Henry Blodget of Business Insider: DON'T BE FOOLED: The Republicans Are Winning

Business Insider ^ | 01/02/2013 | Henry Blodget

[SeekAndFind]

To listen to all the moaning out of the House of Representatives yesterday, you could be forgiven for thinking that the Republicans are losing the fiscal battle in Washington.

Actually, they're winning.

To see this, you just need to step back and look at the tax deal and the country's fiscal trends from a broader perspective.

Yesterday, the American government voted to extend almost all of the Bush Tax Cuts permanently.

Not temporarily, as a stimulus measure.

Permanently.

Ever since the Bush Tax Cuts were first enacted in 2001--temporarily, as a stimulus measure--one goal of the Republican party has been to "make the Bush Tax Cuts permanent."

For most of the last decade, this goal has seemed like an extremist view: Making the Bush Tax Cuts permanent would drastically reduce the federal government's revenue. It would also increase inequality and balloon the national debt and deficit--so how could we possibly justify doing that?

And yet now, suddenly, almost all of the Bush Tax Cuts are permanent.

The Republicans also got a good deal for the investor and owner class, making the Bush dividend tax cut permanent. This saves a lot of money in tax bills for America's wealthier investors.

And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How?

By not extending the payroll tax cut.

This payroll tax cut put up to an extra $2,000 a year in the pockets of everyone who works. The payroll tax hits everyone who earns wages, including the richest Americans, but it's a highly "regressive" tax: It takes a much bigger percentage of the income of those who earn less than $110,000 a year than it does from the richest Americans.

[SeekAndFind]

IS THIS HOW THE TYPICAL LIBERAL MIND THINKS ABOUT THE DEBT CEILING?

EXCERPT:

The next government fight will be about the debt ceiling, and the Republicans are already mobilizing to hold the country hostage and demand entitlement cuts in exchange for not forcing the U.S. to default. And it seems reasonable to assume that, no matter how crazy and irresponsible this behavior is, the Republicans will probably extort some spending-cut concessions in exchange for agreeing to allow the United States Of America to honor its commitments.

So, it’s likely that we’ll get some entitlement spending cuts before long.

And then there’s the big picture, which is also important. The Republicans are winning there, too.

[grobdriver]

the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party

Schmuck.

[bmwcyle]

Everyone is about to watch their country sink. People like this live in a world of their mind.

[treetopsandroofs]

Looks like with all of Hussein’s victories against America, his handlers and Big Media are concerned that the leftist freaks will lose some of their hatred.

[kabar]

There are no such things as permanent tax cuts. Future Congresses can do whatever they want. The only thing about the Obama tax cuts is that they will not sunset like the Bush tax cuts. If that is such a great victory, I can understand why the Reps are such poor negotiators.

[montanajoe]

Right...and Romney won the election like so many Republicans and those here were sure he was going to do.

Republicans are very good at winning in their dreams but fall short in the real world every time....

[silverleaf]

how dare the rich elitists expect the working class to put away 2% of their wages for retirement!

THE AUDACITY!

[TADSLOS]

Apparantly, Obama’s “deal” wasn’t fair share enough for the leftist crowd.

[muir_redwoods]

If this is “winning”, losing must REALLY suck.

[SECURE AMERICA]

( Making the Bush Tax Cuts permanent would drastically reduce the federal government’s revenue. )
Actually it does not DRASTICALLY reduce the Federal Governments revenue, it just reduces it from that source.Its the Government. They will find a way to take more money from us. But the writer makes the tax cuts that sound like a bad thing. The “bad thing” is a Federal Government that is so bloated, so inept, so out of control in spending that NO AMOUNT OF TAXATION would ever be enough to feed it.........

[Da Coyote]

Please keep the writer of this screed away from sharp objects.

[mjp]

The goal of that plan is to continue to reduce federal government revenue to the point where the government simply has no choice but to cut spending, because deficits have just gotten too large and unsustainable to ignore.

the libtards will keep on spending and will just finance a larger deficit with more creation of money out of thin air and more borrowing from China.

[Brad from Tennessee]

[And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How? By not extending the payroll tax cut.]

The payroll tax partially funds Social Security, Medicare and Workers Comp. The cut couldn’t be made permanent without creating a new funding mechanism—like borrowing the money from another country.

[DManA]

Nonsense. It’s just that the democrats have found more effectives methods to redistribute wealth and socialize the economy than the tax code.

The tax battle just distracts us from the real crimes taking place.

[dragnet2]

It’s good for you Yankee....You like, make you proud.

