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Money spent on military has the worst return on investment for our country. Seriously, prisons return more money to our economy than the military. Divert the military's budget to infrastructure projects -- The New Deal, Part 2. And this recession will be over quickly.
Then we can draw down the infrastructure spending and divert it to reducing the debt.
The divert however is crucial. I my opinion you had better divert first then downsize. And do both relatively slowly.
I also think the diversion ain't gonna happen. So you hold with what you got rather than that you wish you had.
One of my disappointments with Obama is the lack of infrastructure projects that were delivered. I suppose a lot of that has to do with Congress and state government. I was really hoping to see a lot of work on bridges and highways, instead, we got bank bail outs and then those "people" took the bail out money and sat on it, tightening up the credit markets and further punishing the general economy for their own benefit.
One of my disappointments with Obama is the lack of infrastructure projects that were delivered. I suppose a lot of that has to do with Congress and state government. I was really hoping to see a lot of work on bridges and highways, instead, we got bank bail outs and then those "people" took the bail out money and sat on it, tightening up the credit markets and further punishing the general economy for their own benefit.
I'm still not voting Romney.
I really like the idea of putting people to work to improve our infrastructure.
Although I hate both Obama and Romney, I do hope Obama wins. However, the reason is different from most people. I would rather see the whole house of cards fall under him than Romney, especially since he has been president for the last 4 years. He deserves it.
Misinformation leads to faulty conclusions: This from USATODAY:
"On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government."
"The 10% of households with the highest incomes pay more than half of all federal taxes. They pay more than 70% of federal income taxes, according to the Congressional Budget Office."
"There may be individual millionaires who pay taxes at rates lower than middle-income workers. In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the Internal Revenue Service. But that's less than 1% of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.
This year, households making more than $1 million will pay an average 29.1% of their income in federal taxes, including income taxes, payroll taxes and other taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay an average of 15% of their income in federal taxes.
...households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will pay an average of 12.5% of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $20,000 and $30,000 will pay 5.7%.
Now, what would you have the great wise government bureaucrats do? Do any of you seriously think that getting some more from this very tiny number of 'rich fat cats' (as you may like to refer to them) is going to make a nit of a difference in the 14 TRILLION WE OWE??
..or are you even more misled and believe that some portion of every dollar confiscated from these rich people will go into YOUR pocket?
Face it...the reason Obama harps on this "need to get bigger contributions from the 'rich'" is simple: It plays well with those who have less, just like it does in Europe. Obama himself once said in television interview some years ago, that even if it were shown higher taxes would bring in LESS REVENUE, he would still favor them for "FAIRNESS". (the eternal cry of the Left)
As a people, we now owe more money, than all the previous debt before Obama put together. To even suggest that we need to spend MORE, and cripple our kids and grandkids with unbelievable debt is mind-boggling! Those of you who seriously feel that way, do you understand all this money must be paid back?
They may seem far away, but Greece, and Spain, and the stagnant economies of western Europe are drawing closer every day. The people of Greece never thought they'd ever have to pay the piper...I wonder who they blame now.
If you are on the fence about Romney/Obama as many here seem to be, you simply are operating on faulty information.
Barack Obama is becoming a mirror image of Jimmy Carter. These latest attacks and murders on our embassy personnel remind us of how weak and feckless Carter was....and how similar Obama is.
My dad used to say, "I can tolerate much, but not a man who does not know his own self-interest."
As a people, we now owe more money, than all the previous debt before Obama put together. To even suggest that we need to spend MORE, and cripple our kids and grandkids with unbelievable debt is mind-boggling! Those of you who seriously feel that way, do you understand all this money must be paid back?
So we do it Hoover's way? That worked out GREAT the first time, after all...
EDIT -- Go look at the historical top tax rates in this country. It wasn't long ago that we had an 88% rate. We don't need to go back to THAT. But there needs to be a happy medium. And, yes, I think I should be taxed more. (Before the neocons all jump in with, "So write a check to the IRS and shut up about it," let me point out that me writing a check isn't going to accomplish squat. We all need to do it together -- those of us who can afford to, at least.) Step two, of course, is reducing our GROSSLY bloated military. We would be the world's superpower with a military HALF our size. No country in their right mind spends so much of their GDP. And that's my point, we're not in our right mind. We're way too far right for that.
Well I'm sure you'll get it someday. Personally I believe that as a world we are slowly moving towards socialism as a whole. It will be exchanging rights, choices, and opportunity for things being provided.
I agree spending on our military is inflated for sure.
Idealistically in my heart I do wish no-one would go hungry, healthcare would be free, altruism would rule our hearts. I love the premise of Utopia...(although really a satire.)
However it can never work for these reasons...
#1 Money- value is placed upon products and goods provided.
#2 Hedonism- at nature our instinct is to survive and look out for ourselves. This projects itself in many forms. Helplessness in some who "could" work hard but don't because it's easier not too. Greed.
3# Power corrupts- those in power sacrifice the ideal for the means
4# Motivation- incentive to work hard for something, to own something, or achieve something
When you say..."we all need to do this together.." Yes IT WOULD work if that was the case. But only a small percentage would be able or willing to do that. Even if we were all of the same mind.
