Okay. Rant time.
First, the previous entry originally said, “Someone just send me this link.” It was supposed to say, “Someone just sent me this link.” I was going to change it a couple weeks ago, but it kind of made sense as it was. However, I have now changed it to reflect my original intent.
RIT account deletion. Lewis got an email telling him he has something like two weeks left. I have not gotten such an email. Given, I basically delete every message that comes into my RIT inbox, and I could have missed it, but I don’t think so. I want to get deleted, too, dammit.
Bush’s economic stimulus plan. Okay. Basically, Republicans say that Bush’s plan will boost the stock market, which in turn should boost the economy. Democrats say their plan will give money to middle class taxpayers, who in turn will inject consumer dollars into the economy.
To be clear: I prefer the Democrats’ stimulus plan. Why? I’m going to use some numbers I got from the January 20, 2003 issue of Time magazine. The article is “Get Ready for Class Warfare.” The chart is on page 35. (I put this in with a table. It’s ugly, the font is wrong … I might fix it later) Take a look at this:
Estimated average tax savings under each proposal
| Adjusted Gross Income | Bush Plan | Dems’ Plan |
| Less than $10,000 | $5 | $234 |
| $10,000 to $20,000 | $63 | $290 |
| $20,000 to $30,000 | $204 | $319 |
| $30,000 to $40,000 | $351 | $361 |
| $40,000 to $50,000 | $500 | $385 |
| $50,000 to $70,000 | $820 | $447 |
| $75,000 to $100,000 | $1,776 | $510 |
| $100,000 to $200,000 | $2,710 | $517 |
| $200,000 to $500,000 | $5,527 | $521 |
| $500,000 to $1 million | $17,605 | $516 |
| More than $1 million | $88,873 | $515 |
Now. What does this mean? It means that if you’re fresh out of college, making, say … $35,000, these plans look very similar. However, if you’re fresh out of college and taking shit jobs because the economy is terrible, the first line is a little more relevant. If you make, say $300,000 there’s a significant difference. I just want to know: If you’re making $300,000, do you really feel the hurt of a poor economy? Does a $300K guys hedge about whether or not he should buy a second gallon of milk, or buy that new TV, based on that $4,000 difference in tax relief? I don’t think so. Does someone making $10,000 hold off on buying a new suit, or making a car payment, because he’s waiting to see if he’s going to get a $234 tax break or a $5 dollar tax break? I think so. The fact is, if you make $300,000, you don’t need five grand as badly as Joe $10,000 needs another two hundred bucks.
If you don’t like that analogy, think of it this way. When Joe $10,000 gets a $5 tax cut, and Mr. $350,000 gets a $4,000 tax cut, which of those two is going to buy extra groceries next week? And if neither buy additional groceries, was any money really injected into the economy?
Alright. That’s all I’ve got for now. I gotta get some sleep.