Interesting Tax Fact of the Day

The 2010 lower threshold for actually owing federal taxes: $50,300.
The 1997 lower threshold for actually owing federal taxes: $24,000.

A primary reason for this is probably not what you would think, at least if you're a Rightie.

Now might be a good time...

...to go short the $USD.  Also, get ready for higher borrowing rates.  Oh, and the social security funds you've had taken from you since your very first paycheck?  Gone.  Poof.

Shoulda listened to Bush 43 when he wanted to privatize Social Security.  That was our last chance to save something of the system.  There were lots and lots of mistakes and thievery along the way, though.

A Billion Here, A Trillion There...

I'd like to call your attention to this picture of a cluster of stories off the Fox News website from January 28:

They can't help themselves, can they?  It's like they get re-programed when they get into congress into spend-bots.  Or maybe they were always programmed that way.  Nature or Nurture?

You sort of become numb to the vastness of the hole they're digging for us.  Because a $12,000,000,000,000 deficit isn't enough, is it Nancy?  Is it?  Let's go ahead and throw a couple more trillion in there for kicks.  Or maybe to continue with abject FAIL like this piece of crapnews:  SEC to require disclosure of climate change risks (WaPo)

The commission, in a 3 to 2 vote, decided to require that companies disclose in their public filings the impact of climate change on their businesses — from new regulations or legislation they may face domestically or abroad to potential changes in economic trends or physical risks to a company.

November cannot come fast enough.

18.5%

That's the July unemployment rate for 16-21 year-olds. Why? Three words: minimum wage increases. Basic economics, people. Increase a business' costs with no corresponding increase in output or revenue, and you have a problem. In that kind of environment, the easiest short-run solution for business owners is to lower employment costs (ie. fire existing employees or, alternatively, not hire additional employees), which means more teens (and other lower-wage workers) get left on the sidelines. Those jobs were neither created nor saved.
It's not rocket science.

Suspicious minds

It all sounds very conspiratorial. Do we believe Occam's razor? Or another possiblity?

I'm not accusing. I'm just wondering.

Hey! Teacher! Leave Them Banks Alone!

The WSJ:

The Obama administration has begun serious talks about how it can change compensation practices across the financial-services industry, including at companies that did not receive federal bailout money, according to people familiar with the matter.

headdesk headdesk headdesk.
It's not your business! Stay the hell out! Go! Shoo!

Repeat this after me: ANY employee's financial compensation at ANY private business is not the affair of the federal (or any other) government. It is between the board of directors, the management, and shareholders of the company. That's. It.

Government officials said their effort, which is just beginning, isn't aimed at setting pay or establishing detailed rules. "This is not going to be about capping compensation or micro-management," said an administration official. "It will be about understanding what is the best way to align compensation with sound risk management and long-term value creation."

I call BS. Sound risk management practices and long-term value creation are the purview of management and the board. That's. It. The government is never, ever, ever involved in creating "long-term value" of a private business. Why is this so hard for people to understand?

Wonder Land

Daniel Henninger has always been one of my favorite writers at the WSJournal. Here is today's excellent article on Democrats vs. the Private Sector.