Could US corporations temporarally manipulate the economy enough to...

AdamT said:

That's a flat-out lie, of course

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it is not, in fact. Democrats have made it clear that they refuse to consider anything less than $1 Trillion in tax hikes concentrated on upper income earners.

Republicans won't give Obama any legislation that he supports -- even if it would be good for the country and they agee with the underlying policy.

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really. and how do you explain the recent passage of the SKorean and Colombian Free Trade Acts?

cpwill said:

Republicans have offered up precisely such a tax structure multiple times.

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Yes, you keep saying that, and I keep asking you to show me where Republicans have done that, and you keep punting.

cpwill said:

it is not, in fact. Democrats have made it clear that they refuse to consider anything less than $1 Trillion in tax hikes concentrated on upper income earners.

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First, Democrats have never said that that figure was a line in the sand with respect to debt negotiations. And second, there is no reason that a restructuring of the corporate tax would have be part of debt negotiations, as the proposed changes are revenue neutral.

really. and how do you explain the recent passage of the SKorean and Colombian Free Trade Acts?

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I'll give you that that is an exception to the rule.

Helix said:

trickle down hasn't worked. time to give trickle up a chance.

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How does trickle up work?

No this won't happen and can't happen. Is it possible? Theoretically. You are talking about a massive corporate conspiracy that would take hundreds of competing, large, public companies acting together to destroy their bottom lines in order to affect a number by a percentage point at most. Despite the political leanings of the board/CEO, the most important number is their earnings come quarter end, not the national unemployment number. The financial and operational cost of such an undertaking would be immense and would require a collaboration between companies that heavily compete with each other on both the cost and revenue side. Even if they managed to higher a million Americans to manipulate an election, these people would soon be laid off afterwards and any multiplier of demand you speak of would be moot. The question itself just goes towards the perception that corporations have exaggerated powers and a unified political will with which they all tinker with the global economy like it is something they can control.

apdst said:

Anyone that thinks trickle down economics is a failure doesn't know what trickle down economics really is.

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LMAO! Have you read Reagan's memoriars? Before he died Reagan himself admitted that "trickle down economics" didn't work like he thought it would.
Dude, turn off the Fox News and pick up a book.

Please Sir.. more poor'age?

imagep said:

Could US corporations temporarally manipulate the economy enough to affect the next election?

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Great question. But with regard to big idea conspiracies, I generally believe that too many selfish motives prevent any type of big effort, Ayn Rand type of fictional fantasy plots.

Conspiracies work when its a room full of 12 men. The country has grown too large and diverse for things like price-fixing to work anymore. There are still enough small-medium competitors around. Plus foreign competitors follow a different code of business.

I am assuming that our unemployment rate would need to be close to the "normal" range in order for Obama and other dems to be highly likely to be reelected. So is it possible that if maybe 100 of our largest employers temporarally created a crap load of jobs, that they could reduce our unemployment rate enough that the dems would be highly likely to be relected?

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I brought this up in another thread. What is normal? When the population outgrows the needs of businesses to staff all levels, then a certain amount of the population will be unemployed indefinitely. When states cut their education budgets and standards, corps will go outside the U.S. to fill certain positions, especially in the high-tech age.

It's the unintended consequences of allowing politicians to run education.

AdamT said:

That's a flat-out lie, of course, but you did inadvertently tell one truth: Republicans won't give Obama any legislation that he supports -- even if it would be good for the country and they agee with the underlying policy. This would be a good example of that.

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Of course the repubs will not give BO anything he likes, he wants a massive government and massive taxes on a select few and the repubs don't. Repubs want growth of the private sector, BO would be happy if 99% of the country was on welfare or in union, public sector, do-nothing jobs and the other 1% paid all the bills.

conservativeguy said:

Of course the repubs will not give BO anything he likes, he wants a massive government and massive taxes on a select few and the repubs don't. Repubs want growth of the private sector, BO would be happy if 99% of the country was on welfare or in union, public sector, do-nothing jobs and the other 1% paid all the bills.

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Save the hyperbole. In this case he wanted to cut corporate tax rates and eliminate loopholes, which was very reaganesque of him.

AdamT said:

Save the hyperbole. In this case he wanted to cut corporate tax rates and eliminate loopholes, which was very reaganesque of him.

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You really need to stop the lies, I doubt even you believe the crap you are posting. BO said he would only approve a balanced solution that involves jacking up taxes on successful business owners.....the repubs said KMA. Your half truths are about as honest as telling a man before he is waterboarded that he is going to get something to drink.

kamikaze483 said:

The problem isn't with the corporations. They sometimes lobby for lucrative government contracts and trade campaign contributions for political favors, but mostly they lobby to protect their own interests from seedy congressmen who don't think things all the way through before they enact legislation. The problem is the government. If we had governmental reform, there would be no need for lobbyists at all.

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:lol: How would that work?

apdst said:

Anyone that thinks trickle down economics is a failure doesn't know what trickle down economics really is.

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*

(It's the magic asterisk!)

conservativeguy said:

You really need to stop the lies, I doubt even you believe the crap you are posting. BO said he would only approve a balanced solution that involves jacking up taxes on successful business owners.....the repubs said KMA. Your half truths are about as honest as telling a man before he is waterboarded that he is going to get something to drink.

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Again, do you have a link to Obama saying that he wanted to jack up taxes on small business owners? You're making sh*t up from whole cloth.

American said:

How does trickle up work?

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employed workers spend more money. we hire people to make things and they will spend, which allows more businesses to grow and thrive with a larger customer base.