ doesn't achieve the desired Societal policy outcomes.
Next (and FYI), the money for QE didn't have to come from Congress, because decades earlier they had authorized the Federal Reserve with this responsibility & this tool in their toolbox.
For Detroit, the Policy objective was to avoid massive unemployment. The implementation plan included a debt swap offer, but that was rejected by major bondholders at both Chrysler and GM … and that's what ultimately resulted in the pound of flesh becoming the pensions. As such, it was the bondholders who held the Government's plan hostage and made the pensioners pay.
—-
"That’s why I drive a Lincoln now."
Bully for you!
….or at least for your _claims_ of success.
You've probably not noticed that I've made no brags about myself at all. Not because I can't, but because they're simply not relevant.
Tax Receipts DOWN??? minus 7%? So much blithering so many lies.
That puts the LIE to your claim of TAX RECEIPTS being down. WOW! You really don’t know what you are talking about. Most companies are NOT buying back their stock. Apple is one that is, but they are doing it on the SAME SCHEDULE THEY SET UP YEARS AGO, before the tax repatriation was passed! The amount Apple is allocating to stock buy back has not changed, AND, idiot, it is going back into circulation in the hands of investors. It does not just disappear. Do you think, investors are Scrooge McDuck, keeping money in huge vaults, where they can swim in it and move it around with bulldozers?
You are factually wrong as well. As of September 1, the data are these, provided by “The Balance:”
US Tax Receipts:
FY 2007 – $2.57 trillion.
FY 2008 – $2.52 trillion.
Obama $ Dems Increases Taxes Retroactive to January 1
FY 2009 – $2.10 trillion.
FY 2010 – $2.16 trillion.
FY 2011 – $2.30 trillion.
FY 2012 – $2.45 trillion.
FY 2013 – $2.77 trillion.
FY 2014 – $3.02 trillion.
FY 2015 – $3.25 trillion.
FY 2016 – $3.27 trillion
Trump Elected but tax cuts don’t take effect until fiscal 2018. Regulations cut last half of fiscal 2016.
FY 2017 – $3.32 trillion.
Trump/Republican major Tax Cuts take effect January 1, 2018
FY 2018 – $3.34 trillion (est. as of 9/1/18)
FY 2019 – $3.422 trillion (est.)
As we can see, even with major tax cuts the tax Receipts of the US have NOT BEEN REDUCED, and in fact have been increased despite the massive tax cuts, and in fact are likely accelerating.
Your negative seven percent growth figures were taken from the pessimistic projections the Liberals were claiming were going to be the results before the passage of the tax package, NOT THE ACTUAL OBSERVED FACTUAL RESULTS as reported by the IRS and the CBO. . . but then I guess you aren’t interested in facts.
I guess MDN doesn’t take links as it used to. . .
CBO forecasts largest-ever monthly surplus as record tax receipts pour in
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/cbo-forecasts-largest-ever-monthly-surplus-as-record-tax-receipts-pour-in-2018-05-08
@Swordmaker:
“Tax Receipts DOWN??? minus 7%?”
Yes, that’s what the Wall Street Journal published on 12 JUL 18, as a report on a 10 JUL 18 announcement from the Fed.
Title of the WSJ article: “U.S. Government Revenues Drop in Wake of Tax Cuts”.
“The Treasury Department on Thursday said government receipts fell 7% in June compared with the same month a year earlier, including a 33% drop in gross corporate taxes. Individual withheld and payroll taxes were down 5% from June 2017, while non-withheld individual taxes rose by 7%.”
URL (hopefully):
Plus you can also check FRED (St Louis Fed) Blog for June 28, 2018; title: “Government revenue since the recent tax reform”.
Basically its a report as of 2Q18 which also shows the different constituent parts … the revenue on two (Production & Imports, ROW) was up (+15%, +8%), one (personal) was unchanged (-0.03%), and one (corporate) was way, way down (-44%) resulting in the net sum total as being down (-5.2%).
URL:
Now note that the FRED Blog was reporting for 2Q18 and the July WSJ report was for 3Q18, and that total net tax income went from -5% down to -7% down … this is a downward trend for tax revenue, despite your claims of how it is supposedly paying for itself with a “booming” economy.
And also please note that this data on ACTUALS, not forecasts.
Now then, any questions?
Probably not, since you only addressed one of the points I made and dodged the rest. Nevertheless, I have one more for you:
I forgot to ask you specifically if you gave your employees any raise … let alone to have it be as much as the 4% raise that they need to minimally break even. So please add that to your “To Do” homework.