As far as historical tax rates go I need to research and read up on that.
Misinformation leads to faulty conclusions: This from USATODAY:
"On average, the wealthiest people in America pay a lot more taxes than the middle class or the poor, according to private and government data. They pay at a higher rate, and as a group, they contribute a much larger share of the overall taxes collected by the federal government."
"The 10% of households with the highest incomes pay more than half of all federal taxes. They pay more than 70% of federal income taxes, according to the Congressional Budget Office."
"There may be individual millionaires who pay taxes at rates lower than middle-income workers. In 2009, 1,470 households filed tax returns with incomes above $1 million yet paid no federal income tax, according to the Internal Revenue Service. But that's less than 1% of the nearly 237,000 returns with incomes above $1 million.
This year, households making more than $1 million will pay an average 29.1% of their income in federal taxes, including income taxes, payroll taxes and other taxes, according to the Tax Policy Center, a Washington think tank.
Households making between $50,000 and $75,000 will pay an average of 15% of their income in federal taxes.
...households making between $40,000 and $50,000 will pay an average of 12.5% of their income in federal taxes. Households making between $20,000 and $30,000 will pay 5.7%.
Now, what would you have the great wise government bureaucrats do? Do any of you seriously think that getting some more from this very tiny number of 'rich fat cats' (as you may like to refer to them) is going to make a nit of a difference in the 14 TRILLION WE OWE??
..or are you even more misled and believe that some portion of every dollar confiscated from these rich people will go into YOUR pocket?
Face it...the reason Obama harps on this "need to get bigger contributions from the 'rich'" is simple: It plays well with those who have less, just like it does in Europe. Obama himself once said in television interview some years ago, that even if it were shown higher taxes would bring in LESS REVENUE, he would still favor them for "FAIRNESS". (the eternal cry of the Left)
As a people, we now owe more money, than all the previous debt before Obama put together. To even suggest that we need to spend MORE, and cripple our kids and grandkids with unbelievable debt is mind-boggling! Those of you who seriously feel that way, do you understand all this money must be paid back?
They may seem far away, but Greece, and Spain, and the stagnant economies of western Europe are drawing closer every day. The people of Greece never thought they'd ever have to pay the piper...I wonder who they blame now.
If you are on the fence about Romney/Obama as many here seem to be, you simply are operating on faulty information.
Barack Obama is becoming a mirror image of Jimmy Carter. These latest attacks and murders on our embassy personnel remind us of how weak and feckless Carter was....and how similar Obama is.
My dad used to say, "I can tolerate much, but not a man who does not know his own self-interest."
The US income tax system is progressive. But it is not nearly as progressive as we make out. The top 10% pay 70% of the taxes. But they also have 45% of the income. Pushing rates so they pay say 85 or 90% of the taxes would not hurt them a great deal. And that would certainly help with the deficit.
I would also note that another trillion on infrastructure in 2009/2010 would likely have paid large dividends by now. We could well be looking at 6% unemployment and a much more robust economy. We might even have been placed in a position where we could now begin running at much smaller deficits due to higher tax payments and lower disbursements.
Krugman suggests we should have invested another three or four trillion early on to stop the thing. But we did not. Yes it has to be paid back. But we would be in a far better place to do it then we are now.
If you don't turn the economy you limp along as we are now. You let in a Romney who tries to cut taxes and reduce the size of government and you end up with a new recession...maybe even a depression.
And note there are some other lessons out of Greece and Spain. Simply cutting the government spending to achieve progress to a balanced budget may in fact make things much worse. Instead of reducing the deficit you enhance it.
You accuse another poster of listening to the "right" propaganda While you're clearly pushing the "lefts" socialist class war. Wealthy people pay a higher marginal tax rate that's fact. Mega rich like Warren Buffett pay a lower effective rate due to capital gains. Buffett is a hypocrite anyway stating that he doesn't pay his fair share while fighting the IRS over Berkshire Hathaways unpaid taxes.
No, your wrong. The tax code if a very complicated and confusing and people with money hire very expensive accountants to really work it. The average Joe Citizen doesn't own Alpaca farms, or have money hidden in off shore accounts with boiler plate corporations owning other corporations owning other corporations, just to avoid the tax man. We are not in this league and don't possess the wherewith all to work the system like the rich do. It's not just dividends. Average middle income people enjoy dividend income, not just the super rich. I have a brokerage account with stocks. Do you?
No, your wrong. The tax code if a very complicated and confusing and people with money hire very expensive accountants to really work it. The average Joe Citizen doesn't own Alpaca farms, or have money hidden in off shore accounts with boiler plate corporations owning other corporations owning other corporations, just to avoid the tax man. We are not in this league and don't possess the wherewith all to work the system like the rich do. It's not just dividends. Average middle income people enjoy dividend income, not just the super rich. I have a brokerage account with stocks. Do you?
I didn't get a $70,000 tax deduction last year for my dancing horse, for instance.
Perhaps I could write the crickets off as "livestock."
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