Where is the US economy headed?

I am not ignoring your post and I did not thumb it down. It just looks like other issues have taken over right now here. Maybe the issue will come up again.

When you can tell the difference between an economic philosophy and a political one maybe you can get an answer. When you confuse the two you are comparing apples to oranges.

Are you arguing that this statement is true?

Understood.

Pretty disappointing of you, Walter. I understood you to be at least informed enough to express an opinion. After all, you've been debating me about Hitler for a long time, claiming he was a right wing fanatic or conservative or something, so you certainly did not claim to be ignorant of it then. And how complicated can it be?

Sorry to disappoint you, okie.

But perhaps you just try to remember what you've learnt at high school? For instance the differences between political philosophy, forms of government and political systems?

The US economy will rebound despite Obama's efforts to ruin American Capitalism.

The House today passed a tax-cut bill for everyone making less than 250k. This bill must now go forward to the Senate for consideration.

Good job Pelosi! Way to play hardball with 'em. Make the Republicans filibuster the bill in the Senate and let ALL the tax cuts expire.

Cycloptichorn

Alas, the administration and Democrat Senators seem willing to cave in, extending the tax cuts to everyone (including those earning over $250K) in order to not have the cuts for everyone expire at the end of the month.

Pelosi blows and the liberal democrats are just playing political games while totally ignoring what the American want from them.

The American people have clearly repudiated Obama's liberal democrat agenda, but they choose to waste time playing games.

Shame on Pelosi! Shame on the liberal democrats!

There is talk of upping the amout - I like about $500 but the talk is at maybe a mil. That would be okay too, not a bad compromise....

The polls taken recently are quite consistent. As with all polls we would need to see the exact wording. The first 2 are from this week while the last is from mid-November.
The 1st % is those who favor extending the tax cuts but only for those earning less then $250K.
The 2nd % is those who favor extending the cuts to everyone.
The 3rd % is those who believe the tax cuts should be allowed to expire.
USA-Gallup: 44% 40% 13%
AP-CNBC: 50% 34% 14%
CNN-Op Res: 49% 35% 15%

Republicans are doing the right thing - tax cuts for everyone, but they
should take it a step further and reduce the tax rates across the board.

I'm going to break a personal rule of mine and lower myself by responding to you, idiot that you are: The Democrats are in fact passing tax cuts for everyone. Every single American benefits directly from the cuts they passed in the House today.

Cycloptichorn

Oh, I know where the people stand, but - I also know a true compromise! Like I said, I stand on $500 big ones. Of course, 1/2 and 1 mil weren't a choice on the pole. Don't get me wrong, I stand with you.

And, I also stand with Cycloptichron, all the people get a tax break with each of those numbers too, and the greedy million/billion aires still get the most!

That is true, Cyclo. It is tough, though, for economic journalists to explain that in a couple of short sentences without people's eyes glazing over.
Tax rates in income brackets below $250k would be extended while tax rates in the brackets over $250k would expire. Someone earning $550k would continue to get the tax break on the 1st $250k but they would not on the remaining $300k.
Is that your understanding?

As simple as that - yes!

Cyclotroll, you are a little putz!

Bush passed tax cuts for everyone, Obama democrats want to take this away and raise taxes for everyone.

Bush caused the great recession for everyone except the rich. now they pay, and it is truly a minor amount.

Moving right along, the Simpson-Bowles Deficit Reduction Commission is slated to vote tomorrow on a final draft. It appears that a majority of the 18 members will vote in favor. I have it as 11-7. That is not sufficient under the rules to have the draft go directly to Congress. 14 votes are needed for that.
So, instead, it will be just a recommendation to Congress who will likely figure out a way to file it away for further review at some undetermined later date.
Among the more headline grabbing proposals are limiting the interest deductions on home mortgages and increasing the retirement age to 69 over a 50 year time frame.
The breakdown of the vote amongst liberal and moderate Dems and conservative and moderate Repubs is quite interesting amongst members who have indicated how they will vote.

You are correct that there are more than one factor in play, such as forms of government and political systems. I should add to that "economic systems," which might be the most important, but they all tend to pair up with each other in common ways, such as communist systems tend to exist under dictators, rather than under a democratic republic form of government, wouldn't you agree? I think there are left and right tendencies to gravitate toward certain economic systems, as well as to certain forms of government, so that there is commonly a correlation between dictatorship forms of government with Marxist or centrally planned economies, while free market capitalism thrives better under Democratic Republic forms of government.

Some socialism can exist under Democratic governments, as long as a significant level of free market capitalism is allowed to co-exist without too much government interference. It seems to me to be a sliding scale between pure socialism or Marxism, all the way to 100% free market capitalism. Even the United States has incorporated a fair amount of socialism, by virtue of having programs like Social Security and Medicare, but we are yet not as far left as most European brands of Socialism. We know from history that pure Socialism has been a failure when tried, and we are also witnessing the bankruptcies and financial problems of countries that are heavily invested in socialism. In fact, a major part of the financial problem here in the United States is linked to huge debt associated with entitlement spending of Social Security and Medicare. I do not believe I am wrong to point out that much of the political battle going on here is the fight over whether to drift toward more entitlement spending of socialistic central planning, such as Obamacare. Much rides on whether Obamacare will progress into universal health care, or whether the tide can be turned and it will be repealed in favor of more reasonable reform of a highly successful free market driven health care system.

One of the arguments on this forum has been that Fascism is a far right political system, but I do not think that is at all logical, as the economic structure of Fascism is to only allow capitalism to exist at the direction of the State and for the benefit of the State, so that it essentially results into a centrally planned economy, not a true free market economy. The obvious conclusion from this fact is that it is therefore rendered to be a Leftist type of economic and political system. This also is consistent with the fact that other centrally planned economic systems, like communism, are also made possible by a very strong State, typically under a dictatorship type of government, rather than a Democratic Republic form of government. I believe that I am correct to say also that both communists and fascists highly disliked "parliamentarism," which they considered to be beneath them to have to wrangle over how to govern a country. I believe it is the same type of Leftist thinking pattern that produces that resentment or dislike for governing democratically.