Skin&Stones

Tax Cuts = Jobs?

Maybe I don’t fully understand the economics behind how tax breaks for corporations create jobs, but it seems fundamentally flawed to me. I understand some accounting and how businesses are structured, so I’ll clue you into my thought process.

A company develops a product. If there is a demand for their product they’ll begin to produce it and will hire people to do so. Employee wages, equipment, facilities and other expenses are incurred in the creation of the product. These will help to determine the price they charge for the product.

Now at year’s end they’ll report their earnings for tax purposes. The company will add up all the money from the sale of their product, and then subtract the expenses involved in making said product. This is called their net income, and this is what the company will pay taxes on. (This is overly simple, but a good overview)

Now what if they make 100,000 units and there is still demand? The company is making the largest possible amount of products it can with the people it has. To meet the demand they’ll need to hire more people. They can choose not to hire people, and will leave unmet demand on the table. More simply, the company leaves money on the table.

So how does the amount of taxes effect job growth? There is no way to know how much money they will make, because demand can change. A company creates jobs because they NEED those jobs. If they don’t hire people they are leaving all sorts of potential profit on the table.

It doesn’t make logical sense to me that tax cuts create jobs. Even tax cuts for the super rich won’t create jobs. Businesses pay people, not the people who run that business. The money I make and pay taxes on has nothing to do with what I pay my people.

My excuse for not going to the gym tonight was that I wanted to see Obama address the nation and watch him verbally smack the Republicans in the face. I’ve been following the debt ceiling red herring and am curious to see what happens.

I thought Obama made good points. He outlined the issues, and explained fairly simply what is going on. He talked about how raising the debt ceiling is routine, that it’s happened many times before without this level of ridiculousness. He said that this is no way to run the greatest country on earth, reminded us that holding the world economy hostage to get the spending cuts you want is foolish.

But he missed the point. We, the people, are completely sick of this political bullshit. Millions of Americans are out of work, losing their homes or dying because of the inability to afford the care they need. And you’re all sitting in the chambers whining about a debt ceiling that normally is raised without a thought? You’re threatening to cut money from the economy that desperately needs it? You’re holding us on the brink of defaulting on loans and letting the credit agencies potentially send us into meltdown for the second time in less than 5 years?

The American people are pretty sick of it folks. Most people don’t know what’s going on because it’s too complex, too confusing, too pointless, too STUPID to spend any time determining your rationale. We just want to be able to provide for our families, not get fucked over, and pursue our rights to life liberty and happiness.

 We all compromise every single day with the people we love, people we hate, and people in between. Tax the rich and put the money back into the economy so we can climb out of this recession and tackle the problem for real.

My Facebook comment policy:

After I write whatever scathing, snarky rude comment I really WANT to say, I wait 30 seconds and reread it.

95% of my comments never make it.

I think this is the main reason I still have friends. 

One of those days

I suppose we all have days where we feel down on ourselves. Like we lack direction and wonder why the world is the way it is, and why is my life in the state it is currently in.

Today was one of those days.

But tonight I was reminded that while I’m in a bit of a quagmire right now, it’s not all bad. My heart is spending some time with family and friends which she needed more than I think she was willing to admit. My best friend is starting a new chapter that he is very excited for, and starting a relationship that he is very excited about. Another best friend has been offered a new job opportunity which he deserves more than anyone.

So yeah, my life is frustrating right now. But the people in it are doing fantastically. And while I am longing for a little personal pride, their pride is holding me over.

So life ain’t so bad.

Ugh.

twelvefifty1:

Remember that one time when we all had jobs and money and places to live and the biggest of our concerns was what to wear tomorrow so that babe in Stats class thought you were hot enough to talk to that day?

I miss that.

Hoosiers is a movie about an Indiana basketball team.

Hoser is slang for Canadiens.

This was for me. Move along, nothing to see here.

Apocalypse Now!

All of this talk about the rapture possibly happening on Saturday reminds me of the fundamental problem with Christianity.

Christians are full of themselves. Their religion teaches them they are the one true religion and everyone else is doomed to hell (to be fair most every religion teaches that fact.) They think when they are sharing the gospel with someone they are saving their life. When the person isn’t interested in their rhetoric the Christian rejects that person as ignorant or stupid. They refuse to acknowledge that other ideas could be right.

The Rapture on Saturday is consistent with this too. The Bible says that no one will know the hour or day of the return of Christ. How full of yourself do you need to be that you think you know better than God?

I’ve always had a problem with organized religion. Spirituality is an individual journey between you and whatever you believe in. Don’t look for guidance from a religion that excludes despite being founded on teachings of a man who loved the people society shuns.