Mnuchin’s claim that the pre-pandemic economy ‘would pay down debt over time’
By Glenn Kessler Glenn KesslerThe Fact Checker
“We were having extraordinary growth. We were creating growth that would pay down the debt over time.”
< Here's a 7-year projection for 2025 from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
New Tax Law Is Fundamentally Flawed and Will Require Basic Restructuring
Note the income groups, the percentage change in after-tax income, and the average estimated changes.
From the figure first presented at the start of this post for the top 0.1% $193,380 is higher, $252,300.
25 August 2019
— Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Sept. 6, 2020
"It is an article of faith among top Trump administration officials that the economy was doing great until the novel coronavirus struck. That’s not correct.
Even before the virus shut down economies around the globe, the U.S. manufacturing sector had experienced a mild recession in 2019, according to data released by the Federal Reserve three days before the first reported coronavirus case in the United States.
Moreover, despite President Trump’s repeated (false) claim of having the greatest economy in U.S. history, annual growth of the gross domestic product always fell short of the lofty promises he made during the campaign . . .
What’s this about? The facts
Hmmm. A reminder, this is what Mnuchin said on TV: “We were creating growth that would pay down the debt over time.”
But, okay, let’s assume Mnuchin really was referring to the ratio of debt to the size of the economy...
How did the administration do with its short-term forecast, for just the fourth quarter of 2019 a few months later? The administration projected 3.2 percent growth, but it turned out to be 2.4 percent. The CBO projected 2.3 percent, and FOMC projected 2.1 percent.
The administration also projected 3.2 percent GDP growth in 2019 but as noted above that also fell short.
Reality has a way of getting in the way of such forecasts.
Before the virus, the economy was doing okay, but it was not “extraordinary.” It’s misleading for Mnuchin to assert that the administration was on track to reduce the debt, or even the debt-to-GDP ratio, before the virus blew everyone’s plans to pieces. We wavered between Three and Four Pinocchios but tipped toward Three, because the treasury secretary can point to a published forecast, even if it relies on assumptions that are not especially credible.
Three Pinocchio "
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BLOGGER INSERT: Post on this blog from April 2019
< Here's a 7-year projection for 2025 from the Center on Budget and Policy PrioritiesNew Tax Law Is Fundamentally Flawed and Will Require Basic Restructuring
UPDATED August 14, 2018
The major tax legislation enacted last December will cost approximately $1.5 trillion over the next decade and deliver windfall gains to wealthy households and profitable corporations, further widening the gap between those at the top of the income ladder and the rest of the nation . . .
From the figure first presented at the start of this post for the top 0.1% $193,380 is higher, $252,300.
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BOTTOM LINE
Mnuchin and others in the Trump administration pledged that the tax law wouldn’t benefit the wealthy, but that promise was doomed from the start
BLOGGER NOTES:
< An image taken from Twitter of Mesa Mayor John Giles (at center) in Washington DC having a talk with Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Secretary of The Treasury a couple of months ago.
A couple of years earlier at a U.S. Mayors Conference, Giles stated that except for an aircraft carrier, you get everything from cities.
Mnuchin and others in the Trump administration pledged that the tax law wouldn’t benefit the wealthy, but that promise was doomed from the start
BLOGGER NOTES:
< An image taken from Twitter of Mesa Mayor John Giles (at center) in Washington DC having a talk with Steve Mnuchin, the U.S. Secretary of The Treasury a couple of months ago.
A couple of years earlier at a U.S. Mayors Conference, Giles stated that except for an aircraft carrier, you get everything from cities.
That's a paraphrase, but it certainly looks that things have changed.
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There’s a particular type of rich person, probably living somewhere in Florida, Texas, or another low-tax state like Arizona who did even better. This person runs his own company or companies, likely in the real estate business. . .
There’s a particular type of rich person, probably living somewhere in Florida, Texas, or another low-tax state like Arizona who did even better. This person runs his own company or companies, likely in the real estate business. . .
Here is the post opening (and a link) :
13 April 2019
Now We Know: The 2017 Tax Law’s Big Winner Is the Millionaire CEO
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| Treasury Secretary Mnuchin |
Writing about "Hyper-Local" news nearly always requires perspectives and different angles on the stories posted here. Images selected for insertion are intended to make visual impacts of editorial content by sight.
They send a message. Now some numbers:
The top 0.1%, who make more than $3.4 million a year, made out with $193,380.
The top 1% of income earners made out with $51,140.
Average Americans made out with $1,610
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Follow along if you can . . . It's not meant to-be-easy. Somehow readers of this blog need to do more work to connect-the-dots when information, comments, and opinions are presented side-by-side. For example, why this opening image with one guy gesturing on the left?
They send a message. Now some numbers:
The top 0.1%, who make more than $3.4 million a year, made out with $193,380.
The top 1% of income earners made out with $51,140.
Average Americans made out with $1,610
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Follow along if you can . . . It's not meant to-be-easy. Somehow readers of this blog need to do more work to connect-the-dots when information, comments, and opinions are presented side-by-side. For example, why this opening image with one guy gesturing on the left?
It's too early to get puzzled, but if you know about Mnuchin to start with, there's more from the federal level directly impacting a city like Mesa, its mayor, more especially Opportunity Zones (Mesa has 11 if you didn't know that before), state and local sales and property taxes, commercial real estate, income inequality and what might help explain the crisis in affordable housing here. We're going to bounce back-and-forth and forward fairly fast - and finally get to what is featured in a post on this blog yesterday . . .
READ MORE> https://mesazona.blogspot.com/2019/04
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SEE THESE EARLIER POSTS :
19 March 2017
Do Stadium/Ballparks Save Cities?
