It’s not surprising, but the overwrought nature of this editorial in The Columbian is easily ascertained by reading the first sentence.
The tax-increase snake is not exactly back on the state’s budget table, but it has slithered under the door and is coiling its way up a table leg.
It goes on in that serpentine fashion for quite a while. It’s essentially an argument for making Washington another failed West Coast state, ala California and Oregon.
Digby at Hullabaloo comments on the fun they’re having in California, with protestors trapping some board of regents members in a building after they voted for a huge fee increase. One possible future, heh?
Of course, the editorial doesn’t mention that the newspaper industry just this year received a huge tax break.
The new law gives newspaper printers and publishers a 40 percent cut in the state’s main business tax. The discounted rate mirrors breaks given in years past to the Boeing Co. and the timber industry.
So the Legislature sure is on a roll mollifying Boeing and the wealthy publishers! Nothing like caving in and getting fucked anyway, it’s the Democratic Party Way.
As Digby points out, cutting government spending during a recession just makes things worse, but reflexive right-wing ideology is so ingrained in our culture after three decades of conservative stink tank bullshit that changing things seems like a hell of a mountain to climb.
Neoliberalism may be dead as a viable economic system, but its diseased zombie corpse haunts the offices of newspapers and the minds (such as they are) of those who get paid to attack the government, always and forever. You can almost envision them zombie-walking around the mall, zombie-spittle dripping from their rotted lips, droning “no unions–no taxes.” (Sorry, I tried to work a snake into the last sentence, but zombies will have to do.)
These people are nihilists of the most extreme order, and if they get their way they’ll drag all of us down with them.
Maybe it’s time we stop listening to lectures from people who fail at their businesses? The rest of us don’t want to live in a failed state, and we want basic services like schools, emergency services, parks and libraries. Our kids are going to need fantastic skills to rebuild this country, if we can ever wrest control of it from the greedy morons who nearly brought the whole thing down only a year ago.
We’re not out of the woods yet, either. If Washington adds itself to the ranks of the “Hoover” states, about the only silver lining will be that the last of the newspapers will surely go out of business.
Let us return to the status we had at one time when this state was called the “48th soviet of Washington” by one craptacularly wrong political wag.
It’s all about socialism for the rich. Always.
@1
Except when it’s all about capitalism for the poor:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S.....r_the_poor
Does this mean that all those trust fund kids aren’t brave captains if industry?
“The tax-increase snake is not exactly back on the state’s budget table, but it has slithered under the door and is coiling its way up a table leg.”
Hey, don’t knock it, that’s fairly decent writing — for a newspaper.
“Nothing like caving in and getting fucked anyway, it’s the Democratic Party Way.”
Yeah, when are the stupid Democrats gonna figure out that no amount of pandering to their enemies will make their enemies happy?
“Maybe it’s time we stop listening to lectures from people who fail at their businesses?”
I thought we never did — at least, I never did, even though I worked in the business.
Yep, I was a newspaper reporter before I was a lawyer, and I’m damn glad I’ve got a state pension instead of a newspaper pension to see me through my old age.
Newspaper editorials, of course, are nothing more than rich newspaper owners getting on their own soapbox and ranting the constant mantra of rich, conservative, Republican business owners: Cut employee pay; cut employee benefits; cut employee retirement. (There’s that “liberal media bias” again!!) The Columbian’s editorial page is utterly orthodox in this respect.
First of all, the Columbian is wrong that a tax rate increase is a tax increase. Washingtonians have given themselves a huge tax cut by spending less. Even if the Legislature enacts a rate increase, it’s likely our fellow citizens will still be paying less taxes than they did before the recession — at least, until they start spending again, at which time tax rates can be lowered without losing the needed revenue.
How the Columbian’s editorial writers could have missed the fact that the huge drop in state revenues means citizens are paying less taxes is a mystery.
