Bad news - or scare tactics - for Chicago.

http://cbs2chicago.com/local/daley.city.layoffs.2.863161.html

sob,
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I guess time will tell. People I have talked to out in our business community seem to think the same thing.

Our biggest employer Koher Company is doing layoffs every few weeks by department. Mrs. David survived the engine division cuts, but 5 of her coworkers out of 13 in her section got the ax. Some with 40 plus years with the company.

I've heard some stats from the travel industry that sales of cruises are down 40 from last fall at this time.

This is an awful time to be laying off with the holidays coming up and I am sure the news will just make those consumers who survive the just that much more frugal with their money at a time when retailer need holiday sales.

53K layoffs in CitiBank.  I'm glad that we re-fied with GMAC.  We were with Citibank.

It's just going to get worse…if the new tax plan goes through…I'm going to have 5K less in my pocket at the end of the year do to the increase in taxes to "spread the wealth."

Wait until we start having class warfare issues due to the new tax plan.

The bail out was a HUGE mistake…and it wasn't a fix…just a bandaid that will make this issue worse.  And there's talks of Obama bailing out the big three autos.  Why not fight the auto unions…that's what screwd them up.  Bailing them out will only prolong the problem…and we'll still have the issue because the excec don't have the balls to stand up to the unions.

Crap…this is why I can't come around here…you people get me all pissed off.  LOL!

>>Wait until we start having class warfare issues due to the new tax plan

I wish I made enough to be affected by the new proposed tax plan. 

With two incomes…you'd be suprised.  If you make around 95 and file jointly, I think that you're looking at ~ 1600 less in your check.

And Jen….that amount does not include any chickens or cases of Schmidt Beer that your clients might give you as payment.

My understanding was that tax increases didn't really kick in unless you made over 250 K a year. And we don't make anywhere near 95K a year, either. 

And David, stfu.  *thwap*

Nope, during speaches…it was said that it would be lowered to ~ 150,000 for the larger increases.

Looking at the differences between the two candidates tax plans…had McCain's plan was more Middle Class friendly.  But with this plan, starting around lower Middle Class would start to see some increases in taxes. 

The first big increase was seen around the 90K break point.  That was about 1200-1600 dollars. 

And that's money that I could have used in my pocket…I have a fence that fell down during the storms this weekend.  It's going to cost me 1900 dollars to replace the fence around my yard.  I will end up using tax money as I just don't have it right now to replace.  IF and when these come into play I might not be able to do these repairs.

When you get into the range that Peanut and I make combined, we're looking at around 5K less in our pockets. 

My parents are looking at about 600K or so more in Taxes…and have talked about moving to to their house in France full time and pulling all money out of the US.

Seems that many of people that this will hurt are talking of this as well.  That's not good right now..

Already, the top 1 percent of the population earns 19 per­cent of the income, yet they pay 37 percent of the total income tax.

The top 10 percent pays ~68 percent of the tab.

Meanwhile, the bottom 50 percent, those below the median income level, now earn 13 percent of the income but pay just 3 percent of the taxes. 

It's been reported that around 44% of the population aren't paying taxes at all.

But with the new plan….it's going to get even worse.  So if, like I hear people talking, they pull money out of the country….then the middle class will slip down and we will have to make up this burden.

This is HUGE…he's wanting to raise taxes during a time where the economy isn't very stable.  And when the rich pull money out…and stop paying taxes…we're going to have class warefare.

You maybe lucky and not see a change in what you pay.  And if not..good for you.  At least for now…

But where I might see 5K less at the end of the year…that's going to hurt.  If I lived somewhere with a lower cost of living….I might not care as much…but up here in New England…5K is a lot of money.

I can only hope that he's got good advisers around…and used the "Share the Wealth" to just get votes.  And when the time comes…he'll see that it's not going to work…

I can't see the waiter that busted his ass to earn that tip being happy when it's given to the homeless guy outside asking for hand outs.  As that's basically what this plan is going for.

