Bloomberg publishes internal memos leaked from Walmart...something is fishy....

Ok, I don't believe this.  Bloomberg news leaked internal memos allegedly from Walmart saying that February sales are the worst ever and they are trying to pin it on the payroll tax hike.  This sounds like phony journalism to me.

I went to Target today (as I do try to avoid Walmart like the plague, but it is not always possible).  I bought a couple of things, but I was prepared to buy more stuff, but it looks like a lot of their supply of certain things, especially toys hasn't been replenished since December.

How can consumers buy anything if there is nothing on the shelves?  Walmart's issue may be not meeting demand with enough supply or they have run out of supply particularly for the items that people want to buy.  Retailers anticipate slower sales and do not bother to restock too many items and sales slow down because shelves are empty not because there is a lack of people able or willing to spend money.

There is also a possibility that Walmart executives want to short-sell their stock, so they leak a couple of memos and a month or two later they will buy their stock back shortly before they announce that they had record profits in the first quarter of 2013.

Whatever the case may be, I don't like it.  It looks like the wealthy are trying to use the media to get Americans to join the GOP in their anti-tax rantings.  I do not think the payroll tax would have that big of an impact on spending so quickly.  I think mega-companies like Walmart are just promoting their anti-tax, anti-government and anti-middle class agenda. 

Social Security a simple solution.

With the recent grumblings of the Congressional GOP to cut Social Security and Medicare benefits left and right and the restoration of our Social Security deduction in our paychecks, I came across a fact that I was totally unaware of. 

The payroll tax that funds Social Security only comes out of the first $113,000 of income.  People earning more than $113,000 annually do not have to pay anything additional for Social Security.  All the government would have to do would be to extend the tax to apply to all income levels including those well beyond $113,000 and we wouldn't have to talk about cuts or Social Security running out of money after all the Baby Boomers retire. Unbelievable!

The wealthiest Americans have shown once again that they do not care about the common good.  For them common is bad and only rich is good.  They do not want to pick-up the bill for Social Security or anything else for that matter.  They would rather see the elderly poor and homeless. 

The fact there is not politician one getting behind extending the Social Security tax to all income levels is very disturbing to me.  It shows that both the Democrats and Republicans are merely puppets of the wealthy.

Already I have seen corporate controlled media blaming recent reportedly sluggish retail sales on the restoration of the Social Security payroll tax.  They are quick to point the finger at higher taxes causing problems, but always manage to fail to show how higher taxes particularly on the wealthy would create solutions.  Taxing the wealthy to pay for Social Security to would be a great solution to a looming problem.