Sunday 10 July 2011

Sarah Palin, the economist

If I'm not completely mistaken, Sarah Palin's last appearance on Fox News was in mid June. She spoke to Judge Napolitano about her e-mails and said Rep Anthony Weiner was rendered impotent by the Twitter scandal, among the usual soundbites.


After that, she interrupted jury duty (hmmm...) to attend the premiere of The Undefeated in Pella, Iowa, and to sign books with Bristol in Minnesota.


Her ghostwriter has been busy on Facebook: "The Sugar Daddy Has Run Out of Sugar; Now We Need New Leaders," writing about the national debt, usual soundbites included:

"But let me tell you where real hope lies. It’s not the hopey-changey stuff we heard about in 2008. Real hope comes from realizing how God has blessed our exceptional nation, and then doing something about it. We have been blessed with natural resources, hardworking entrepreneurs, and a Constitution that preserves the greatest form of government ever devised by man. If we develop those natural resources, allow our entrepreneurs to keep and invest more of what they earn, and adhere to the time-tested truths of our Constitution, we will prosper and endure."

Of course, some things are back to front:

"The same “experts” who got us into this mess are now telling us that the only way out of our debt crisis is to “increase revenue,” but not by creating more jobs and therefore a larger tax base; no, they want to “increase revenue” by raising taxes on job creators who are taxed enough already!"

The big corporations pay very little tax, due to many loopholes and tax shelters. They shell out a lower percentage than individual taxpayers. Some paid no taxes at all. Her wonderful entrepreneurs had these tax breaks for many years, so where are the jobs? They may keep and invest more of what they earn on themselves, but they're not creating jobs.

Sarah Palin also blows her own trumpet as governor: "As a governor, I had to deal with facts, even unpleasant ones. I dealt with the world as it is, not as I wished it to be."

Democrats are pushing to collect more revenues by ending tax breaks for oil companies, hedge fund managers and corporate jet owners.

Didn't Sarah Palin raise taxes for the oil industry in Alaska to unprecedented levels?

If she took on the oil giants as governor, why can't President Obama do the same?

This fallacy about job "creators" is wearing thin. The big corporations want to take but don't want to give. In this global economy, they find dispositives that allow them to post some losses elsewhere and get tax credits in the US and to transfer profits to lower taxes countries. They have created jobs... but not for Americans. Many thousands of jobs have disappeared in the US and reappeared abroad, where labour costs are much lower. Yes, outsourcing jobs abroad: Larger profits, more money in their pockets.

The quitter governor, with a "D" in macroeconomics, wants to lecture the president on how to lower the national debt. That should work a treat.


Her own sugar daddy has run into some trouble. It may be time for her to sit down and shut up...

***

Commenter NSG posted a video and I've embeded it here. Bill Maher explains the whole thing about the "jobs creators."




Some interesting articles:

Problem? Blame it on Obama

The Paradox of Corporate Taxes

Corporate giants find ample shelter

Contrary To GOP Claims, U.S. Has Second Lowest Corporate Taxes In The Developed World (H/T to Lani)