Second, the Columbian fails to mention the real tax problem, or the obvious solution to it. Washingtonians aren’t overtaxed, and our state government isn’t a profligate spender among state governments — it’s average. What we do have is a tax distribution problem. Of course it’s hard to raise any tax, no matter how good the reason, when your poorest citizens are expected to pay 6 times as much of their income in taxes as the well-off. The obvious solution is to redistribute tax burdens so they’re fairer, and the best way to do that is replace the state sales and B & O taxes with an income tax. This is what 45 other states do — because it works. But that fact, too, is lost on the blockheads in the Columbian’s editorial offices.
Jon, you’re right, no one should listen to this newspaper; they have nothing intelligent to say on the subject of taxes and state finances. They can’t even get the basic facts right.
Here’s an offer for all you rich, conservative, Republican business owners out there: Go ahead, keep cutting pay, benefits, and retirement — and see if anyone will work for you. I sure as hell won’t.
The fact is, no employer pays workers because he wants to. He pays them because he has to. Like other markets, the labor market is competitive — and you get what you pay for. It probably sits just fine with anti-government conservatives that if you cut state pay enough, no one will work for the state, and the public services that state government provides won’t happen. But lots of us want those services, and want competent people in state jobs. It doesn’t matter if the people writing editorials for the Columbian are incompetent idiots; but it does matter to have qualified people serving as state troopers, epidemiologists, crime lab technicians, etc. Get cheap with them and they’ll walk.
But I won’t mind a bit if the Columbian practices this principle with their own employees. When they expect reporters, editors, and pressmen to work for minimum wage with no benefits, there won’t be anyone left to put out their stupid newspaper, and that’ll be just fine with me. One less idiotic Republican newspaper in this state is no loss at all.
Democratic senators have proposed taxing cosmetic surgery to help pay for health care reform, according to the fishwrapper.
That surely won’t sit well with people whose self esteem depends on whether other people ogle them.
A state transportation worker was killed by a tree limb yesterday while clearing a slide blocking Highway 101 near Port Angeles. The Columbian thinks he was overpaid for that job.
Seems like you KLOWNS are about due to start your own Political Party. Pleeeease be sure to call it the KLOWN Party. It is soooo appropo!
Jon is once again the Drama Queen of the Blogoshpere.
Are you that dependent on Big Government Jon?
Where is your own Personal Initiative?
I thought you KLOWNS promoted “sustainability”?
Are your miserable lives only “sustainable” with Big Government?
I’ve met plenty of folks involved in the “sustainability” movement who could care less about government. Most a pretty Liberal in their ideology. But the Home School their kids, grow their own food, drive minimally in high MPG cars…they live simple, low-cost lives and are happy as can be.
You KLOWNS are Pretend Hippy’s. Pushing buying local, energy conservation etc. etc….but are somehow hooked on Big, Costly Government.
Now is a time to make a significant change to our way of life. I already have. It is not the end of the world Chicken Little DeVore.
Open up your alleged KLOWN minds to the possibilities of truly sustainable living.
Or are you all merely a bunch of blowhard, close-minded, lazy gasbags??
I don’t have a kid to home-school, but other than that you just described me. And about 10 other people on this blog.
One question, Mr. Cynical – Do you misspell “clown” and CAPITALIZE it because you think it makes you look smarter or because you think it makes you look more clever?
Just wondering.
Government agencies, in times of falling tax revenues, usually do all they can to keep their employees working. Private sector, in times of reduced income, must cut employees or go banko. Government never backs up.
@13
Yesterday, Cynical was laughing at us because “we all rode around on bicycles” and then a few posts later was calling us all sedentary- which he misspelled.
And some how even though this blog is full of bike commuters, gardeners and low mileage drivers some how we’re not part of the sustainability movement, which he defines as low mileage, driving, growing your own food and so on.