—–
Now then, on Stock buybacks and Apple:
“Apple is one that is, but they are doing it on the SAME SCHEDULE THEY SET UP YEARS AGO, before the tax…”
Unfortunately, your claim here is false too.
Because this past Spring, Apple announced that they’re _accelerating_ their buyback. As reported in the WSJ (1 May 18):
“…Apple said it accelerated its plan to repurchase $210 billion in shares by three quarters and will complete those repurchases by the end of June rather than March 2019, as previously announced.”
WSJ Article Title: “Apple Raises Bar With Stock-Buyback Plans”
URL:
And to follow that up, a report published by the NYT on 1 Aug 18 on how Apple is doing (article title “Apple’s Stock Buybacks Continue to Break Records”)
“…repurchased $43.5 billion of its own stock during the first six months of this year. Not only is that up from more than $14 billion during the same period last year, but the company’s repurchases in the past two quarters also rank as the biggest in history, according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst with S.& P. Dow Jones Indices.”
And it also continues:
“The legislation has caused corporate America, to ramp up stock repurchases. In the first quarter of 2018, companies in the S. & P. 500 purchased a record-breaking $178 billion of their own shares.”
URL:
My data is from September, postdating your July data. later data in any fields falsifies earlier data. I’m done. I posted my source. you did not.
“I forgot to ask you specifically if you gave your employees any raise … let alone to have it be as much as the 4% raise that they need to minimally break even. So please add that to your “To Do” homework.”
Look asshat, I am not doing homework for you. its obvious you did not even read what I’ve already written. . .or you’d know the answer to tha question you asked. PAY ATTENTION.
@swordmaker:
“My data is from September, postdating your July data. later data in any fields falsifies earlier data.”
False, because you’re trying to compare lemons to Apples:
I used ACTUALS, whereas your September cite was was a CBO **forecast**.
And since today’s 11 SEP, the current fiscal quarter isn’t even over yet with which to publish an actual. That number should be published by the Fed in just over a month from today.
—-
Next, on if you gave your employees any raise:
“Look asshat, I am not doing homework for you. its obvious you did not even read what I’ve already written. . .or you’d know the answer to tha question you asked. PAY ATTENTION.”
Avoidance…tsk, tsk, tsk.
Oh, I read what you wrote, which was that they have a slightly better take-home only because of lower Federal Tax withholding …
… which is *NOT* a pay raise from their employer (you).
—-
“I’m done”
Yes, you most certainly are. Shall we now tally up your claims which were shot down in flames?
Let’s see…counting backwards:
* No you didn’t raise your employee’s pay.
* You tried to use Forecast data to trump Actual data
* Your “Apple didn’t accelerate stock buybacks” was proven false.
* You tried to brag about driving a Lincoln, which is irrelevant.
* You had no response to QE. Similarly:
* You didn’t know that the Federal Reserve is authorized by Congress
* You tried to conflate corporate taxes with individual taxes.
* You mentioned tax rate progressivism, which is an irrelevant ‘Red Herring’.
* You got the benefit of pass-through income flat out wrong
* You didn’t understand why RMD’s exist on tax-deferred accounts
* You think that a 65% payback is fully paid.
* You said Kensian principles had “failed” while bragging about its result
* You also don’t see that they were applied to create a bubble.
and finally:
* You’ve still not told us in what just year the CBO has projected a budget surplus as a result of this Administration’s fiscal policies.
Good performance there, mister “Economist”.
Clearly, your degree was from Trump University…Moscow Campus /S
Swordmaker, I read all your fine posts and just wanted to congratulate you on fighting back with intelligence against the 24/7 daily misinformation media bombardment from the LEFT and Democratic Party. Well done sir …
Agreed. Excellent responses SWORDMAKER!
Here are some actual facts for you:
Boston University economist Laurence Kotlikoff, along with University of California, Berkeley, economist Alan Auerbach, (neither of which are by any means “conservative” or Republicans — Swordmaker) conducted a detailed analysis of the winners and losers of the tax bill.
They found virtually no change in the progressivity of the tax reforms. The rich, they concluded, “will pay essentially the same share of taxes” as before.
Data from the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center shows the tax code getting more progressive under the Republican tax cuts, according to a report on the data in the Wall Street Journal.
Top 0.1%, for example, will see their share of federal income taxes paid climb to 22% this year, up from 18.9% last year. (There’s your top 0.5% ad then some, melgross, and show your claim is an out and out lie! — Swordmaker)
The share of income taxes paid by the top 1% will reach 43.3% this year, compared with 38% last year. (Oops, you’re wrong again! — Swordmaker)
How is this possible, given that the law cuts the top income tax rates?