The author teaches at the Tokyo Rose school of propaganda.

[norton]

And when it comes to the broader fiscal battle, the Republicans are winning: The federal government's tax revenues are at the lowest level as a percent of GDP in the past several decades.
"The Republicans, in other words, are well on their way to starving the beast.

Gee, I never realized congressional Republicans were that clever. And, I certainly didn't realize they were that skilled.

[rusty schucklefurd]

re: “And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party. How?

By not extending the payroll tax cut.”

Ok, this is a clear case of “Don’t believe your eyes, just believe what I’m telling you.”

The Dems have been wanting to get rid of the Bush Tax cuts since its inception. They wanted to raise tax rates on the wealthier Americans. They didn’t want to substantially reduce government spending (except in Defense).

Let’s see - Who won the election?? Wasn’t it the Dem/Communists by a wide margin? Who’s setting the agenda here?

They got 99% of what they wanted. How is that Republicans winning (not that they fought very hard)? It looked to me like a bloodbath against all Americans and our economy - a big win for the Progressives.

This article was obviously written for low-information voter consumption. Blame the coming collapse and pain that we are causing on the opponents.

[taildragger]

Henry needs to undo his cranal rectal inversion and ask....

How will our kids and grandkids compete with Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, and the Czech Republic..

We need:

* A top to bottom review off all programs as to the validity of their existense prior to downsizing re-engineering all of them to get our expenses below our GDP.
* That means cutting Fedzilla from 25% of GDP to somewhere between 17 and 20%.
* That is a minium of a 30% cut.

That doesn't get into the fact we can't compete tax code wise. i.e. the Czech Republic with:

* A 15% Flat Tax
* A 19% Business Tax ( and I think 100% captial purchase deductions year one )
* 15% Cap Gains.
* and retirement and what I think is dividend income by another name at 5%.

[Yosemitest]

REPUBLICANS WHO NEED TO BE PRIMARY-ED

ENEMIESAlabama

Alaska

Young, Donald “Don”
Alaska At Large



Arizona

Arkansas

Womack, Steve
Arkansas's 3rd congressional district



California

Bilbray, Brian
California's 50th congressional district



Bono Mack, Mary
California's 45th congressional district



Calvert, Ken
California's 44th congressional district,



Denham, Jeff
California's 19th congressional district



Dreier, David
California's 26th congressional district



Gallegly, Elton
California's 24th congressional district



Herger, Walter “Wally”
California's 2nd congressional district



Lungren, Daniel E.
California's 3rd congressional district



McKeon, Howard “Buck”
California's 25th congressional district



Miller, Gary
California's 42nd congressional district



Royce, Edward “Ed”
California's 40th congressional district



Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Buchanan, Vern
Florida's 13th congressional district



Crenshaw, Ander
Florida's 4th congressional district



Diaz-Balart, Mario
Florida's 21st congressional district



Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana
Florida's 18th congressional district



Young, Bill
Florida's 10th congressional district



Georgia

Hawaii

Idaho

Simpson, Michael “Mike”
Idaho's 2nd congressional district



Illinois

Biggert, Judy
Illinois's 13th congressional district,



Bob Dold Shneider defeated Dold 51%-49%, a difference of just 3,000 votes.
Illinois's 10th congressional district



Johnson, Timothy
Illinois's 15th congressional distric



Kinzinger, Adam
Illinois's 11th congressional district



Manzullo, Donald
Illinois's 16th congressional district



Schock, Aaron
Illinois's 18th congressional district



Shimkus, John
Illinois's 19th congressional district



Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Rogers, Harold “Hal”
Kentucky's 5th congressional district



Louisiana

Alexander, Rodney
Louisiana's 5th congressional district



Maine



Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Benishek, Dan
Michigan's 1st congressional district



Camp, David “Dave”
Michigan's 4th congressional district



Miller, Candice
Michigan's 10th congressional district



Rogers, Michael “Mike”
Michigan's 8th congressional district



Upton, Frederick “Fred”
Michigan's 6th congressional district



Minnesota

Kline, John
Minnesota's 2nd congressional district



Mississippi

Missouri

Emerson, Jo Ann
Missouri's 8th congressional district



Luetkemeyer
Missouri's 9th congressional district



Montana

Nebraska

Fortenberry, Jeffrey
Nebraska's 1st congressional district



Nevada

Heck, Joe
Nevada's 3rd congressional district



New Hampshire

Bass, Charles “Charlie”
New Hampshire's 2nd congressional district



New Jersey

Frelinghuysen, Rodney
New Jersey's 11th congressional district



Lance, Leonard
New Jersey's 7th congressional district



LoBiondo, Frank
New Jersey's 2nd congressional district



Runyan, Jon
New Jersey's 3rd congressional district



Smith, Christopher “Chris”
New Jersey's 4th congressional district



New Mexico

New York

Gibson, Chris
New York's 20th congressional district Gibson, who was redistricted from the 20th district to the 19th district.