@14
In order to have a healthy society you need to have a government that can function in a countercyclical manner.
you don’t know your history, jon. these “neo”liberals are actually old school classical liberals.
you make claims like “tax breaks for the rich will make us just like california!” but you’re only telling half the story. california happened because the government continued to burn thru money more quickly than its citizens were willing to provide. you only see half the story!
and you say “cutting government spending during a recession only makes things worse” but i could not disagree more. where is the evidence? i have yet to see it.
simple math! how can this economy recover if you continue to tax the people who generate wealth? only the free market can generate wealth. government burns wealth.
@2
socialism for the rich is called fascism and it has nothing to do with the free market.
ask any true libertarian.
Cynical said: “Seems like you KLOWNS are about due to start your own Political Party.”
It’s the Republicans who have the most recent history of rejecting their moderates and starting a right-wing whacko party (such as the “Conservative” party in th NY23rd). How’s that working out for you?
Of course, the Green Party led by Nader in 2000 sucked out enough votes in Florida to give Bush the presidency over Gore. That pissed off even the members of the Green Party, who didn’t want anything to do with Nadar in 2008. But on the right wing, you’ve got Limbaugh, Hanity, Beck, and Palin all doing their best to continue to kill off the Republican party by shooting electable (moderate) candidates it in the back.
@17
Um the evidence is the depression. When government stopped spending (Hoover) the country failed when the government did works programs the country recovered.
@18
Damn straight, skippy! What we have now isn’t anything close to a free market.
@11 “You KLOWNS are Pretend Hippy’s. Pushing buying local, energy conservation etc. etc….but are somehow hooked on Big, Costly Government.”
This from a dope who twice voted for the biggest spending, most intrusive government, pol this side of Mussolini — George W. Bush??
@14 “Government agencies, in times of falling tax revenues, usually do all they can to keep their employees working. Private sector, in times of reduced income, must cut employees or go banko. Government never backs up.”
Typical wingnut bullshit from an idiot who never picks up a fucking newspaper and is clueless about what’s going on in the world.
Governments all over the country have slashed budgets, laid off employees, and cut pay with involuntary fuloughs and other means. The only government that can print money is the fed. All other governments — including states, counties, and cities — must do what you described or “go banko.” And that’s exactly what they’ve been doing.
Next time, do a little fact-checking before you pull shit out of your ass.
@15 I don’t see much sustainability in fucking his goats instead of his wife.
@17 “california happened because the government continued to burn thru money more quickly than its citizens were willing to provide.”
Whose fault was that? Do you believe legislators act in a vacuum? Or do they merely represent a public that wants more than they’re willing to pay for? — like the Washington voters who approved two school initiatives and in the same election shot down the taxes to pay for them. How, exactly, do you represent voters who want something for nothing in a world where everything costs something?
“how can this economy recover if you continue to tax the people who generate wealth?”
So the solution to this economic mess is more of the policies that created it? You’re right about one thing, though — Republicans spent 30 years writing taxing laws that shit out of people who generate wealth, namely, the workers who actually produce things … meanwhile, they borrowed money from China to give tax breaks to people who own wealth instead of producing it. And here we are.
What the hell is a “hippy’s”?
In fact, the taxes on workers are so onerous that it doesn’t make any sense to work, so of course I don’t work or produce anything. I get favorable tax treatment by flipping stocks instead of being productive. Hey, I didn’t write these stupid tax laws — under which an heir who gets millions without working for it is given 1,000 times the tax exemption as a worker who works hard for every penny — I’m just a little rabbit who’s smart enough not to try to paddle a canoe up a waterfall. Which is exactly what you’re doing if you work for money in this country. Working is the worst way to get money there is. Nobody who has real money worked for it. They got it by owning stuff and making other people do the work.
Do what they do. Own, don’t work. Only way to go. And you get big tax discounts for not working. The tax code punishes work; so why work? I don’t. Working is for saps and suckers.
@18 There aren’t any true libertarians, just as they aren’t any true conservatives.
Everyone who calls himself a “libertarian” or a “conservative” is, when you get right down to it, just another whore.
Like me! I’m a whore. I don’t practice what I preach — I’m as greedy and self-serving as any other capitalist. But I’m a feral rabbit, and therefore not expected to have any principles. Wild animals like me are expected to go wherever the food is.
