11/09/2012: GARY ON NATIONALLY SYNDICATED INVESTORS EDGE RADIO BROADCAST
https://archives.warpradio.com/btr/InvestorsEdge/110918.mp3
JUST LETTING YOU KNOW
The Fiscal Cliff and Why It Matters to Your Wallet
It’s all in the news and it’s being explained wrong. They’re not giving you the straight dope on what’s going on.
In case you don’t know, it’s simplistic. The people who are in the leadership of this country continue to fail us on a fiscal and on a timely basis. They are failures. And shame of it is that we keep voting these failures back every time. I don’t know what’s wrong with the American people.
So basically the story goes…if a deal cannot be made, the whole Bush tax cut era is over. Not just for the privileged few, but for everyone…the lowest tax bracket would go up. On top of that, Capital Gains, Dividends, State…everything moves upwards.
On the spending front, there would be automatic spending cuts, a lot of it hitting defense. Oh, by the way the AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) also. All is happening at the same time, if a deal was not done.
For me, there is one part of the equation that the media will not explain to you because they will remain lap dogs and our president can do no wrong. For two years, my president had unfettered power…the House…the Senate…a super majority in the Senate, with 60 seats. They could have done whatever they wanted to do. They Republicans would have had no say in the matter…nothing. Yet, they didn’t. We have also not had a budget from a Democratic senate in four years.
Now the story goes, we didn’t want to raise taxes then because the economy was in trouble. So they’re actually telling you that raising taxes is bad for the economy – but now let’s do it.
That’s it.
Republicans will not let marginal tax rates go up. They’re being told that they’re holding things hostage because of that. Republicans are saying that all the Democrats want to do is raise taxes on the producers…the job creators. That’s the argument.
You see I have a different argument ladies and gentlemen. And it’s a simple one.
What are they using the money for? Let’s say that the tax rates for the privileged few go up 4%. For somebody making a $1 million a year, net, it would cost them $750,000 x .04 or $30,000 approximately. What would the government be doing with that $30,000 extra dollars? That’s really my question. You see, we have never had a worst steward of our tax dollars than this president and the people around him. They’re worse than George Bush. And gotta tell you, Bush was terrible.
Where’s are money going? What is it doing? We’re already running a trillion a year in deficits. Where is that going? What are getting for it?
You know what their answer is? They don’t know. Nobody’s answering the question. There is not one stupid journalist asking the question of this president what is this money is for?
“Well it’s to help the middle class.”
How? Directly, how is it supposed to help? Where is it heading to? How is it going to get somebody a job?
See, here is the problem. The journalists aren’t asking that question because he doesn’t have an answer to that question. It is just an ideology of higher taxes and big government spending. There’s no reason to raise rates a few percent on the wealthy. It’s not going to raise any money. It’s not going to help anybody. It’s not going to cut the deficit.
“Oh, we’ll put it in the Treasury and it’ll lower the deficit.”
No it won’t.
That’s that question that should asked. But it isn’t. Why? Because it’s the right question. Just what the heck are you doing with our capital? What are you doing with that deficit spending.
Oh that’s right. $1.5 billion for free cell phones for people.
Billions for food stamps, as you lowered the restriction to get it.
Oh yeah Green Energy loans that don’t have to be paid back to companies that are run by your bundlers and donators of money…and then they go poof!
And there’s no investigation.
Oh, that’s what it’s for.
So ladies and gentlemen. That’s the fiscal cliff: The argument that we need more money in Washington and we’re taking it from you because you must pay your fair share and we know what to do with it.
Well, I’ve got news for you. They don’t have a clue what to do with it. And therein lies the problem. You see, I don’t give a “you know what” that this president got reelected. We deal will logic and facts here and the fact is that this president is running trillion dollar deficits on purpose. He’s created no jobs whatsoever. He’s only blocked another five million that would have been created if he’d just get out of the way and put some certainty in the economy.
But we keep voting them in!
We voted a guy in from Illinois, Jesse Jackson, Jr. who’s pleading guilty for embezzling money from his campaign to give watches to his girlfriend and it he had to go into a mental institution and while he was in the institution you guys voted him in in Illinois.
Don’t expect much good to come from this until we start voting in people that really do care.
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Gary Kaltbaum owns Kaltbaum Capital Management, LLC (“KCM”), an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The opinions expressed herein are those of Mr. Kaltbaum and may not reflect those of KCM. The information offered in this publication is general information that does not take into account the individual circumstances, financial situation or individual needs of an investor. The information herein has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but we cannot assure its accuracy or completeness. Neither the information nor any opinion expressed constitutes a solicitation for the purchase or sale of any security. Any reference to past performance is not to be implied or construed as a guarantee of future results.