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Isn't it sort of silly to say "Let's go back to Reagan policies" or "Let's go back to the Clinton era tax rates"? Isn't that just a little too glib?
Things are different now. We did not even have *computers* while Reagan was in office (well we did, but they were primitive and huge and not for the general public). The current economic mess is unique, and it is happening right now, and the world is even more complex than when George W. Bush was in office.
Sure, good point. However, the historical tax rates have been about 20% of GDP for a long time. Under Bush II and now, they are about 15% of GDP, while spending from the wars and recession is about 24% of GDP. The GOP response is to blame Obama for everything and defend the current tax rate. Any effort to get back to 20% of GDP is now socialism! That is just idiotic.
Why sling out these braindead rants? Cut the largest employer in the country by 90%? And of course also cut unemployment and food stamps for the the fools too, right? All this with unemployment at 8+%?
The Bush Tax cuts and the wars have made these sorts of statements seem like serious solutions to hard core GOP base. Let's say Mr. Romney was elected and a bunch of Tea Party goons with ideas like this. So, they axes government agencies by 35% across the board. Unemployment would spike so high, demand would collapse, and the housing market would implode. Mr. Romney and the whole party would be chased out of Washington with burning torches by their own people. This is pure fantasy, and not very creative at that.
What about actually working toward bipartisan solutions to reach sustainable revenues and to target wasteful spending and redundancy in government. That would be a far more sensible role for the GOP than all this antigovernment foolishness.
That's one scenario. A more likely one is that investors see some degree of fiscal responsibility coming from DC, make long term investments in technology and equipment, which drives jobs. China's hold over the US government drops since we don't depend on them to finance our irresponsible actions. Tax rates hold stable, leaving more money in people's pockets for purchasing and investment. People that have been nursing 99 weeks of UE actually go get jobs.
We've tried Keynsian economics before...the Great Depression lasted about a decade because of it. Now we're doing exactly the same thing, throwing money away on the same failed policies. It's time to try something different..like not spending more than we have.
Let's be honest for a minute. Even if all the Bush II tax cuts were relaxed, we would only be going back the the Clinton era tax levels. This was not the end of the world. I understand the logic of extending the cuts a bit because of the recession and constrained demand. But it is only a defibrillator treatment for the economy, not a sustainable tax policy.
The drive by the GOP to make all the tax cuts permanent, and to call any sensible expiration of these tax cuts to be a massive tax hike, is nothing less than an insurgent strategy straight from Grover Norquist. The only way to balance the budget at such low tax rates is to axe thousands of federal jobs and benefits for the poorest in society in these difficult times, permanently. Taking the axe to the government is a far right wet dream, but undermining basic services and destroying middle class jobs is not going to make our country stronger. It is an aggressive, almost fascist agenda, and considering the dire straights of the middle class, spectacularly foolish.
I know that I, and I suspect most of you, were doing better in the Clinton years. So returning to some fo those fiscal policies sounds much better than what we have now.
This is what annoys me as well. They all act like everything is so unprecedented and outrageous. Things worked out absolutely fine with the tax rates we had in the late 90s. There's no disputing that, whatsoever. Quit pretending anyone who suggests we return to those rates is some hardcore socialist, and quit pretending that the "job creators" would be horribly oppressed with those rates. That's total bull****...
That's one scenario. A more likely one is that investors see some degree of fiscal responsibility coming from DC, make long term investments in technology and equipment, which drives jobs. China's hold over the US government drops since we don't depend on them to finance our irresponsible actions. Tax rates hold stable, leaving more money in people's pockets for purchasing and investment. People that have been nursing 99 weeks of UE actually go get jobs.
We've tried Keynsian economics before...the Great Depression lasted about a decade because of it. Now we're doing exactly the same thing, throwing money away on the same failed policies. It's time to try something different..like not spending more than we have.
So what got us out of the same depression, a balanced budget?
The current tax rates have been with us for 11 years. So I think it's time to stop refering to the rates as 'tax cuts'. The taxes people pay on income are tax rates. What Obama is proposing is a tax increase. Going back to 'Clinton era' tax rates is a tax increase.
The current tax rates have been with us for 11 years. So I think it's time to stop refering to the rates as 'tax cuts'. The taxes people pay on income are tax rates. What Obama is proposing is a tax increase. Going back to 'Clinton era' tax rates is a tax increase.
Yes it's a tax increase referenced to the present day, we need to pay for what we spend. Congress cannot make enough cuts to produce a balanced budget, taxes need to be raised to more reasonable levels. The timing isn't right for increases at this point due to the economy, but at some point they need to go backl to the levels of the 1990's.
I've always found surprising how the Alternative Minimum Tax is never debated, ever. There are a huge number of people making something between 75k-500k who are paying this huge tax. People making these types of salaries are often small business owners, professionals, etc. But, as my tax professor said, no one is going to touch the AMT because it's such a big source of revenue. Same with capital gains and carried interest... these are just freebies to the richest of the rich. But they don't appear to be going anywhere.
Sure, good point. However, the historical tax rates have been about 20% of GDP for a long time. Under Bush II and now, they are about 15% of GDP, while spending from the wars and recession is about 24% of GDP. The GOP response is to blame Obama for everything and defend the current tax rate. Any effort to get back to 20% of GDP is now socialism! That is just idiotic.
Very good point. It seems that there's a mad rush to be an idiot in this country nowadays.
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Exactly. This is a spending problem, not a revenue problem that we face. The answer is not to take more of our money, but to spend less of it.
How about you grow a set and explain how you'd do that. The vast majority of the budget is Social Security, Medicare, interest on the debt, the military are about 70% of the budget. Good luck cutting any of those. Bush couldn't even get a minor change in social security done when he had a Republican House and Senate.
You're saying things can be fixed by cutting, show the data. If you don't have any data to back up your opinion then it is utterly worthless and you shouldn't be sharing it with people.
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