Grimm, Michael
New York's 13th congressional district Grimm was redistricted from the 13th district to the 11th district.



Hanna, Richard
New York's 24th congressional districtRedistricted to New York's 22nd congressional district.



Hayworth, Nan
New York's 19th congressional district



King, Peter “Pete”
New York's 3rd congressional district



Reed, II, Tom
New York's 29th congressional district



Turner, Robert L. "Bob"
New York's 9th congressional district Turner lost the primary election to Wendy Elizabeth Long on June 26, 2012. She lost the general election to incumbent Democrat Kirsten Gillibrand.




North Carolina

Coble, Howard
North Carolina's 6th congressional district



North Dakota

Ohio

Boehner, John
Ohio's 8th congressional district



Johnson, William Leslie "Bill"
Ohio's 6th congressional district



LaTourette, Steven
Ohio's 14th congressional district



Latta, Robert
Ohio's 5th congressional district



Stivers, Steven Ernst "Steve"
Ohio's 15th congressional district



Tiberi, Patrick “Pat”
Ohio's 12th congressional district



Oklahoma

Cole, Tom
Oklahoma's 4th congressional district



Lucas, Frank
Oklahoma's 3rd congressional district



Sullivan, John
Oklahoma's 1st congressional district



Oregon

Walden, Greg
Oregon's 2nd congressional district



Pennsylvania

Barletta, Lou
Pennsylvania's 11th congressional district



Dent, Charles
Pennsylvania's 15th congressional district



Fitzpatrick, Michael
Pennsylvania's 8th congressional district



Gerlach, Jim
Pennsylvania's 6th congressional district



Kelly, Jr., George Joseph "Mike"
Pennsylvania's 3rd congressional district



Marino, Thomas Anthony
Pennsylvania's 10th congressional district



Meehan, Patrick Leo "Pat"
Pennsylvania's 7th congressional district



Murphy, Tim
Pennsylvania's 18th congressional district



Pitts, Joseph
Pennsylvania's 16th congressional district



Platts, Todd
Pennsylvania's 19th congressional district



Shuster, William “Bill”
Pennsylvania's 9th congressional district



Thompson, Glenn
Pennsylvania's 5th congressional district



Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Noem, Kristi
South Dakota At Large,



Tennessee

Texas

Brady, Kevin
Texas's 8th congressional district



Sessions, Peter “Pete”
Texas's 32nd congressional district



Smith, Lamar
Texas's 21st congressional district,



Thornberry, William “Mac”
Texas's 13th congressional district



Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

Hastings, Doc
Washington's 4th congressional district



Herrera Beutler, Jaime
Washington's 3rd congressional district



McMorris Rodgers, Cathy
Washington's 5th congressional district



Reichert, Dave
Washington's 8th congressional district,



West Virginia

Wisconsin

Ribble, Reid James
Wisconsin's 8th congressional district



Ryan, Paul
Wisconsin's 1st congressional district



Wyoming

Republican Cowards (Did NOT Vote)



Buerkle, Ann Marie
New York's 25th congressional district



Burton, Dan
Indiana's 5th congressional district



Graves, Samuel “Sam”
Missouri's 6th congressional district,



Lewis, Jerry
California's 41st congressional district



Paul, Ronald “Ron”
Texas's 14th congressional district

[mosaicwolf]

I didn't see anything about the immoral inheritance tax? Did that go up to 55%?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

The Alinskyites never rest, and never stop lying.

[oldbrowser]

The only thing about the Obama tax cuts is that they will not sunset like the Bush tax cuts.

Oh, so now you want to call them the "ObAMA TAX CUTS".

IIRC, Obama was dead set against these cuts both as a so called senator and the so called president.

They are still the Bush tax cuts.

[Triple]

“The Republicans also got a good deal for the investor and owner class, making the Bush dividend tax cut permanent. This saves a lot of money in tax bills for America’s wealthier investors.

And the Republicans also socked it to the working class, something that often seems to be an unstated goal of the party.” - Henry Blodgett

This guy continues to out himself as a complete moron.

