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Wow. The excreter of this screed, Michael Collins, really believes that a society can function with one out of three adults sitting in a rocking chair? The idea is ridiculous on its face; some adjustments are needed to Social Security.
Can we really afford to take terminal cancer patients out of hospice care to do a hip replacement, three weeks before her funeral, using limited public resources? Some adjustments are needed to Medicare, and they are coming whether under Obamacare, Paul Ryan's proposal, or whatever we end up with as a reform mechanism for Medicare.
The current corporate tax regime punishes American companies for hiring Americans for jobs in America. The Simpson Bowles commission report, and the Gang of Six bipartisan outline, both presented centrist proposals to rationalize corporate taxes so that more tax dollars will actually be collected without pushing jobs overseas. It looks like Obama and Pelosi scuttled this sensible concept in the debt/deficit tantrums.
Those same proposals called for collecting more income taxes to support government programs by taking the garbage out of the tax code, lowering marginal rates--but collecting more dollars. You cannot actually raise revenues by ratcheting up rates on a few at the top: they can change their behavior and plan around punitive rates. It is better to find a way to have them write larger checks to the IRS without distorting the economy.
Those with the "progressive" views of Michael Collins, like the pro-default Tea Partiers, need to be marginalized by the respective parties so that the bipartisan, centrist propositions identified by Simpson Bowles and the Gang of Six can be the framework of sustainable prosperity. Nutjob conspiracy theories are not suitable ingredients for real progress.
Wow. The excreter of this screed, Michael Collins, really believes that a society can function with one out of three adults sitting in a rocking chair? The idea is ridiculous on its face; some adjustments are needed to Social Security.
Can we really afford to take terminal cancer patients out of hospice care to do a hip replacement, three weeks before her funeral, using limited public resources? Some adjustments are needed to Medicare, and they are coming whether under Obamacare, Paul Ryan's proposal, or whatever we end up with as a reform mechanism for Medicare.
The current corporate tax regime punishes American companies for hiring Americans for jobs in America. The Simpson Bowles commission report, and the Gang of Six bipartisan outline, both presented centrist proposals to rationalize corporate taxes so that more tax dollars will actually be collected without pushing jobs overseas. It looks like Obama and Pelosi scuttled this sensible concept in the debt/deficit tantrums.
Those same proposals called for collecting more income taxes to support government programs by taking the garbage out of the tax code, lowering marginal rates--but collecting more dollars. You cannot actually raise revenues by ratcheting up rates on a few at the top: they can change their behavior and plan around punitive rates. It is better to find a way to have them write larger checks to the IRS without distorting the economy.
Those with the "progressive" views of Michael Collins, like the pro-default Tea Partiers, need to be marginalized by the respective parties so that the bipartisan, centrist propositions identified by Simpson Bowles and the Gang of Six can be the framework of sustainable prosperity. Nutjob conspiracy theories are not suitable ingredients for real progress.
I just thought you should know.
Pro default Tea Partiers?
Have something to back that up, or do we just make things up as suits our fancy?
As for the OP, with US marginal corporate tax rates the second highest in the industrialized world and internationals leaving our shores in droves to avoid them, how many more jobs should go to Mexico, China and elsewhere to sustain these rates?
It does seem clear that the US has drifted to become an oligarchy, not a democracy. The melodrama of "War On You!" dire warnings strike me as distasteful, but from my perspective that is just how capitalism works (and I am not anti-capitalist!) ... let's face it the rich and powerful want to get richer and more powerful.
We are returning to period of the 1870's, 1880's and 1890's ... when a very small elite lived in fantastic opulent majesty - the Gilded Era, as Mark Twain called it - and the rest of us were poor or working class. "Benefits" and "safety nets" like Social Security, health insurance, Medicare, unemployment compensation, food stamps, etc. are not exactly evaporating (I think the majority of Americans would oppose that) ... but slowly diminishing to the point of being insignificant. These things are being disparaged as "entitlements" - a dirty word to many folks and politicians in this country.
After reading the page linked above, the best part being the smiley-faced soldiers, I must say that anyone depending upon the U.S. Govenment to take care of you anytime within your life for long-term needs should be afraid. Instead of asking what the gov't is going to do for me, I ask what have you done for yourself? The above is just more class warefare, "us vs. them" BS. ...and people say we don't need religion????
Have something to back that up, or do we just make things up as suits our fancy?
As for the OP, with US marginal corporate tax rates the second highest in the industrialized world and internationals leaving our shores in droves to avoid them, how many more jobs should go to Mexico, China and elsewhere to sustain these rates?
I was referring to the guys who say, "maybe default is OK if it makes us quit spending" or "perhaps default will teach us all a lesson about responsibility" or "I will not vote for an increase in the debt limit until COngress passes a balanced budget amendment." ALL of these statements are tremendously counter-productive to the welfare of the nation. A debtor cannot afford to wreck his credit. Great intentions, disastrous effects.
It does seem clear that the US has drifted to become an oligarchy, not a democracy. The melodrama of "War On You!" dire warnings strike me as distasteful, but from my perspective that is just how capitalism works (and I am not anti-capitalist!) ... let's face it the rich and powerful want to get richer and more powerful.
We are returning to period of the 1870's, 1880's and 1890's ... when a very small elite lived in fantastic opulent majesty - the Gilded Era, as Mark Twain called it - and the rest of us were poor or working class. "Benefits" and "safety nets" like Social Security, health insurance, Medicare, unemployment compensation, food stamps, etc. are not exactly evaporating (I think the majority of Americans would oppose that) ... but slowly diminishing to the point of being insignificant. These things are being disparaged as "entitlements" - a dirty word to many folks and politicians in this country.
That is because the only thing to which you are entitled in this country are general safety and the OPPORTUNITY for success. We have programs, which shouldn't be federal, that give people assentials like food, clothing, and shelter when bad things happen and this is a good thing. We have an obligation, as people - NOT gov'ts, to take care of those who can't take care of themselves, NOT those who won't.
It does seem clear that the US has drifted to become an oligarchy, not a democracy. The melodrama of "War On You!" dire warnings strike me as distasteful, but from my perspective that is just how capitalism works (and I am not anti-capitalist!) ... let's face it the rich and powerful want to get richer and more powerful.
It's not "capitalism", it's "corporatism".
The small business owners are in the same boat as individuals..both are being screwed.
Who's making out like a bandit via government rules..the big corporates.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corpora...S._corporatism
"In the US, corporatism usually refers to the domination of the state by the economy, and the word is derived from "corporations", that is, a pop reference to big business which has enough power and money to challenge the state's political power."
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