WSJ: Individual tax payments up 26% last 2 years

[ugahairydawgs]

Receipts now are near record levels. Kind of flies in the face of the assertion that the problem we face now is on the income side.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...ctions_opinion

[jnpy!$4g3cwk]

You know, it sure would be nice if the WSJ could say something nice, like "Gee, the economy really must be getting better under Obama! Tax revenue is going up, the deficit is dropping, unemployment is down, unemployment spending is down, and now, the main problem that we have is figuring out how to get all those outrageous bonuses back that bank executives were paid in 2008-2010."

So, does the WSJ want to paint the economic picture as bad, or good?

The fact is that the economy is, much to the surprise and annoyance of the WSJ, improving.

[VulchR]

The deficit might be the highest since WWII, but then again we have been fighting wars for more consecutive years than we did in WWII. Much of the deficit is due to military spending and bailing out ass**** bankers.

[leenak]

Originally Posted by jnpy!$4g3cwk

You know, it sure would be nice if the WSJ could say something nice, like "Gee, the economy really must be getting better under Obama! Tax revenue is going up, the deficit is dropping, unemployment is down, unemployment spending is down, and now, the main problem that we have is figuring out how to get all those outrageous bonuses back that bank executives were paid in 2008-2010."

So, does the WSJ want to paint the economic picture as bad, or good?

The fact is that the economy is, much to the surprise and annoyance of the WSJ, improving.

Image

Well they did say it was the biggest deficit reduction since Truman? So they did say something positive.

[Anuba]

Originally Posted by jnpy!$4g3cwk

So, does the WSJ want to paint the economic picture as bad, or good?

The fact is that the economy is, much to the surprise and annoyance of the WSJ, improving.

During election night I heard a lot of anecdotal evidence of this... in the coverage I watched on my side of the pond they had a lot of guests who moved from here to the US, and several of them talked about a momentum building, people shopping more again, just a general vibe of optimism in the air.

If the economy picks up over Obama's second term he will leave a pretty impressive legacy behind. Massive healthcare reform (succeeding where both Nixon and Clinton failed). He will have ended two war efforts that Bush started. Bin Laden eliminated. Maybe he'll squeeze in immigration reform too.
And a really big one for us outsiders: He's done a lot to restore America's image. It's hard to put into words how much Bush destroyed it. I mean, when I grew up, the consensus was that the USA was pretty awesome. Somewhere around the silly affair with the impeachment of Clinton, the image started cracking. And then... Dubya. He became the resident clown on our news, and since he was America's figurehead it made the whole country look like clowns by proxy. First we'd get serious news from the rest of the world, then when it came to the US it had a 'and now for the comedy segment' vibe to it, and of course there was Bush, dropping a dog, tipping over a Segway or just uttering one of his countless gaffes. We were relieved that the madness would be ending soon... and then the GOP wheeled out Palin.