people who make $1 million or more had an average tax rate of 20.4 percent;
those who made between $50,000 and $100,000 paid 7.7 percent;
those who earned $30,000 to $50,000 paid an average rate of 4.8 percent;
those making under $30,000 had a negative effective rate, meaning they paid no federal income taxes after deductions and credits.
Put another way, millionaires pay a rate that’s more than four times that of the middle class.
Sources confirmed today that hundreds of thousands of military absentee ballots were delivered hours after the deadline for them to be counted, with preliminary counts showing that they would have overturned the vote in several states and brought a victory for Governor Mitt Romney.
Officials say the ballots were delivered late due to problems within the military mail system. Tracking invoices show the ballots sat in a warehouse for a month, then they were accidentally labeled as ammunition and shipped to Afghanistan.
Hurricane Sandy is being blamed on climate change. Hurricanes Dennis, Emily, Katrina, Rita and Wilma in 2005 were also blamed on “global warming.” The problem with this is that more hurricanes would occur every year – otherwise it is just the normal weather cycle. In 2006 and following years there was very light tropical storm activity – especially storms affecting the United States.
Note that the scientists – who depend on politicians for their income – have changed the problem from “global warming” to “global climate change”, since the planet has been cooling for the last decade. In 1975 the Newsweek cover story was “The Coming Ice Age!”
The “worst” greenhouse gas is water vapor. The Sun shines on seas heating the water and causing evaporation. The water vapor forms clouds and eventually falls to Earth as rain. This is the Water Cycle that we studied in Physical Science.
Politicians ignore water vapor because they cannot tax the Sun. Carbon dioxide is blamed instead. It has been claimed that CO2 is produced by man (and woman). This is true. We exhale CO2, plants “breathe” it in and give off O2 which is necessary for human and animal life. Humans also release CO2 every time we open a carbonated beverage. A knee-jerk reaction would be a tax on people for exhaling and on carbonated beverages. Coke and Pepsi might object!
Scientists can be good or bad. They can have no integrity. If I am a climatologist, then I will seek grants to study climate change. If I am morally bankrupt, then I will “prove” the premise of the grant. I may exagerate the true effects of climate change: a sea-level rise of 20 feet instead of the expected 7 inches/century!
The United States did not sign the Kyoto (or Copenhagen) treaty because BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China) nations and other “developing nations” were not made responsible for climate controls or subsequent costs. This gave them a significant economic advantage over those who had to bear the costs. President Clinton did not send the treaty to the Republican-controlled Senate. President Obama will again agree to climate control through the United Nations and send the treaty to the Democrat-controlled Senate for ratification. American sovereignty will be transferred to bureaucrats at the U.N. by treaty!
At Fort Jackson, SC we were inspected and processed. I flew that night to San Antonio, TX where we were bused to Lackland AFB. We inprocessed all night, got our uniforms, our haircuts, our rooms and had briefings all day. We got to bed about 2300.
I graduated from Officer Training School on 17 Nov 67. Mom and Dad pinned my 2nd Lt bars on – engraved MOM and POP. My next assignment was graduate school, so I was a “pipeline student” awaiting the opening of school in January 1968. I lived in the Visiting Officers Quarters and had to call at 0800 and 1300 for duties of the day. There were none, so I played golf on the nearby base course.
I cut this grueling routine short to be my baby brother's best man.
I drove to Columbia, MO in January 1968. It was raining, but this turned to freezing rain, sleet and then snow as I went north. I finally stopped at Scott AFB in Illinois for the night.
One of the great things about the military is the sponsor program. Mine was 1st Lt Chester D. (Chet) Smith. We had written each other beforehand and, I contacted him as soon as I arrived. We became good friends. Chet renamed me Chuck.
I graduated – just barely – with a M.S. degree in August 1969. I was distracted for the entire 18 months by the abundance of beautiful, sweet young ladies at the University, Stephens and Christian Colleges. I had an apartment on Stephens College.
My next assignment was in Space Systems at the NORAD complex inside Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado Springs, CO. I was there for 3 ½ years. I married Patty Rhoads on 17 Mar 72. We moved into a new house on Enchanted Circle North, and I got orders for Australia. The location was classified, but Chip can figure it out since he was born there on 5 Oct 1973. Mister (surgeon) Robertson delivered him. I had 6 weeks of training in Denver before leaving the states. The high temperature was minus 11 during a two week period. That prepared us well for Hawaii, American Samoa (refueling), Christchurch, N.Z., Sydney (Richmond AB) and finally 118 degrees on 24 Dec 72 in Woomera all by C-141.
Lots of babies were born during the 2 years in Australia. The rumor is that it was caused by drinking Harvey Wallbangers while listening to Neil Diamond's Hot August Night!
