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If the government seized 100% of the assets of the 400 richest people in the U.S., the proceeds would fund the government machine for 240 days.
Of course, at that point, the economy would be completely bankrupted, job creation would be non-existent, and the U.S. would be the pond-scum that inhabits the stagnant water in Greece.
If the government seized 100% of the assets of the 400 richest people in the U.S., the proceeds would fund the government machine for 240 days.
Of course, at that point, the economy would be completely bankrupted, job creation would be non-existent, and the U.S. would be the pond-scum that inhabits the stagnant water in Greece.
Exactly- The left fails to understand this and cannot seem to come to the realization that we have a SPENDING PROBLEM.
As has been stated hundreds of times on this board, if we enslaved (100% tax rate with no money for food or shelter) those making more than $250K per year, we would only add $900 billion to $1.1 trillion in additional revenue. A little cipherin' for the liberals mathematically challenged would reveal that we would still have an annual deficit of around $600 billion per year.
Now what kind of tax MIGHT WORK? A VAT tax of 15% would generate $1.4 trillion in additional revenue per year, virtually wiping out annual deficits with only modest cuts required. The big risk there is the impact that it would have on consumer spending. For some reason, people tend to be less agitated about taxes on the spending side, rather than the income side of the equation.
No crap! Which is why I said that there AREN'T jobs- because WE are being over taxed and over-regulated Try setting up a business and let me know how much paperwork and hoops you have to jump through. I know, I was self-employed before. It is absurd how much you are taxed when you have your own business and it is a wonder why companies are apprehensive to expand and hire. GOVT makes it easier and less expensive to stay small and not hire
You're every bit as rigid as a Communist with your ideology. No matter what the problem is, the solution is always X. Taxation and over regulation isn't the reason there are no jobs, friend. It's the recession, triggered by the housing crash, triggered by the housing bubble.
If you expect the deficit to shrink merely on spending cuts, you will have to get rid of all entitlements. Voters are not going to have that. What we need are tax increases. This country needs revenue!!!!! Stop listening to these economists who are on the Koch Brothers pay rolls. These think tanks are funded by corporate interest.
Great to read the view of someone who is among the most enlightened. The Conservative nonsense derives from a history of failure, deceptive marketing, and embellishing of any bad news that they caused while Obama is in office. I find their emphasis on the deficit to be a hollow one since they were unconcerned with it while Bush was running it up.
The American public is too smart though, and sees through their crap. As Bush showed, focusing just on spending cuts domestically doesn't work. Tax increases, especially on those who unfairly benefited under Bush, are vital.
Great to read the view of someone who is among the most enlightened. The Conservative nonsense derives from a history of failure, deceptive marketing, and embellishing of any bad news that they caused while Obama is in office. I find their emphasis on the deficit to be a hollow one since they were unconcerned with it while Bush was running it up.
The American public is too smart though, and sees through their crap. As Bush showed, focusing just on spending cuts domestically doesn't work. Tax increases, especially on those who unfairly benefited under Bush, are vital.
Right-
1. Spending under Bush was less for his eight years than four years with Obama.
2. Bush spending was fairly tame until the democratic congress took control and went on a spending spree.
3. Average unemployment was low under Bush. It has been terrible under Obama.
4. Bush was able to deal with, and reverse, the catastrophic economic effects of the "dot com" bubble (which he inherited from Clinton) and 9/11. Obama has been unable to deal with the consequences of the housing and financial meltdown (courtesy of liberal "fair housing" policies).
The people who create jobs are you and me. To think otherwise is to basically enslave yourself to people who really could not care less about you. That's why even with their tax breaks they only created jobs overseas. Are we supposed to bow down to these Gods Who Produce Jobs and take it in the rear for the scraps they toss our way? You are asking for the creation of a way of life that has warning signs all over it.
Undo the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts for the wealthy and return that $1.9 trillion to where it belongs. Hmm, let's examine that again. We gave them a $1.9T tax cut and they didn't create any jobs for us and this was a good thing worth preserving? They pocketed the cash and gave us the pink slip instead!
Quote:
Originally Posted by DifferentDrum
The people who create jobs are sitting on trillions in cash, but are not engaged in innovation or job creation- what do you not get about that?
How many years have the tax cuts been in effect? 10 years? How much 'certainty' do businesses need?
Is Joe Blow NEVER going to buy a house, or a car, or start a business, or change jobs, or start a family, because he's not 'certain' how his life is going to play out?? Puhleeze.
It is simply not the nature of things in this world to be set in stone and CERTAIN forever. So it's a really pathetic excuse- especially after several years with the tax cuts in place.
The problem is, there are not enough customers, and like it or not, there is obviously nobody to create customers other than the government. Private business is waiting for Godot to appear in the guise of 'certainty'. They are cowards- very, very wealthy cowards who you choose to defend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by knowledgeiskey
These Republican bots need a reality check. Look at the amount of companies holding on tons of liquidity and not hiring.
you guys STILL dont get it do you? it isnt just about taxes, but regulations as well. regulations cost money, and the more regulation, the more money, the FEWER jobs. regulations are just like taxes, they increase the cost of doing business, and thus cause HIGHER prices, and LESS sales. and that means LESS jobs. as i have said many times before, and will continue to do so, we have to make the business environment more friendly in this country. that means lower taxes, fewer regulations, and a president that doesnt demonize business every chance he gets.
at one time this country was THE place to invest capital to create wealth, now that place is china and india. why? because the business environments are much more friendly there than here. you guys need to get a clue and take an economics class or two, and perhaps an accounting class or two as well. then you might understand what i am talking about.