Millions More Pay Nothing
Because while it cut taxes for the relatively few rich in the country, the law also cuts taxes for the vast middle class — through lower rates, a much larger standard deduction, and doubled per-child tax credit.
The law also kicks many families off the tax code entirely. According to the Tax Policy Center, 45.8% “tax units” will owe nothing in federal income taxes this year, or will get a net refund thanks to tax credits. That’s up from 43.4% under the old law.
So, thanks to the GOP tax cuts, the rich will pay either the same or a greater share of the nation’s income tax bill and millions more will pay zero income taxes. How exactly is this a “giveaway” to the rich? (See, Melgross? Your claims are grossly false! — Swordmaker)
Indeed, by the Democrats’ own definition, the Republican tax reform — which zero Democrats voted for — has made the tax code more fair, not less.
Just don’t expect them to ever admit this.
__________________________
I’m waiting for your retraction. . . but I expect only crickets.
None of that is really true. Boy, there are a lot of Trump supporters here this time.
It is all true. You must not earn a paycheck. Ask you mother the next time you climb the basement stairs for dinner how much more her paycheck is this year compared to last year. She’ll tell you.
You’re lying to me, aren’t you?
Why would I lie. You can look it up. Just stay away from lying statements from Democrat politician. Was I posted were verbatim quotation from those professors’ papers where they presented the analysis of the result of the impact on taxpayers. . . not some politicians claims trying to scare voters. I also told you the truth about the payroll of my company in California, a highly taxed State, where EVERY SINGLE EMPLOYEE is taking home more money than they did last year solely due to the tax cuts, AND, as a company we were able to give four to five percent raises, plus bonuses.
Moreover, I can drive down the streets and see “help wanted” signs in store windows when those were not there the last few years! More importantly, they are FULL TIME JOBS, not the multiple part-time jobs that was the hallmark of the Obama era due to Obamacare requirements.
The Mainstream News Media is refusing to report the booming economy, because it is caused by Trump’s policy changes. We see it. . . because we’re living it. . . and earning it, , ,and paying it.
You are full of it. The only profile that would get pounded would be something like this:
Huge income in a high tax state.
Very high property values owned, so high real estate taxes.
You could go from a SALT deduction of like $200,000 down to the $10,000 cap, and you would get clobbered even though your rates went down. It would be even worse if you were heavily leveraged for said properties, because the max deductible loan limit is now $750,000.
You are just blowing smoke.
It gets worse in 7 years when the current rates expire, because the brackets are reportedly not being CPI indexed in the meantime.
What this means is that due to normal wage growth that merely matches inflation will result in you being in a higher net tax bracket than you would be if nothing had changed, because you’ll be using (post-inflation) 2023 income against a 2017 tax bracket.
This is YA wonderful ‘Easter Egg” hidden down in the weeds that’s going to have a delayed bite on Average American households…and whatever political Party is in charge in 2023-24 is who will get blamed for it.
Obama did and dug us out from the republican no regulation mess in 2008. We should all study our history.
By the way how’s the deficit now?
Get a life and stop this childish loser talk !
Obsma is history..
Trump is kicking butt on more fronts than just economy.
The left just cant swallow it and resorts to this childish , stupid anarchy, denials and deceit.
Gey ovet it!
Obama will go down as the worst president he did nothing.
Obama presided over 7 years of economic expansion, the longest economic recovery of the past 100 years after the second worst economic depression in the past 100 years. Trump inherited a growing economy with very low unemployment. Obama inherited a flaming bag of 💩. Just saying…
Read the above
Dont be pathetic!
The financial wizardry that you/Patrick are implying is from the only president in history not to rise above 3.0 GDP for any year ( read “yearly GDP”). He also had eight years to make it happen. Yes, that’s a fantastic record, if scoring from the bottom.
In addition, for those that like to position Obama as a financial wonderkind, please let’s not forget, he took 1/6 of the US economy, devoted it to the expense side of the ledger at a time of financial crisis. This expense, the Affordable Health Care Plan, was to live or die on participation of the healthiest in the society at a time when they least need health care. Only by the mandate of law that all participate, was this plan to succeed. And we know now that law has been overturned and we also all clearly now that the promises of quality, savings and terms were lies to the citizens of the country.
All from the financial wizard you mentioned.
One of the problems with attempting to use 20/20 hindsight is that it is too easy to overlook important details.