We left in December 1974 for Niceville, FL and Eglin AFB. I became a Senior Director at the phased-array radar 20 miles to the east. Tracy was born at Eglin AFB on 28 May 75. Capt Collier delivered her.
I left family and friends in June 1976 for a remote assignment at the top of the world in Thule, Greenland. I was Senior Director for the BMEWS site. Most work on the Air Base and surrounding roads was done by Danes trying to escape the onerous taxes in Denmark. I fell in love with ABBA's music during my year there because most of our entertainment copied this #1 group at the time.
I returned to Niceville and Eglin AFB in June 1977. Marty Glasser and I were the only people eligible for Master of Space Defense. I had Expert ranking in satellite-based, tracking and fan and phased-array detection systems. The 300-question test would have been easy since I had written most of the questions as Chief of Training at Woomera, Eglin and Thule. I did want the trip to Colorado Springs for CINCNORAD to present the award, but I would exit the military in January 1979.
Libertarians are fiscally conservative but socially liberal. The Greens are against anything which would damage the environment. I assume that they are for alternative energy.
If you add Johnson's votes to Romney in each state, then Romney wins the Presidency. To be fair, if Stein's votes are given to Obama, then Romney only wins VA and WA and Obama is re-elected.
Philadelphia, July 4, 1776?
No! Slidell, LA, Nov. 7, 2012 the day after the election.
I think this is a good idea. I stated this in a letter to the editor on 6 November 2008. Obama will destroy the United States. Those states like MA, NY, IL, NV and CA which have followed a similar course as Obama are bankrupt. Since all voted for Obama, he will surely take from the "red states" and "invest" in these "blue states" which practice a progressive socialism. The federal taxpayer funds will be to pay for "teachers, firefighters, police and infrastructure." That will free up other state funds to pay for abortions and other sins at taxpayer expense. They can name the bill "America and Apple Pie Act." Who would vote against that?
Hurricane Sandy should little affect these estimates as employer and household surveys were conducted earlier in October. Going forward, the hurricane will depress employment but only until the rebuilding begins in earnest. Rebuilding will raise employment and incomes later in 2013, but not enough to substantially alter the national economic picture.
If President Obama is reelected and delivers on campaign promises, the jobs picture will worsen.
The Long-Term Trend
Since peaking at 10 percent in October 2009, the jobless rate has fallen mostly because 6 million adults have chosen not to look for work. But for this phenomenon, the unemployment rate would still be 9.7 percent. More than 8 million part-time workers would like full-time work but can't find it. Adding in those folks, the unemployment rate is 14.7 percent.
In 2007, the last year before the financial collapse, the deficit was $161 billion with the Bush tax cuts in place, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Medicare prescription.
Over the last four years, the deficit has averaged $1.3 trillion. Additional tax cuts, such as the $95 billion payroll tax holiday, subsidies for green energy and electric cars, and social and regulatory programs, promoted by President Obama, caused this red ink.
Even with huge stimulus, convincing millions they don't want a job and compelling desperate workers to settle for part-time work has been the Obama Administration's most effective jobs program.
Though Congress may avoid sequestration, some temporary tax cuts, such as reduced Social Security taxes and elements of the Bush tax cuts benefiting high income families, will likely lapse and some combination of savings in entitlements and defense spending will be accomplished. Overall, these would lower the deficit in the range of $300 billion.
If reelected, President Obama promises additional stimulus—aid to state budgets under the guise of teacher retention, infrastructure projects and more subsidies for alternative energy projects.
Another Recession?
When the dust settles, the deficit should be unchanged. However, the tax increases will come quickly but the additional spending will arrive with considerable lag. As take home pay is slashed and consumer spending slows, the economy easily could be thrown into a second, deep recession—double-digit unemployment by any measure. Already, the sales of S&P 500 companies, which account for about 80 percent of publically traded enterprises, are flat, and business investment fell in the third quarter. Sustaining profits will require layoffs.
By mid 2013, the economy may well be in a recession from which it cannot easily be resurrected—a depression—caused by fundamental problems not addressed by President Obama. The growing trade deficits on oil and with China have been a huge drain on domestic demand, and those kill nearly 10 million jobs.
The Romney Alternative
If elected, Governor Romney promises to tackle China's undervalued currency and other mercantilist policies that run up the U.S. deficit with the Middle Kingdom, and open up more offshore and Alaskan oil reserves for development. Those polices would quickly boost demand and get the economy back on track.
Longer term, Romney policies to lower the trade deficit would substantially increase R&D spending—enough to permanently boost U.S. growth by several percentage points. An economy growing at 4 or 5 percent a year, instead of its current 2 percent, would have far more resources to address issues like health care, the solvency of Social Security, an adequate national defense, and space exploration.
The choice this election is simple—more of the same, high unemployment and perhaps a permanent recession, or a new course that gets the economy growing more rapidly again.
Peter Morici is an economist and professor at the Smith School of Business, University of Maryland
