Bernie Sanders' Campaign Has Crossed Into Neverland, ARE WE SUPPOSED TO KEEP CALM AND REMEMBER OUR PLACE IN THE ECONOMY? 17FEB16

I post this analysis of  the affect of Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign platform on the American economy from +Mother Jones to make a point. Kevin Drum of Mother Jones sides with the mainstream economist who dismiss +Senator Bernie Sanders as pie in the sky. That is exactly the attitude that has kept wages low, the income gap between the 1% and the 99% increasing, and the American social contract under funded and unfulfilled. Opponents of Sanders keep repeating the mantra that his policies can't be enacted, won't happen. They are endorsing the status quo, and telling us to suck it up, to Keep Calm and Remember Your Place In The American Economy. Sen Sanders is telling people he understands we are tired of struggling, tired of economic inequality, tired of social, economic and political injustice. He is telling people we have the right and responsibility as Americans to challenge those in power and demand change that will benefit the entire nation. That is why he is calling on the American people to rise up (Bob Marley said RISE, YE MIGHTY PEOPLE") Bernie Sanders is calling for a peaceful political revolution in America, for tens of millions of voters to register and vote and take control of the political system on the local, state and national level, to make our governments of the people, for the people. What is wrong with with that? 

Bernie Sanders' Campaign Has Crossed Into Neverland

—By Kevin Drum

| Wed Feb. 17, 2016 12:49 PM ESTRichard Ellis/Zuma Wire

I'm not quite sure what I was doing last week when this first appeared, but I missed it. Here's a summary from UMass Amherst professor Gerald Friedman about the impact on the economy if we adopt all of Bernie Sanders' domestic spending proposals:

WTF? Per-capita GDP will grow 4.5 percent? And not just in a single year: Friedman is projecting that it will grow by an average of 4.5 percent every year for the next decade. Productivity growth will double compared to CBO projections—and in case you're curious, there has never been a 10-year period since World War II in which productivity grew 3.18 percent. Not one. And miraculously, the employment-population ratio, which has been declining since 2000 and has never reached 65 percent ever in history, will rise to 65 percent in a mere ten years.

The Sanders campaign hasn't officially endorsed this analysis, but we do have this:

Warren Gunnels, policy director for the Sanders campaign, hailed the report’s finding that the proposals are feasible and expressed hope that more people will look into them. “It’s gotten a little bit of attention, but not nearly as much as we would like,” Mr. Gunnels said. “Senator Sanders has been fighting establishment politics, the establishment economics and the establishment media. And this is the last thing they want to take a look at.

“It shows that over a 10-year period, we would create 26 million new jobs, the poverty rate would plummet, that incomes would go up dramatically, and we would have strong economic growth. ... It’s a very bold plan, and we want to get this out there.”

I've generally tried to go easy on Bernie Sanders. I like his vision, and I like his general attitude toward Wall Street. But this is insane. If anything, it's worse than the endless magic asterisks that Republicans use to pretend that their tax plans will supercharge the economy and pay for themselves. It's not even remotely in the realm of reality. If it were, France and Germany and Denmark would all be Croesian paradises by now.

A group of stuffy establishment economists says "no credible economic research" supports Friedman's analysis, which "undermines our reputation as the party of responsible arithmetic." Or, in Austan Goolsbee's more colorful language, Sanders' plans have "evolved into magic flying puppies with winning Lotto tickets tied to their collars."

Enough is enough. Everyone needs to get back to reality. This ain't it. 

THEY'RE HOLDING YOUR TAX CUT HOSTAGE 30SEP10

Ten years ago, Congress passed broad income tax cuts. But in a cynical accounting trick designed to mask their long-term impact, they scheduled these cuts to expire next January.  Now we are approaching that cliff, and millions of Americans are facing thousands of dollars in higher taxes on January 1.

That's why President Obama is fighting to extend the tax breaks for middle class Americans.

Under the President's plan, the tax cuts would be permanently extended on incomes up to $250,000, which includes 98 percent of American taxpayers. This is fair, just and crucial for our economy.
 
Middle class Americans saw their incomes shrink during the last decade, and have borne the brunt of the recession. They need the relief, and America needs a strong, thriving middle class.  Because middle class families are most likely to spend this money quickly, these tax cuts give our economy a much needed shot in the arm.

Seems like a no-brainer, right?  Not to the Republican leaders in Congress.

They're holding these tax cuts for the middle class hostage, demanding that we also lift the cap and extend the breaks to millionaires and billionaires.

Austan Goolsbee, Chair of the Council of Economic Advisors, explains what’s going on in this video:



The Congressional Republican tax cut plan would add an additional $700 billion to the deficit over the next ten years and give America’s wealthiest people an average tax break of $100,000. To top it all off -- the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office has found that giving a huge tax break to the wealthiest Americans is one of the least effective ways to stimulate our economy. 

Adding hundreds of billions of dollars to the deficit while doing very little to grow our economy, put people back to work or strengthen America’s middle class is exactly the kind of economic policy that got us into this mess in the first place. 

We simply cannot afford to go back to their failed policies. It’s time for Congressional Republicans to stop playing politics with tax cuts for the middle class.