For example with Obama, he wanted to have more stimulus spending but it was blocked by the Republicans in Congress. As such, we ended up with sub-3% GDP growth.
And this observation is confirmed by the December 2017 Tax bill which was effectively was _finally_ that new round of classical Keysian spending to spur higher economic activity.
And the reason it didn’t come years earlier is because of Republican “Party Before Country” partisan politics, who blocked at least five (5) initiatives between 2009 and 2013 as well as hamstrung others…including:
* The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (111th Congress)
* Filibusters of unemployment insurance & routine economic support
(111th)
* Discretionary spending cuts (112th)
* Hijacking the debt ceiling and extracting the Budget Control Act (Summer 2011)
* Blocking the American Jobs Act (Fall 2011)
* Demanding offsets and “pay-fors” (that’s Austerity)
* Hamstringing monetary policy (ditto)
(Source: EPI.org; January 18, 2013 article)
There’s reasons why the Republicans garnered the name, “Party of NO”.
Well into his 2nd term, Mr Expansion was still blaming economic stagnation on Bush…frequently. Remember?
Obama said that high employment is “the new normal.” (“Very low employment”…which books are you reading?)
Also, he never achieved about 3% annual GDP (he’s alone in that “achievement”).
He also said 3% growth is not possible going forward.
On top of all that “achievement,” he goes on to say as recent as today (9-7–18) that today’s job report, GDP growth is a result of his efforts!
Wait!
Gymnastics are needed to combine his own statements with his claim of ownership to today’s #’s/growth…2+ years from his tenure. Yes, I’d like my cake and eat it too. Please help me digest his own statements with your claims.
Oh, please! When you significantly cut taxes to businesses combined with a one-time r twined earning repatriation from overseas, you are going to stimulate the economy. No surprise there. No one denied that there would be stimulus. Now the second part…
The tax cuts are based on borrowed money – increased deficit spending. The stimulus was also applied to an economy that had been growing for a number of years with unemployment *already* at historically low percentages. On top of this, the GOP significantly increased spending on both the military and non-military…an additional $70B to the military alone. That is more stimulus, again funded by deficit spending. The result will be a ballooning deficit and rising inflation. So far, the increase in inflation is offsetting wage gains to a large extent. Real buying power is not growing very fast.
On top of that, interest rates are going to rise. This will result in higher interest payments on the accumulated national debt and even larger annual deficits.
Republicans used to understand this. Trump does not. And wealthy Trump backers are riding this gravy train to the bank. The rest of us will be left holding the bag…again. It happened with Reagan. It happened with Bush. It will happen again without Trump. Massive tax cuts plus increases in spending result in economic crash about six years down the road. 1987…2007…and, likely, around 2022, if not sooner.
Yah, Obama set the ground – for 8 years… The economy was anemic and flat and floundering under this regulations, his raising of taxes and massive national debt increase. He called Bush unpatriotic for his debt spending, and then Obama made that look like childs play. Obama left the world on fire. ISIS became a malaise, which Obama called “the JV team” and let N. Korea missile test and run completely unchecked and out of control. Threatened red lines to Syria and then when crossed did nothing. A completely impotent President who had a great voice and looked good, but had an admin that lied like a rug, gave Iran a get of of jail car agreement, and who’s policies for my work, tens of million of more americans and blacks and minorities were absolutely horrible. And now he’s out there talking collectivism and communist come together as one – under the power of the Federal Government. Lovely.
But that’s just for starters… Guy was horrific. Trump’s systematically cleaning up all his crap, keeping the world safer (no one notices that!), and building our economy to be the major super power it was in brink of no longer becoming. he’s a nut job on many levels but I don’t care. He’s making america stronger. Economy incredible. I’ll take it.
you are so so clever with your childish remarks you can now brag to your mommy.
There’s no doubt that this is Trump’s economy.
But Trump’s problem might actually be he’s not getting enough credit. Economists say the country is at “full employment,” meaning people who want work can find it. Given that seeming nationwide access to work, Trump’s economic numbers should arguably be better than they are. Since 1997, when CNN began tracking the state of economic conditions, those economic approval numbers have directly tracked with unemployment.
As unemployment goes up, the positive perceptions of the economy go down and vice versa. The two, historically, have been interconnected. Likewise, when economic conditions and unemployment move, approval of how the President is handling the economy moves, too.
This is where the current political polarization hurts Trump. With the economic approval of less than 90% of Republicans and only 20% of Democrats, Trump isn’t close to those benchmarks enjoyed by Bush and Clinton.