Wingnut Wack-O-Nomics says when you have a recession you’re supposed to make it better by cutting wages and laying off more people.
Here’s a clue for you clueless idiots: People who don’t have jobs or money aren’t going to buy what your businesses want to sell.
But try explaining this to fools like Klown or the Columbian editors and all you’ll get is a blank stare.
@17, 25
The people who generate wealth are the 70% of American’s who’s purchasing power has gone DOWN by about 12% since Nixon was king. The working class spends money, which keeps people employed. When the ownership/investor class has way more money than they could ever need or spend any money they do get gets pulled out of the economy and locked away.
And besides, how well is you stock in Starbucks, Target, Costco and so on going to do when %80 of the country has no money to spend! You’re not going to be wealthy for very long if all the companies you’ve invested go tits up. Mean while, guys like me can still garden, can food, dry food, fix bicycles, catch fish, weld…
What can those high flying rich folks do when their stock is worthless?
@31
It’s amazing what you can find on Craig’s List these days. There’s, almost, no reason to ever use or by a product that has any form of stock ever attached to it.
@34 “What can those high flying rich folks do when their stock is worthless?”
Recessions are generally unpleasant across the board, but they do provide some comic relief in the form of watching the leveraged rich guys go under. Some of the meltdowns are truly spectacular, like Seattle developer Michael Mastro’s, who went from a net worth of over $500 million to zero in 6 months.
Another fun thing about recessions is margin calls and mutual fund withdrawals. These force big stockholders and institutions to sell stocks at absurdly low prices. Which makes it possible for cash-and-carry small investors like me to scoop up true-blue stocks at furniture-store-going-out-of-business prices! A few months ago you could have bought Harley Davidson for 8 bucks (current price: $27.50) or IBM for under $70 (current price: $127). Free money! I love it when the overleveraged rich stand in the doorway giving money away because they’re caught in a liquidity trap! That’s even more fun than bankruptcy auctions because you get it from them directly instead of through a middleman.
Recessions also dampen inflation. There’s nothing like your sales falling off a cliff to make you think twice about raising prices.
But the very best part of recessions is that the capitalist class ALWAYS overreacts to them. They lay off too many people, cut inventories too much, and sell too many assets at prices that are too cheap. And when they finally realize they’ve overreacted, they hire back employees and buy back assets with a vengeance. That’s when you’ve got them by the nuts. I just LOVE the idea of buying their Harley Davidson stock for 15 bucks and selling it back to them for 75 bucks! That’s even better than armed robbery, because it’s legal and you don’t go to jail for it and it’s taxed at capital gains rates, which in my case are nothing.
Maybe if we do decline and become a failed state, or nearly so…we can qualify for the next Boeing Company assembly line…
Here’s a hint for my fellow progressives. Get out of DEBT and stay out of DEBT! This is the #1 rule of financial independence. Remember the old ditty:
I owe, I owe,
So off to work I go …
You’ll never get ahead by spending your whole life working your ass off to pay interest. You get ahead by owning, not by owing.
I’m not saying all debt is always bad, all the time. Sometimes going into debt is strategically necessary. For example, if you don’t have affluent parents who make a gift of a college education to you, then you’ll have to put yourself through, most likely with a combination of part-time jobs and student loans (and, in my case, also G.I. Bill benefits, which is how I paid my law school tuition). But when you have to go into debt for strategic purposes, make sure you leverage the situation in your favor by taking advantage of every subsidy and tax break you can lay your paws on! For example, my first student loan carried a subsidized interest rate of 2.5% — but, even better, the taxpayers paid ALL the interest while I was in school and/or military service, so I didn’t make a single payment on that loan for 10 years, by which time the Nixon-Ford Inflation had destroyed over half the principal! Then they gave me another 10 years to pay it off! That was damn near free money! By the time it was paid off, I had gotten nearly interest-free use of the money for 20 years, and got to pay it back at 30 cents on the dollar! So, going into debt can be useful, if you’re able to take advantage of the lender and use the money to increase your future income.
