Economists Discover that Fed Bond Purchases Affect the Budget | Beat the Press

Dean Baker gives free economics lessons on his blog. Too bad most of Washington doesn't take advantage of them.--SS  

Economists Discover that Fed Bond Purchases Affect the Budget | Beat the Press:

The other point that should jump out at folks is that the projected drop in bond prices, which is the reason that the Fed is projected to lose money, presents a great opportunity for the government to reduce its debt burden. The idea is that long-term bonds issued at the current low interest rates will sell at sharp discounts later in the decade, if interest rates rise as projected.

These discounted prices will give the government the opportunity to reduce its debt by hundreds of billions of dollars -- perhaps more than $1 trillion -- simply by buying these bonds back at lower prices. Such a move would be utterly pointless since it would not change the country's interest burden at all, but since we currently live in a political environment where the debt to GDP ratio is an object of worship, this would be a great way to appease that god. It sure beats big cuts to Social Security and Medicare.

We Need Job Creation, Not Talk of Debt-to-GDP Ratios | Debate Club | US News Opinion

#facts from Dean Baker.--SS   

We Need Job Creation, Not Talk of Debt-to-GDP Ratios | Debate Club | US News Opinion:

This would be a small matter if Bowles and Simpson were not proposing real pain to real people. Their cuts to Social Security and Medicare will be a major hit to tens of millions of seniors who even now have a median income of just $20,000 a year. The change to the Social Security cost of living adjustment alone, which amounts to a 3 percent cut over the lifetime of a typical beneficiary, would be a much larger hit to the income of the typical senior than President Barack Obama's tax increases were to the high income people affected by them.

Letter to Sen. Portman: 'Entitlement Reform' Means Cuts to Social Security, Medicare Benefits | Social Security Monitor

Dean Baker attempts to associate former Bush Budget Director (need I say more?) and current US Senator Rob Portman with the facts. Too bad Republicans don't care about facts. Go read the whole thing if you do.--SS   

Letter to Sen. Portman: 'Entitlement Reform' Means Cuts to Social Security, Medicare Benefits | Social Security Monitor:

...the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office projects that even if Congress makes no changes to the program at all, Social Security can pay full scheduled benefits through the year 2034 and over three-quarters of scheduled benefits for the rest of the century. The shortfall that remains is equivalent to only about 0.6 percent of our GDP, which could be easily made up with common-sense solutions, such as applying the Social Security payroll tax to income above $113,700. 

Medicare is projected to be able to pay full benefits through the year 2024 and the long-term projected shortfall has decreased by more than two-thirds, due to cost controls put in place by the Affordable Care Act.  In addition, the latest projections of Medicare spending from 2011 to 2020 have dropped by $500 billion. The main reason for Medicare's long-term deficits is that we pay twice as much per person for health care as in other developed nations, without better health outcomes to show for it. In fact, if we could get our health care costs down to their levels, for example by allowing the government to negotiate Medicare prescription drug prices, then we'd be looking at budget surpluses, not deficits, in the future.

Grammar

Grammar. The difference between knowing your shit and knowing you're shit.
— Grumpy Cat(@ItsTheGrumpyCat) February 18, 2013

Teamster Nation: The GOP is raising your taxes all over the US

Teamster Nation: The GOP is raising your taxes all over the US: 

The latest round of billionaire-backed assaults on working people includes tax hikes for nearly everyone except -- you guessed it -- the very wealthy. Billionaires' manservants -- aka "Republican governors" -- are trying to raise taxes on the working class in Ohio, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas. Only they're calling it the opposite of what it actually is. So when you hear a Republican governor use the words "tax reform," be very afraid. 

In Ohio, Republican Gov. John Kasich is trying to raise taxes on practically everything: real estate rents, credit processing fees, trademarks, franchises, licenses, stocks, bonds, money market funds, funerals, courier services, dry cleaning, haircuts, cable tv and advertising. To name a few. 

Why? Because Kasich wants to cut taxes for the very wealthy by more than $10,000 a year.

A Republican Inadvertently Admits Supporting a Higher Minimum Wage

@marshablackburn is for higher min wage! 2.15/hr @ her 1st job = 10.56/hr now! #inflation #GOPfail @stevebenen on.msnbc.com/Yws9eh

— Scott Supak (@ssupak) February 15, 2013

Illinois gay marriage bill that does 'what's right' passes Senate, moves to House - Sun-Times Politics

If gay marriage ever gets legal in CA, I'll ask my Los Angeles caterer friend if more weddings will hurt her business. Or, maybe I should ask my Maui Bed and Breakfast owner friend if more honeymoons will be bad for her business.

Illinois gay marriage bill that does 'what's right' passes Senate, moves to House - Sun-Times Politics:

"Businesses will be affected. Bed and breakfasts, florists, all those that are wedding-related, will be affected. They will choose to, most of them, dissolve their businesses. That's what happened in other states," said state Sen. Kyle McCarter (R-Lebanon), drawing scoffs and laughter from supporters of the bill.