Taxing More is not the Answer

B_cesarbanks

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Why do so many believe that taxing is the answer to the current economic conditions we face? By way of facts the nation can not tax the rich enough to even put a dent in the current deficit so why do people still think this is a good idea. It would be great that in my personal finances if I am short I can just call my neighbor and asses him a tax to pay for my stuff. I mean really the math is simple.

Also since when is it a bad thing or a negative or not patriotic to allow people to keep more of the money they earn? This goes for companies as well. It is a fact that under Regan when he lowered the tax rates and people had more of their own money, they spent it creating demand for products and services.

Why is this so difficult, government is the largest corporation in America and it needs to start acting like one making tough decisions, cutting deficit spending, stop all the borrowing and get the hell out of our lives. Their was a time when one went into politics to give back to their country now its just a way to become rich and this goes for Liberal, Democrat, Republican and Conservative.

One way to cut the deficit is to eliminate the salaries and pensions for all politicians, their aids, and their aids aids. Cut it out of the budget completely since when did we need full time career politicians anyhow? They don't do a dam thing other than fly around and bitch at each other. Make it a part time job at best and end their salaries and pensions that would have a nice impact on this countries fiscal situation.
 

Thedrewbert

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Part of the reason we are where we are is because Bush took a budget that was relatively balanced when he started office and lowered taxes throwing it out of balance.

And let me ask you a question. Why should capital gains tax be treated any differently than regular income tax. Why in the world should people be given a tax break for not working?

Secondly, we are going to have to raise taxes to be able to pay off this debt. Taxes will in fact have to be higher than spending for us to make any headway there. We cannot continue on the current course forever. Eventually the credit card will be maxed out.

We need to do nation building here at home. That is going to require higher taxes and a LOT of infrastructure spending. I'm not talking about handouts like bank bailouts or tax credits. We need to spend that money on rebuilding schools, retiring old electric plants, rebuilding highways and bridges, building high speed rail, etc. All of that creates LOTS of jobs, which adds to the tax revenues, and the profits STILL trickle back up to the rich.

The problem with your theory is that taxes are at an all time low with regard to GDP, companies are sitting on trillions in cash, yet are not hiring. The tax cuts over the last 3 decades have gone almost entirely to the rich while they have outsourced our jobs to cheap labor overseas.
 

Industrialsize

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Why do so many believe that taxing is the answer to the current economic conditions we face? By way of facts the nation can not tax the rich enough to even put a dent in the current deficit so why do people still think this is a good idea. It would be great that in my personal finances if I am short I can just call my neighbor and asses him a tax to pay for my stuff. I mean really the math is simple.

Also since when is it a bad thing or a negative or not patriotic to allow people to keep more of the money they earn? This goes for companies as well. It is a fact that under Regan when he lowered the tax rates and people had more of their own money, they spent it creating demand for products and services.

Why is this so difficult, government is the largest corporation in America and it needs to start acting like one making tough decisions, cutting deficit spending, stop all the borrowing and get the hell out of our lives. Their was a time when one went into politics to give back to their country now its just a way to become rich and this goes for Liberal, Democrat, Republican and Conservative.

One way to cut the deficit is to eliminate the salaries and pensions for all politicians, their aids, and their aids aids. Cut it out of the budget completely since when did we need full time career politicians anyhow? They don't do a dam thing other than fly around and bitch at each other. Make it a part time job at best and end their salaries and pensions that would have a nice impact on this countries fiscal situation.
REALITY CHECK:
Newsflash: Ronald Reagan Raised Taxes



Newsflash: Ronald Reagan Raised Taxes (You Idiots) | Firedoglake
 

umami_tsunami

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By any objective metrics, the single greatest contributor to the debt is the Bush tax cuts. To assert anything but this is manipulation of the facts. It is absolutely mind numbing that supposedly intelligent people cannot grasp the most basic, fundamental principles of accounting.