[Terry Mross]

Making the cuts permanent did NOT drastically reduce revenue. It stopped it from beind raised. These people would never have made it through 9th grade algebra. They don’t know the difference between a “negative” and a “positive”.

[Navy Patriot]

Henry Blodget is entirely wrong and short sighted to boot.

Taxing the evil rich simply does not work in the long run, but worse, the Republicans have taxed ONLY the rich who are not protected DemoRat rich or protected DemoRat crony capitalist (Fascist) corporations.

Thus the targeted group (those who do not actively support Marxism) will flee, be destroyed, or rearrange to become crony capitalists (Fascists) for government protection and subsidy.

Therein lies the problem, the Socialist system (including it's Fascist and Marxist components), always spends everyone into bankruptcy by getting no value for the money, and when bankrupt, one no longer needs government protection and can't pay to get it anyway. Now the government can't pay ANYBODY either and everybody but the elite inner circle Communist oligarchs are equally completely destitute and income free.

Including Henry Blodget.

[Gaffer]

This payroll tax cut put up to an extra $2,000 a year in the pockets of everyone who works. The payroll tax hits everyone who earns wages, including the richest Americans, but it's a highly "regressive" tax: It takes a much bigger percentage of the income of those who earn less than $110,000 a year than it does from the richest Americans

What a pantload of misleading crap. What this buffoon neglects to mention these "payroll taxes" are not technically taxes (effectively, yes, but not specifically). "Payroll taxes" are technically insurance payments that are 6.2% of ones paycheck mandated by the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) for Old Age, Survivor and Disibility Insurance (OASDI). The 1.45% they pay is for Medicare Insurance.

Further, each of these very low wage earners get back far more in EITC, child credits, etc. than they pay in on 6.2% of their meager income. This statement is just another hit at people that actually have made something of their life and don't have to ask "do you want fries with that?" The founders of this country never meant to have a permanent freeloading class of citizens that leech off the rest of us. This heart-tugging stuff about regressive, excessive, larger percentage, etc. is just diversionary tactics that hide the real problem - too many frigging leeches.

[wbill]

I read the article in its entirety. Also read the "recommended follow-on", as well.

While I didn't particularly like it, I thought that it was a good analysis. Basically, he stated that the deficit would only be fixed by *both* tax increases and budget cuts. I don't necessarily like this, but I think that he's probably right.

Additionally, he *showed* where the money for the deficits was going....not defense, or Unemployment, or Food Stamps. Basically, it's going to Medicare, Medicaid, and SS. Defense (an FR sacred cow) and unemployment/Food Stamps (a favored FR scapegoat) are fairly minimal in the grand scheme of things.

So, in a nutshell, I didn't like what he said. I also disagree with him in that spending cuts need to come from everywhere, and no cut is too small. However, I came away from the readings with more knowledge than I started.

[SeminoleCounty]

Next.....Michael Jordan will tell us how his Charlotte Bobcats are actually winning....despite their 3-22 record

[KarlInOhio]

REPUBLICANS WHO NEED TO BE PRIMARY-ED

LaTourette, Steven
Ohio's 14th congressional district

I will personally drag him out of the Capitol tomorrow, kick him in the butt and tell him to never darken the door of the people's house with his RINO shadow. Also he retired and decided not to run in 2012 so won't be back.

Surprisingly my flex spined representative actually voted against the bill.

[Go Gordon]

The cut couldn’t be made permanent without creating a new funding mechanism—like borrowing the money from another country.

Not to pick on you Brad, but this is a tired line. The vast majority of our debt is not puchased by other other countries. Right now, the Fed is buying $85 billion per month of our deficit spending which is darn near 100% of the deficit. PS - When is the last time China purchased any of our debt?

[epluribus_2]

Sure, and president elect Romney announced today that he is tasking incoming Veep paul Ryan to head a government wide review of finances to rid the nation of years of fraud waste and abuse. The anti corruption measures are widely supported by the public and are expected to dramatically reduce the cost of government and will pave the way to lower taxes and a stronger economy...snip

[CAluvdubya]

You need to remove Brian Bilbray CA from your list. He’s already been primaried out. This was his last vote, or close to it.

[Arm_Bears]

The Business Insider is as Left as the The New York Times or the Washington Post. Why people here continue to post/attach credibility to anything they write is beyond me.

[expat2]

I think this guy has a good point. I was surprised how good a deal it was for the conservative side in terms of taxes and SS. It’s true we didn’t tackle the spending issue, but that was inevitable given the short time available to fix the looming tax problem. The other good news is that the Rs have good leverage on the spending issue via the debt ceiling, tho that is going to be another brutal battle, with the MSM throwing rocks at the good guys..