Source: The American Conservative
Baseball stadiums are expensive to build and property prices have always been high, especially considering the amount of parking needed to accommodate 15-20,000 people.
As a result, teams want public financing, tax abatements, and all the other ills that crony capitalism promotes.
Paid for with higher taxes, increased public indebtedness, and highway improvements, the stadiums/ballparks were sold to city, county, and state governments as a form of economic development and urban regeneration.
01 May 2019
Now that the 2019 Chicago Cubbies Cactus League Spring Training is over with, let's take a little time-out to go back and cover some bases in what's now a seven-year run around at the City of Mesa's Sloan Park, built with taxpayer-funded debt service for the Billionaire-Ricketts Family in Chicago who own the sports franchise conglomerate.
Once city officials get that Play-Book down pat, they keep playing it. follow along if you can and see how this gaming of Mesa taxpayers works out now with the deals made with ASU
Once city officials get that Play-Book down pat, they keep playing it. follow along if you can and see how this gaming of Mesa taxpayers works out now with the deals made with ASU
Blogger Note:
Both the Billionaire-Ricketts Family in Chicago and ASU in Tempe have one thing in common: both are rich enough to have financed these big deals if they wanted to.
Instead, "Sales Pitches" were thrown at the public here in Mesa to fund their fields-of-schemes to load up debt on the backs of taxpayers.
What's the public benefit for a seasonal ball park? _______
Private real estate speculators and developers can reap the whirlwind of sizeable profits.
At least in some of the factoids and details extracted from an article in The Chicago Tribune two years ago, there are some dots that can get connected in the new power plays.
Both the Billionaire-Ricketts Family in Chicago and ASU in Tempe have one thing in common: both are rich enough to have financed these big deals if they wanted to.
Instead, "Sales Pitches" were thrown at the public here in Mesa to fund their fields-of-schemes to load up debt on the backs of taxpayers.
What's the public benefit for a seasonal ball park? _______
Private real estate speculators and developers can reap the whirlwind of sizeable profits.
At least in some of the factoids and details extracted from an article in The Chicago Tribune two years ago, there are some dots that can get connected in the new power plays.
THIS IS NO LONGER TRUE:
"A politician doesn't want to be known as the guy who put into place a funding mechanism that funneled public dollars to billionaire owners,"
"A politician doesn't want to be known as the guy who put into place a funding mechanism that funneled public dollars to billionaire owners,"
Throw in some peanuts and Cracker Jacks inside the Upper Chamber for last Monday's public meeting and it's hard to beat City Manager Chris Brady's off-season extravaganza with all the boys of a hot summertime all lined up to show a big graphic. This opening image was taken from Twitter.
If you missed the show on Monday, there's a post on this blog to view it.
There are 15 people in the image: a crowd. Some of that is explained below in an article from AZ Big Media.
If you missed the show on Monday, there's a post on this blog to view it.
There are 15 people in the image: a crowd. Some of that is explained below in an article from AZ Big Media.
Other details are omitted . . . If you're not good at connecting the dots, please just believe the mainstream media hype.
Please don't even dare to ask who bought-and-sold some 11,442 acres in carefully-crafted land transfers that follow the usual development playbook to make fortunes off former agricultural lands all with water-rights that run with the land.
The end buyer of the acreage? Saints Holdings LLC.
Time for readers to do some digital work - use the Search box on this blog. Suggestion: type in Mesa Water Farm, Pinal Land Holdings, Natalie Lewis, or Jacob Andersen. Game on!
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Trading hands, holding companies and joint ventures.
There are some details about the buyer missing, including 'pay-offs' all along the way for what's called "now obsolete water-rights" - the most precious commodity here in the desert.
Please don't even dare to ask who bought-and-sold some 11,442 acres in carefully-crafted land transfers that follow the usual development playbook to make fortunes off former agricultural lands all with water-rights that run with the land.
The end buyer of the acreage? Saints Holdings LLC.
Time for readers to do some digital work - use the Search box on this blog. Suggestion: type in Mesa Water Farm, Pinal Land Holdings, Natalie Lewis, or Jacob Andersen. Game on!
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Trading hands, holding companies and joint ventures.
There are some details about the buyer missing, including 'pay-offs' all along the way for what's called "now obsolete water-rights" - the most precious commodity here in the desert.
Mesa will pay off Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium ahead of schedule
Business News | 20 Aug | AZ Business Magazine
Business News | 20 Aug | AZ Business Magazine
"The Mesa City Council took steps today to pay off the remaining debt on its two Spring Training facilities — Sloan Park and Hohokam Stadium — ahead of schedule which will save the city millions of dollars in interest payments. With the completion of the sale of City-owned land in Pinal County, City Manager Chris Brady recommended council action that will set aside $54 million to retire the obligation bonds.
“Very few communities can say that they have paid off their stadiums and even fewer in just five years. Now, every dollar generated by Spring Training goes directly to the City,” Mayor John Giles said. “Thank you to the 2010 Mesa City Council who had the foresight to set this innovative plan in motion.”
In April 2013, the City issued $94 million of excise tax revenue obligations to finance the construction of Chicago Cubs Sloan Park and the renovation of Hohokam Stadium, the Spring Training home of the Oakland Athletics.
When issuance of the bonds was authorized, revenue from the sale of Pinal County land owned by the City for its now-obsolete water rights was identified as the funding source to repay the obligations. . .
Roughly half of the bond debt ($45 million) was eligible to be paid off early in July 2017 and was done so shortly thereafter utilizing proceeds from the initial sale of a portion of Pinal County land. The remaining principal ($49 million) will be removed from the City’s outstanding debt obligation.
Source: https://azbigmedia.com
