Gerald Scorse's Blog

Gerald Scorse Commented on The GOP on Health Care: Double 'No' by Gerald Scorse

2009-07-14T21:27:56Z

Miguelitoh2o: Right you are; maybe they're all dim bulbs.
Ramona: That's the union position, of course. On the other hand, while it's good for those who get the benefit, is it good for society at large? Should health benefits be employment-based? Tough questions.

Gerald Scorse recommended Things That Ought To Be Done Right Now... the first in a series... Ban Prescription Drug Advertising by oleeb

2009-06-24T14:00:46Z

Gerald Scorse Commented on Things That Ought To Be Done Right Now... the first in a series... Ban Prescription Drug Advertising by oleeb

2009-06-24T20:31:49Z

Absolutely right, Oleeb. You know, I presume, that prescription drug advertising to the general public was in fact prohibited for years.

And it should be again, for the reasons you specified, most tellingly: "The sole purpose of these ads is to create markets where none previously existed or to exploit a previously untapped or undersold market to the fullest. This is done for one reason and one reason only and that is to boost drug company profits. None of these ads...has anything to do with benefiting the people these drugs are being marketed to."

Gerald Scorse Commented on A Report Card on Obamanomics, Approaching One Hundred Days by Robert Reich

2009-04-22T13:44:11Z

MikeW67: "This does not preclude, targeted capital gains cuts."

Capital gains cuts? It's outrageous that capital gains are taxed at less than wages. There's no good reason whatever: income is income and should be taxed at the same rate, no matter where it comes from. Except for a thimbleful of cases (IPOs and secondary offerings), money that's invested in the stock market has *nothing whatever to do* with growing jobs and growing businesses.

Gerald Scorse Commented on The Administration's proposed "Responsible Wall Streeter Tax Credit" by Robert Reich

2009-04-02T13:47:00Z

In fact they *already* get this credit, really, via a tax break that's been on the books for years: capital loss offsets allow them to use all stock losses as tax deductions, until the losses are completely used up, either as offsets against capital gains or against ordinary income (maximum: $3,000 per year).

Gerald Scorse Commented on Bring Back Reagan's Tax Policy by Gerald Scorse

2009-03-01T16:54:25Z

"PSSSST...Don't tell the republicans." Right; they forget entirely this aspect of Reagan's tax policy. (Too many Democrats don't seem to remember either.)

Gerald Scorse Commented on Legacy Loans by Rick Perlstein

2009-02-21T14:56:32Z

One of the good things Reagan did, in the Tax Reform Act of 1986, was to raise the tax on capital gains (from 20% to 28%) and to equalize taxes on income from wealth (capital gains, dividends) and income from wages. This tax reform, which liberals had sought for decades, lasted until it was undone by Clinton in 1997; it was later further undone by Bush. The tax on long-term capital gains is now 15%, little more than half of what it was after Reagan's 1986 Tax Reform Act. Obama has talked about raising it to 20%, which would still be 8% lower than it was under Reagan. There's simply no good reason, period, for taxing capital gains at a lower rate than wages.