What the Repubs attempt (and unfortunately succeed at) is to obfuscate the basic facts with the promise that no one will have to pay for stuff. Gullibility, wish thinking and racial hatred completes their arguments.
 

mrsatisfier

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Why do so many believe that taxing is the answer to the current economic conditions we face?
Why do the minority of citizens who believe they should be allowed to shirk their responsibilities to society while enjoying the same benefits of society as everyone else, also believe that they should have the dominant voice in the nation's political discourse?
 

Mensch1351

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Why do the minority of citizens who believe they should be allowed to shirk their responsibilities to society while enjoying the same benefits of society as everyone else, also believe that they should have the dominant voice in the nation's political discourse?

If the minority you're speaking about are indeed the wealthy -- well -- then we need another lesson in entitlement. "Do you know who I AM?" "Do you know what I could DO to this country if you piss me off?"
So much for a nation that was "supposed" to have no aristocracy!
 

D_JuanAFock

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By any objective metrics, the single greatest contributor to the debt is the Bush tax cuts. To assert anything but this is manipulation of the facts. It is absolutely mind numbing that supposedly intelligent people cannot grasp the most basic, fundamental principles of accounting.

What the Repubs attempt (and unfortunately succeed at) is to obfuscate the basic facts with the promise that no one will have to pay for stuff. Gullibility, wish thinking and racial hatred completes their arguments.
The bush tax cuts means about 170 billion-200 billion/year in lost revenue just from taxes (which I agree, is not something we should be without), is that really more than the stupidly excessive spending we have?

I mean, look at the huge amount of money given for aid for natural disasters. Should it have really cost 270 billion dollars to rebuild after hurricane katrina/rita? Could it have been managed better and cost significantly less?

Aside from management, what about extremely small tax increases on some things? A $.20 gas tax would yield nearly $13 billion a year. Five cents from every paycheck (or ten cents if you are paid every other week, or twenty cents if paid monthly) would yield $350 million. Add other tiny tiny taxes on items that are used often, but not necessary. You could go through a list of items and easily come up with hundreds of billions of dollars and have very little impact on the day to day lives of people. Pennies at a time adds up quick when you have 310 million people.

With those tiny taxes and some good cuts and increases in efficiency/management and you can cut down the deficit quite quickly.
 

D_Percy_Prettywillie

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The bush tax cuts means about 170 billion-200 billion/year in lost revenue just from taxes (which I agree, is not something we should be without), is that really more than the stupidly excessive spending we have?

I mean, look at the huge amount of money given for aid for natural disasters. Should it have really cost 270 billion dollars to rebuild after hurricane katrina/rita? Could it have been managed better and cost significantly less?

Aside from management, what about extremely small tax increases on some things? A $.20 gas tax would yield nearly $13 billion a year. Five cents from every paycheck (or ten cents if you are paid every other week, or twenty cents if paid monthly) would yield $350 million. Add other tiny tiny taxes on items that are used often, but not necessary. You could go through a list of items and easily come up with hundreds of billions of dollars and have very little impact on the day to day lives of people. Pennies at a time adds up quick when you have 310 million people.

With those tiny taxes and some good cuts and increases in efficiency/management and you can cut down the deficit quite quickly.



This is the sort of common sense, everyman approach to solving some of our biggest problems that seems to be almost completely absent, not only in Congress but in popular consciousness. People just don't think about things this way. For whatever reason it's easier for them to make blanket statements that are inherently flawed ("NO NEW TAXES EVER!") or simplistic to the point of being ignorant ("Let's tax the rich at 90%!")

Manage the resources we have as though they were nonrenewable (as opposed to dispensed from vending machines) and incrementally increase tax, over time, on goods people buy with regularity or frequency.

But we don't have a government representative of this. Rather than do anything one side continues to propose the extreme, block any and all attempts to implement anything that isn't extreme, and then claims victory in the Battle of Who Could Care Less by saying "It would have been far worse if they had gotten their way," never mind that the problem remains and no solution has been engaged. It's very... frustrating.




JSZ