— CNN, September 7, 2018
I couldn’t agree more. If Trump would only relax and let the booming economy boom, he’d be more popular. It kills me that he keeps shooting his mouth off on Twitter, acting as wobbly and insecure as Woody Allen, who also never shuts up. You’d think that being President would allow you to take a bubble bath in peace, but I guess that can’t happen if you’re secretly unsure you actually won fair and square, and can’t resist hammering away at that point two years later, and continue to toy with the idea of getting rid of Robert Mueller before he eviscerates your financial empire, although you can’t be certain how much he knows, and God knows you don’t remember all of it because you trusted, you know, certain people to handle things and if they didn’t, damn it, it isn’t your fault, it’s theirs.
Trump’s neurotic communication, mainly via Twitter, is his greatest liability.
Remove this and let actions/results be his “voice” and the left’s TDS and anguish from many on the right would dissipate greatly.
Could someone please sell him a speech governor? Maybe he’d be shocked into a new phase of reality if Barron could say that he sounded like one of his friends when he spouts on Twitter, would do it? A firm and hard spanking from Melania? Ivanka threatening, “no late night burgers in bed”?
Lots of boosterism from the far right. A mediocre jobs report. Wages up slightly over inflation.
https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2018/09/chart-of-the-day-net-new-jobs-in-august-2/
Actually, real wages have dropped.
I repeat, is there a Dr. in the bldg? There are a bunch of people in the back of the room, (page 2 & 3 of this post) that are threatening to leave MDN b/c of the right wingers speaking their minds. For the health of those mentioned, let’s change the tenor to more left leaning, so they can recover and feel more amenable to staying. TDS is overwhelming them.
Bye, don’t let the door hit your asses one the way out. If you can’t handle truth for a change go watch the lies you are getting on CNN and MSNBC.
Try looking at the raw numbers yourself instead of taking their distortions. You’ll find out they ARE lying to you.
So, we’re going to bus-in some left-minded folks to help those in the “back room” that feel out numbered. It’s tearin’ them up…all these right wingers that don’t agree with them. Truth be told, the right-wingers are bringing on TDS with all the Obama talk. He was quite the hero to the left…Alinsky/Wright and all the other challenges he brought with him.
As soon as the head count evens up a bit and the left-minded can feel enough voices supporting their view, they’ll be able to call it fair, or at least fairer. “Working together” is when there’s agreement with their view and they’re just not feeling right now.
Update: buses have arrived and unloading will happen soon…we’re just going over some “IT” terms, so they can sprinkle in “things Apple” with the politic. These are “pros” that have offered similar service…they just need a primer on the tech side.
What claptrap.
Sorry to disappoint the trumpee lovers but here are the numbers since 2008.
https://www.bloomberg.com/quicktake/monthly-us-jobs-report
I’m real sorry to point out that your boy inherited a trend Mr. O created and was kind enough to hand it off.
Our lord obama was sooo adept at the economy that he planned its upswing just as he left office.
(Libs in their minds)
If you can read charts the data speak for themselves. On entering office, Obama was handed an economic bag of sheet and still managed to turn the economy around in two years. Over his tenure the economy was steady and improving. When he handed it to Trump, all Trump had to do was keep the ship headed in the right direction. If in two years Trump maintains those same trends then we will conclude he was/is a good steward of the economy. And if the trend keeps going up then we have to conclude Trump’s policies were good for the economy.
And if Trump’s under-regulation policies and unnecessary economic stimulus trigger a recession, the right will blame it on Hillary.
Quite.
“Even critics of the president “acknowledge that the current numbers are a uniquely Trumpian achievement and not owed to policies already set in motion when he took office.”
…is bald-faced dissembling if not an outright lie.
Still, if it gives comfort to the peanut gallery, then go ahead, ignore history, economic trends and market records. When the deficit bites we know it will be Obama’s fault natch.
He Absolutely has… and more !
But the left rather throw the baby out with bath water…. and shoot thenselves in the foot on top!
And please please spare us the ‘O’ BS .
Trump continues to ride Obama’s economy. Republicans hate to think about it, but take a look at the Bikini Graph, which shows the major change in the job losses from the Great Recession. From 800,000 job losses a month to an. inc ease in jobs.
After looking at that historic shift take a look at job growth after Obama’s growth took hold. That long term graph points upward and continues today. Trump grabs the credit of the benefits of Obama’s economy – no surprise there . The only question these days is what will he say when the economy takes a down turn?