I’m less enthusiastic about mortgages, because houses don’t appreciate. They only go up in line with inflation, but only if you buy them in a normal market at a normal price. The tax advantages of home ownership are factored into market rents, so there’s really little or no financial advantage to owning as opposed to renting, after you factor in the taxes, mortgage interest, and very high costs of buying (and, later, selling) a home. The main reason to own instead of rent is you don’t have a landlord breathing down your neck, and you can improve or alter the property to suit your needs or desires.
But, getting back to the main point, you should live well below your means. DON’T BUY STUFF. Be an investor, not a consumer. If you decide to own your home, buy less home than you can afford — and invest the difference. (This strategy does you absolutely no good if you simply spend your free cash flow.) Resist the urgings of your ego by driving a cheap car instead of a status symbol — and invest the difference. Be patient, because 30 years from now you’ll be laughing at the guy who laughed at you when he passed your jalopy in his Beemer — he’ll still be working and you’ll be sipping daquiris on the veranda of your Costa Rican hacienda.
Finally, remember that recessions are bad only for workers. If you don’t need a job, you don’t give a shit about recessions, because they don’t affect you — except in a positive way. Recessions are the small investor’s friend. That’s when stocks and other assets of all kinds are available are fire-sale prices — and you should by buying like crazy when everyone else is forced to sell because they have DEBTS to pay.
Am I wailing about this recession? Hell no! My portfolio is almost back to its value before the crash — and we haven’t even seen the post-recession bull market yet! Corporate profits and stock prices ALWAYS explode upward after a recession; and the worse the recession, the more explosive the next rally is! I’m going to come out of this recession with twice the net worth I had going into it. It may take 10 years, but it’ll happen, sure as it rains in Seattle in winter! Thank you Republicans! Thank you Alan Greenspan! Thank you George W. Bush! I appreciate the business and investment opportunities you threw my way — even though I may not have been the intended recipient. I’m gonna be a rich fucking bunny and live like a Republican too!
But above all, I don’t have to work for money anymore, and thank the Great Mother Rabbit Spirit for that! Working is the worst way to get money there is. Work is for saps and suckers.
The only justification for working is doing it so you won’t have to work anymore.
@38 I forgot to mention — if you own a home NEVER use it as a piggy bank! Taking out equity is the worst thing you can do. It’s stupid! Instead of keeping your home mortgaged to the hilt you should be busting your balls to pay it off early and own it free and clear! I HAVE NO MORTGAGE PAYMENT. That’s why it’s possible for me to use 40% of my after-tax income to buy stocks. That will rise to 50% when I qualify for Medicare and the gummint starts paying for my health insurance. If you can put half your income into income-producing assets with capital gains potential you’re on your way! And if you have a gummint pension to live on so that you never have to take income or principal out of your investment portfolio, that’s even better! Just make sure you put it all in spendthrift trust so your kids don’t blow the money you cleverly accumulated.
Also, you should try to make friends with people who manage money like you do. Preferably childless ones, because maybe when they kick they’ll leave their stash to you (if you’ve been a good and trusted friend) because they have no one else to give it to.
@20 re: hoover
many would argue hoover was not the campion of small government your high school history teacher would have you believe.
@25 re: government spending more money than it can steal
what you are witnessing is the failure of democracy. its what our founding fathers referred to as two foxes and a hen voting on what to eat for dinner. tyranny of the majority.
@25 re: people who produce wealth
workers do not create wealth by themselves just as employers do not create wealth by themselves. it is a two way relationship. if you pinch workers wages, product is compromised. if you pinch employers wages, the workers are compromised. what you are missing is that workers are expendable. there is always someone out there who is willing to work for less.
@29 re: true libertarians
what kind of loaded statement is that?
@21 re: the free market
yes. thats why i tell people reagan was a socialist.