[wbill]

to rid the nation of years of fraud waste and abuse

I used to work for a small Financial Firm that specialized in Auditing and Fraud.

They specifically would *not* do business with the government. Not because there wasn't enough money there, but due to Zero-Based Budgeting and the internal bureaucracies.

One of the company salesweasels explained it to me.... roughly, when auditing gov't agencies, they would find all the money they could in the 1st half of the fiscal year. No problems. In the second half, however, none of the money that they found would be signed off on as "collectable" by the bureaucrats. Why? If the findings can't be spent fast enough, the money gets whacked from the agencies' budgets.

So, the company would be expected to *audit* 12 months a year, but only make money for about 6 months. Not much of a business model.

In effect, there are a bunch of drunken sailors handling the nation's wallet, and no one will bother to watch them.

[SeekAndFind]

RE: It’s true we didn’t tackle the spending issue, but that was inevitable given the short time available to fix the looming tax problem

How many of us wanna bet the spending issue won’t be tackled until the very last minute and the end result will simply be this -— token cuts which does nothing to our huge deficits and debt?

[Aevery_Freeman]

honor its commitments

Here we have the next mantra.

Remember, the commitment is just to buy votes in perpetuity.

BTW - the bill that is to be paid by the payroll tax isn't just going to go away. This is just sleight of hand.

[nomad]

Who`s the idiot who wrote this horse shit? And are you swallowing this shit sandwich? Damn, so whats shit taste like?

[qman]

They have been doing it for four years with no end insight, Ben Bernanke taxes all of us 85 billion every month.

[mtrott]

Yeah, I reject the whole way this guy looks at the federal government’s role and purpose, but if it’s true that the tax rates for incomes below $450,000 are now permanent, that actually represent at least some of the “stability” that a lot of small business owners are looking for. They have been scared to death to create or expand operations out of fear of getting slammed with new and higher tax rates.

[gotribe]

Henry “Buy Internet Stocks” Blodget

KABLAM

[Yehuda]

In 2002, then New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, published Merrill Lynch e-mails in which Blodget gave assessments about stocks which allegedly conflicted with what was publicly published.[4] In 2003, he was charged with civil securities fraud by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.[5] He agreed to a permanent ban from the securities industry and paid a $2 million fine plus a $2 million disgorgement.[6]

[CharlesWayneCT]

First, none of the 8 Virginia republicans voted for it.!!!

Second, of your 5 “cowards”, 4 of them are gone, 2 retired and 2 were voted out of office. I wouldn’t be surprised if they weren’t even back after Christmas, they probably already packed up and went home.

Third, “Primary-ed” isn’t really a word. The “word”, so to speak, would be “Primaried”, except that isn’t a word either (well, it actually IS a word, but it is an adjective associated with birds, not a verb.)

We have taken recently to saying someone should be “primaried”, but that is because we are lazy, and don’t want to say “challenged in the primary”. Which means in a couple of years, “primaried” will end up being a word, because that is how new words are formed.

[AZLiberty]

I think it was a typo. Should be:

DON’T BE FOOLED: The Republicans Are Whining

[Brad from Tennessee]

[Right now, the Fed is buying $85 billion per month of our deficit spending which is darn near 100% of the deficit. PS - When is the last time China purchased any of our debt?]

Right you are. Why borrow money when you can print it?

[mass55th]

"DON'T BE FOOLED: The Republicans Are Winning"

Where? On a parallel universe?

[Yosemitest]

8 Virginians?
What post did you read? There are NO Virginians on the list!
Second, check the source yourself.
My point is,

if they didn't vote AGAINST it, or "NO",
then they authorized Obama and his Satanic minions to continue stealing from us, our children, and their children, and their children,
until the United States of America no longer exists as a FREE Country.

Third, I don't give a damn about how my auto-correct speller spells PRIMARY-ED!

If it was up to me, BONE-HEAD Boehner would be unemployed, until he died.
And the rest of those "Establishment Republicans" would be returned to dust, where they belong.

[kcvl]

“the payroll tax cut”

Which was being taken from social security that Obama didn’t want you to know. And it wasn’t actually a tax cut since you still paid it at the end of the year, another little tidbit Obama didn’t want you to understand.

[kcvl]

“the payroll tax cut”

Which was being taken from social security that Obama didn’t want you to know. And it wasn’t actually a tax cut since you still paid it at the end of the year, another little tidbit Obama didn’t want you to understand.