Quote:
Originally Posted by marcopolo
This is a great post, but there is one thing everyone should know.
The demonized $250,000 adjusted gross income couple, with normal deductions for mortgage interest and property taxes and donations, pays $50,000 of federal income tax every year. This is a pile of money.
That is why THIS taxpayer will take care of any class-warfare-style increase in marginal rates by doing what you say. Three examples:
1. My company car is a sensible Chevy, traded in very infrequently. If you raise the marginal rates above the 49% combined federal and state bracket, as Obama insists on doing, the next car won't be a Chevy. The tax deduction means the government will be paying for more than half of it.
2. I can revamp my retirement plan to stuff about 60k more away, deductible. That will save me more than $30k in taxes.
3. When all else fails, I can downsize, fire some of the help, work less, have a better suntan and pay less in taxes. Why bust my butt for that last $10,000 if Obama gets $6,000 of it?
Hopefully Obama can get off his posturing about the rich and get behind the bipartisan centrist pro-growth tax reform in his very own Simpson Bowles commission report. I am happy to carry the dead weight I am carrying now--but if another dead ass climbs on my back, I will shuck him off.
bingo!!! from the mouth of the business owner to the ears of the liberals/progressives. to ALL the liberals/progressives who frequent this board, you NEED to understand what marcopolo wrote here. it is EXACTLY what those that own the businesses in this country are doing to keep their businesses open, so that when times get better they will still have a business to run, and they will continue to make money.
contrary to popular liberal/progressive opinion, business owners do have compassion for the people that work for them, but when push comes to shove, the business owner WILL make sure the business stays open as long as possible so they can feed their own families. and while you might not admit to it here, you know very well that if you were in the position of the business owner, you would do EXACTLY the same thing, take care of your family first. deny it all you want, but i know better.
[quote=1101;20337464]
Quote:
Originally Posted by hawkeye2009
Did you ever pause for a moment and ask,
3. "If we have a revenue problem, and not a spending problem, why have federal expenditures increased so dramatically in the last four years, creating the huge deficits?"
quote]
Just curious ... Do you think that maybe, possibly, the TWO UNFUNDED WARS that the previous administration dragged us in to have anything to do with the deficit?
Anything at all?
People on the right talk as if all was fine and dandy and life was all sunshine and lollipops up until the very moment when Obama took office in January 2008.
How can you ignore the enormous fiscal impact those wars have had on the US? Thats when people on the Left scratch their heads and try to figure out why ... is it just sheer unadulterated stupidity? Is it because Obama is black? What? What is it? How can y'all just breeze by and ignore that "your boy" Bush dragged us into TWO UNFUNDED WARS and then screech gibberish at Obama for the fiscal mess we're in?
* shaking head and walking away *
the wars WERE funded, and WERE voted on by congress in BIPARTISAN support FOR the wars. and dont forget that while the deficits did go up the first two years of the bush administration, they went DOWN afterwards until 2007 when the DEMOCRATS took over congress, and they have been climbing ever since. and they have TRIPLED under obamas watch.
was the bush administration a bunch of choir boys? not hardly squanto. did we have problems with too much spending during that time? you bet we did. but how is it that you liberals/progressives have a problem with the spending done during the bush years, but somehow give the spending, that obama is doing, which makes bush look like piker, a pass? talk about hypocrisy.
No significant cuts have been made. They could have easily eliminated TANF, and WIC as it's just a duplication of food stamps, they have decided that very high immigration rates are over, and brought the troops home from Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and tell the Muslims their days of coming here are over and it's their turn to fight for democracy in their countries or not.
I support regulation because I do not trust businesses to do the right thing. Their history shows they will cut whatever corner they can, expose workers to unsafe conditions, dump toxins wherever they can hide them, force people to work fewer hours so they don't have to extend benefits, destroy unions for employees wanting to hold them accountable to existing laws, etc. I care more that this is a good society for citizens, i.e., living breathing human beings, than for pieces of paper called corporations. I don't care that this idea is bad for business. Business either follows the rules or it doesn't exist. I won't yield in hard times and I still assert that ordinary people are capable of creating jobs for themselves. We haven't always had centralized businesses and huge corporations. People used their talents to find work and were mostly self-employed. I see no reason why that same thing can't be done now, or have the corporations managed to destroy our American ingenuity and monopolized our talents?
Granted, I'm not in favor of regulations just for the sake of regulation. They must have a solid reason for being in place. But, I basically hold businesses in contempt. They have to prove they are worth trusting. Why do I hold this view? Because they do the same thing to me as an employee. It makes sense that I take a defensive posture.
Obviously, in the age old struggle between management and the workers, I will side with the workers. And until I hear viable solutions from a management that I can trust (rather than complaints about how much they're being forced to do the right thing, boo hoo), I will remain on that side. Why would I slit my own throat by relenting?
Please tell us how much revenue you hope to raise by raising taxes.
Still waiting.........
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Try setting up a business and let me know how much paperwork and hoops you have to jump through. I know, I was self-employed before. It is absurd how much you are taxed when you have your own business and it is a wonder why companies are apprehensive to expand and hire. GOVT makes it easier and less expensive to stay small and not hire
Excellent post and spot on