Why don't we all bank the overtime…we've got five people in the office…only two work overtime.  The other three are always leaving early.  But, we're going to share the overtime money between all five people.  That way we all benefit from the two that are working 60 hours each a week…

It's going to be an interesting four years, monetary wise.

Hmm, as I am the thread killing man…I might as well argue with myself.

Don't forget that our market is also starting to tank in this wake. His campaign promises earlier this year to double the capital gains tax. THat's hitting the prices in our market hard.

Look at it this way…if you were planning to sell stocks next year, it means that the Federal government would take an extra 15 percent of what you earned. So…shareholders started selling their stocks months ago…hell they are still selling them today.  JUst look how much the market has started falling in the last week.  All just because they thought that there was a chance he will impose this policy.

People voted for change…and we're going to get it.

>>All just because they thought that there was a chance he will impose this policy.

Oh really, and where is the proof to back this up?  The market has been tanking for ages, I don't see anything to suggest that recent election results are the cause, C-pher. 

And how long has he been talking about this?  The market hasn't been tanking for ages…really mostly the last 6 or so months.  As it started looking more and more like he was going to take office.

The "Obama Effect" has been being discussed for a long time…this isn't new.

http://www.hgexperts.com/article.asp?id=5411
http://blogs.journalrecord.com/persquarefoot/2008/06/05/now-is-the-time-to-sell/
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/capital-commerce/2007/9/19/obama-pushes-for-higher-investment-taxes.html
http://www.plantemoran.com/Industries/MD/ManufacturingDistributing/Resources/Manufacturer/2008+Issue+No+2/Capital+Gains+Tax+Increase+Looms+Are+You+Ready.htm

It's been being discussed for a long time, that if you were looking to sell…then do so before he imposes the hike in 2009 as all roads point to him not waiting for the 2010 expiration of the tax cuts.

Actually, here's a good read as well.
http://conservativeeconomics.blogspot.com/2008/09/capital-gains-tax-obama-effect.html

Wow…dude…that's quite a reach.  The economic collapse has been predicted well before Obama was a household name…like decades ago.  The market tanked when shit hit the fan.  It's history repeating itself.  You want to point fingers?  Point them at general greed and ignorance.  The Federal Reserve continues to devalue the dollar while the housing bubble finally caught up to reality.

Point them at the Democratic Party that's been pushing for these "Creative" loans for people that can't afford to own houses.

The Democratic party, the ones that said owning a house was the "American Dream."  And that it should be given to everyone.  They pushed Fannie and Freddie Mac to offer these loans…then came the other banks doing the same.

Yes, it put money into a lot of bankers pockets…and they hold a lot of the blame as well.  But free trade wouldn't have let this happen if it wasn't a push from the government from back in the early Clinton Days.

But like it or not…the call for higher taxes has moved thing as of late into an accelerated movement into the crapper.

And don't even get me started on all these bailouts…

Maybe I'll start another thread to get ostracized on.

>>Maybe I'll start another thread to get ostracized on.
Listen, we can disagree with you without ostracizing you, C-pher.  There's no reason that we can't have a reasonable dialogue about this stuff. I see where you, MiT, JRB, etc. would be nervous because obviously this is a pretty vocal board and we tend as a group to lean more left than right. But that doesn't mean we can't debate in a healthy way.  Disagreement doesn't have to mean disrespect. 

I can understand why people worry when they hear "tax increase" in times like this… it's scary. Absolutely.  But look at what Clinton did when he first took office -- he instituted a small tax increase and paid down debt, and the economy flourished.  I really do think that things are going to improve here in the next couple of years. I think we'll have some lean times, absolutely.  Some people will be much more affected than others.  But I think we're going to be heading in the right direction. 

Yeah, and no one is 'ostracizing' you by not responding. I can't tell you the number of posts I've put up in the past about musicians that felt like spitting in the wind. Sometimes there's just nothing to say. Either you disagree to the point where the other person's post just doesn't make sense to you (as is the case for me when people try to blame the current economic problems on Obama), or people just aren't invested enough to respond (as is the case with half of the musicians I've tried to peddle around here). Where's your thickskin, Slobbersky?