What claptrap! You need to stop being pretend economists abd stuck to talking about computers and phones.
This is complete horse manure. Trump inherited a solid and growing economy from Obama. The Obama administration instituted policies to cause the economy to grow at a steady maintainable pace. This is why we are now enjoying the longest economic expansion in US history.
All Trump and the Republicans did was pour gasoline on the fire with a deficit busting tax cut aimed at the corporations and wealthy investors.
The current increase in GDP growth is accompanied by an equal increase in the rate of inflation. So, no increase in real GDP growth whatsoever. However, due to increased inflation, real wages have actually fallen. Maybe that was the whole point: the illusion of growth while screwing working Americans.
Ha- ha- ha
The only “horse manure” is what floats in the Heads of the Indoctrinated Dogmatic Dems/Libs Lemmings .. the self entitled freeloaders and deceitful anarchist.. who are set to divided this country in the footeps of their cult leader the “O’ ….
Ignorance and stupidity seem to have no limits with this bunch… reminds me of some fanatical groups destroying anything in sight as long as their misguided DOGMA is satisfied…
Sad … and dangerous !
Get professional help. You are delusional.
In the contrary.. Just describing delusional !
I dont expect you to understand.
But i hope someday u and alike get off your loser mindset !
I was waiting for concrete examples Re::
“The Obama administration instituted policies to cause the economy to grow at a steady maintainable pace.”
Something more than sugar water, please.
Yeah well details aren’t exactly what the Left excels at.
Hope-feely stuff is all that matters…
Nonsense. We are in Hell, and the worst is yet to come. DEPLORABLE.
Been down so long, it looks like up to me.
This is stupid. All around stupid. Enjoy talking to yourself. I’ve tolerated your right-leaning b.s. for long enough. Trump is a devout narcissist, misogynist and compulsive liar and lives in a world fabricated form lies. No amount of economic advantage even BEGINS to make up for this. And, when you give big business and the .1% an extra trillion dollars (on the middle-class taxpayers dime). What a complete load of crap. Just deleted MacDailyNews from my newsreader.
Boom for Who?
Tourist industry is collapsing Here in Florida
Salaries are Pathetic.
Nobody is doing good here .
Like saying tha Tim Cook is better than Steve Jobs because of the actual stock price
This is MAC daily news. Not a political blog.
Divisiveness gets more hits.
That’s how Trump won.
I thought this was an Apple news site site. Not an extension of State media for Hair Furor.
Steve Jack knows that divisiveness gets compensatory clicks on a slow Apple news day.
That’s the fundamental problem with business—it forces people to make ethical choices, and self-interest is more often the strongest influence.
It only gets really interesting when business interests see a social upheaval coming, and we all get to see what they do in the run-up, and how they try to excuse themselves in the aftermath.
1. Trump increased low paying jobs.
2. They pay a little better but are still low paying.
3. The boom is on Wall St. and with military contractors.
4. Job rate is up because more and more unemployed people are not counted.
5. I am looking forward to a new iPad.
The Truth Has Spoken.
The op-ed has unhinged Trump. Pretty damn funny. Pass the 🍿
You’re all too late to save his sorry ass. Bigly.
Enough! In fact, way too much already.
MDN has become way too blatantly partisan. I am done with this site for good. Enjoy your far right Faux News clientele, MDN, because that is soon all that you will have left. Who needs a Mac news aggregator that panders to political click bait?
This site sucks now. its not even worth all the ad blocking. all of you are fucking idiots.
How is it that Obama can take credit for the booming economy happening now? Wasn’t in 2016 when he was asking if Trump had a magic wand? Also, I’m no where in the top 1% and the tax reform has made my paycheck a little bit fatter. All I know is when Obama was president, my paycheck kept getting smaller and smaller. Trump was not my first choice, but I sure hell was not going vote for Hillary. She can’t even get up a few steps without the help of others. Let Trump be the president we voted for. 🇺🇸
During the Obama years, I cross checked my total paycheck every two weeks by watching the percentage of net pay against gross pay.
At that time my net pay was 83% of the gross amount. In the last two years my net pay is now 87.5% of the gross. Not only that, I got a very good raise in a new position that never existed two years ago.
There you are.
Very strange, not a single poster on page two is a registered MDN user or even a recognizable poster? I smell mowed Astroturf on that page!
The real title of this article is, “How Mac Daily News Wandered Off Topic and Became a Political Opinion Website.”
What does this have with Apple? It just riles everyone up and degenerates into name calling and divides us even more. Fuck you MDN