Where are the jobs?

[Tennessee Gal]

If tax cuts to benefit the wealthy and business really motivate job creation, where are the jobs?

Rich People’s Taxes Have Little to Do with Job Creation

Conservative Arguments that Higher Income Taxes for the Wealthy Hurt Employment Don’t Hold Up to Scrutiny

Cue the quotes:

Speaker John Boehner (R-OH): “What some are suggesting is that we take this money from people who would invest in our economy and create jobs and give it to the government. The fact is you can't tax the very people that we expect to invest in the economy and create jobs.”

Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney: “With over 20 million people who are unemployed or who have stopped looking for work, the last thing we should be doing is raising taxes on job-creators, entrepreneurs, and small business owners across America.”

John Boehner, again: “A tax hike would wreak havoc not only on our economy’s ability to create private-sector jobs, but also on our ability to tackle the national debt.”

In fact, they are just as wrong about this as they are about the relationship between marginal tax rates and overall economic growth. In the past 60 years, job growth has actually been greater in years when the top income tax rate was much higher than it is now.

For instance, in years when the top marginal rate was more than 90 percent, the average annual growth in total payroll employment was 2 percent. In years when the top marginal rate was 35 percent or less—which it is now—employment grew by an average of just 0.4 percent.

http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/06/marginal_tax_employment_charticle.html

[yardwork]

1. They know they're lying. They don't care about jobs. They want the M O N E Y

[Tennessee Gal]

2. And power.

Don't forget about power.

[yardwork]

16. Interchangeable in their minds. They have seriously skewed values.

[pipoman]

3. In Mexico and China, and India, and Indonesia, and...

thanks Thugs AND Dems for signing us onto all those wonderful free trade agreements..

[badtoworse]

5. You are exactly right

The tax cuts freed up investment capital, but it wasn't invested here. The real focus should on leveling the playing field for American labor and making the country more attractive as a place for investment.

[Dept of Beer]

9. Right. They never tell you where they are being created.

Fuckers.

[yourout]

4. It's simple.....higher taxes on the rich means they are more apt to INVEST in business rather...

stash it offshore.

[badtoworse]

7. They're not "stashing" it offshore; they're investing it offshore.

The reason they're doing that is because they get better returns there than here. How will raising our taxes give them an incentive to invest here when they already have a better deal offshore?

[Dept of Beer]

10. Same difference.

If they're "investing" offshore then they might as well be taxed at a higher rate.


This country really needs to start doling out a few financial beatings where necessary.

[badtoworse]

11. More than anything, the country needs to increase private sector jobs

There are ways to do that, but I don't think higher taxes are on the list. I'd like anyone who believes otherwise to explain why I'm wrong.

[Curmudgeoness]

12. We do need to increase private sector jobs, but

with the lowest tax rates in modern history, this is just not happening. So I would like an explanation of why I should believe that an increase in tax rates would magically increase job creation. We have had years to see this theory play out, and so far, it has not worked. A theory that cannot be proven should just be thrown on the junk pile like all the others that do not work.

This country needs, more than anything else right now, to get the debt under control. And this is not going to happen by destroying the people of the country, selling off all the country's assets, or sacrifices made by the people at the bottom end without sacrifices at the top and the middle. We have enough wealth in this country to pay off the debt, but we are told that we cannot tap that wealth for fear of the "investor class".

For the hundredth time, I will say that job growth and prosperity will only come when the ordinary working people have disposable money to buy things which will lead to companies who wish to capitalize on selling things to these same people. The wealthy investor class has nothing to do with it. Stop drinking the Kool-aid.

[badtoworse]

14. So how would you go about increasing private sector employment?

I don't disagree with what you posted

[Curmudgeoness]

15. I don't have all the answers, but just know what feels right.

I believe that a sustained stimulus from the government has several benefits, including starting a flow of money to working people who will start spending and increase the need for private sector jobs. It will also give this country a much needed investment in infrastructure. This stimulus would have to end slowly, tapering off as private sector jobs pick up. I realize that some will say that this has been tried and has failed, but it was never done right. It was too little and too short to give a chance for people to get out from under debt and start to feel comfortable about spending again. The wealthy are not actually putting their dollars back into the economy where they will create demand which equals jobs. That is where the working and middle class dollars go.

I also think that taxes should be increased with the only purpose of paying down the debt, since this is a drag on our economy and will continue to drag it further down. I will not go into all the things that could be cut from government spending to fund this, since there are too many places to cut, starting with the inflated military.

Anyone who believes that the government cannot create jobs has not been paying attention. And we are talking from the beginning of time.

[BeFree]

6. Sacrifice

The masses must be willing to give up something so that a few can survive.

Like with the royalty of Europe.
And now with our young soldiers stationed around the world.


If the rich were to sacrifice themselves it would mean they wouldn't be around to receive the bounty from the masses. And this country wouldn't be the same.

[blkmusclmachine]

8. China?

[Hotler]

13. Where are the protest????

Millions unemployed yet to lazy to take to the streets.

[ProgressiveEconomist]

17. The nonpartisan CBO has DEBUNKED the lies of McConnell et al. SUMMARY and LINK

from a November GD thread of mine :

ESTIMATED EFFECTS OF SELECTED POLICY OPTIONS ON OUTPUT AND EMPLOYMENT

Below is my simplification of the summary table on CBO PDF downloadable at http://www.cbo.gov/doc.cfm?index=10803 , page 26. IMO anyone who does not know the figures below CANNOT express an informed opinion on proposals to extend income tax cuts for the top 2 percent.

Notice that, of the five policy choices listed below, "reducing income taxes in 2011" is the ONLY option with a "bang for the buck" high estimate below 1.00. In other words, it is the ONLY option that CBO estimates CANNOT efficiently help economic growth. Notice also that it is the least efficient way to create jobs, costing between $250,000 to $1 million per job, compared to as little as $62,500 (= $1 million / 16 jobs) for the most efficient options. ...

See http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=389&topic_id=9518706&mesg_id=9518709 for the rest of the post.