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I agree. If we do the responsible thing and start getting spending under control, there may be some short term pain. But it's far superior to long term financial suicide. Unfortunately, I doubt that either party has the integrity to do what is necessary on the spending side.
I was on a cruise recently, sitting across from an elderly couple (the guy was well into his 70s) during tea and having a conversation. His wife was clearly an Obama supporter, but he was all in for Romney. He kept telling me how Obama was going to cut Medicare, and how the country was overspending. No matter my argument, he simply repeated his talking points. He talked about deficit spending, and how we need to cut EVERYTHING. I asked him if it would be okay to cut Medicare spending entirely from Medicaid (currently, over $200 Billion), and overall Medicare/Medicaid spending by $500 Billion because THAT was deficit spending. He would avoid the question and repeat the talking point.
His wife was amused, but also visibly embarrassed. That gentleman avoided me the rest of the way.
First of all, $80 billion is better than nothing. The rich need to pay at least the rates somebody making $50,000 a year pays including Medicare, Social Security and Income Taxes. No longer should the rich skate by paying effective rates 1/2 what people who sweat for a living pay. Secondly we need to eliminate ALL deductions in taxes inclusing those for children, home mortgages and charity. ALL of them! This could be phased in over a period of years and the standard deduction could be raised to exempt the first $12,000 of income. The earnings tax on Social Security and Medicare would apply to ALL incomes with NO cut off.
Next we need to CUT spending seriously. I would start with the military. Not to the soldiers but to the military industrial complex (Boeing, Lockheed-Martin, Northrup Grumman). I would also close most all foreign bases and many here in the USA. I would also cut all Saturday delivery of mail. The other 2 big money items which are Social Security and Medicare would be modified. The Medicare Part D benefit would not be an entitlement but means tested. Those who need the Part D benefit would get it. Those who don't won't. That is the way it should have been to start with. The earnings cap on Social Security would be reinstated. Individuals who wish to keep working would have benefits cut after earning over $24,000 a year. SS is a retirement program, not a second income. And Medicare would br rolled into a National Health plan covering all people. The system we have now where private insurance covers young healthy people and then hands them off to the government via Medicare when they turn 65 which is the age that illnesses tend to often start showing up, is NOT a way to run a program. With everybody paying into Medicare, the risk is spread over the span of people's lives. Also medications would be negotiated for like Canada does which is why prescriptions there cost about 1/2 what the cost here. These are just a few of the things I would do. As I dug line by line through the budget I would likely find billions and billions to cut.
oh please
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The rich need to pay at least the rates somebody making $50,000 a year pays including Medicare, Social Security and Income Taxes.
most of those making 50k or less pay NOTHING in tazes
I may 60k and pay ZERO in federal income , or fedeal payroll taxes
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Secondly we need to eliminate ALL deductions in taxes inclusing those for children, home mortgages and charity. ALL of them!
eliminate those tax credits for the poor?? fact if you are paying ELSEWHERE you are still paying...
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The earnings tax on Social Security and Medicare would apply to ALL incomes with NO cut off.
if you remove the cap on withholdings...you also remove the cap on PAYOUTS
if you remove the cap on [Social Security] withholdings [Medicare is already uncapped]...you also remove the cap on PAYOUTS
Very true.
What many people don't realize is that Social Security is ALREADY a bad deal for everyone in the middle class and up.
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As recently as 1985, workers at every income level could retire and expect to get more in benefits than they paid in Social Security taxes, though they didn't do quite as well as their parents and grandparents. Not anymore.
A married couple retiring last year after both spouses earned average lifetime wages paid about $598,000 in Social Security taxes during their careers. They can expect to collect about $556,000 in benefits, if the man lives to 82 and the woman lives to 85, according to a 2011 study by the Urban Institute, a Washington think tank.
Social Security benefits are progressive, so most low-income workers retiring today still will get slightly more in benefits than they paid in taxes. Most high-income workers started getting less in benefits than they paid in taxes in the 1990s, according to data from the Social Security Administration.
I was on a cruise recently, sitting across from an elderly couple (the guy was well into his 70s) during tea and having a conversation. His wife was clearly an Obama supporter, but he was all in for Romney. He kept telling me how Obama was going to cut Medicare, and how the country was overspending. No matter my argument, he simply repeated his talking points. He talked about deficit spending, and how we need to cut EVERYTHING. I asked him if it would be okay to cut Medicare spending entirely from Medicaid (currently, over $200 Billion), and overall Medicare/Medicaid spending by $500 Billion because THAT was deficit spending. He would avoid the question and repeat the talking point.
His wife was amused, but also visibly embarrassed. That gentleman avoided me the rest of the way.
A colorful anecdote, which means nothing, of course.
The facts are that we have a huge spending problem and EVERYONE needs to take a bite of this giant turd sandwich.
"Taxing the rich" is idiotic, at best, and simply panders to class warfare. Taxing "the rich" at 100% rates (let's even take those making $200K and call them "rich") generates $1.2 trillion. Taxing "the rich" (those that make more than $250K per year) generates $900 billion.
"Taxing the rich" does NOTHING of any substance. We need-
1. 15% VAT tax
2. balanced budget amendment
3. 10% of each annual revenue earmarked for debt reduction
4. 20% across the board cuts in spending
5. corporate consumption tax
6. reduced corporate taxes
7. more domestic energy exploration
8. stopping the war on coal
9. a roll back on eggregious EPA regulations
Otherwise (we certainly will, as no one has the political will to do the above) we face insolvency. Obama will have increased the debt $12-$13 trillion, which is more than all the presidents previously in US history combined!
A colorful anecdote, which means nothing, of course.
The facts are that we have a huge spending problem and EVERYONE needs to take a bite of this giant turd sandwich.
"Taxing the rich" is idiotic, at best, and simply panders to class warfare. Taxing "the rich" at 100% rates (let's even take those making $200K and call them "rich") generates $1.2 trillion. Taxing "the rich" (those that make more than $250K per year) generates $900 billion.
"Taxing the rich" does NOTHING of any substance. We need-
1. 15% VAT tax
2. balanced budget amendment
3. 10% of each annual revenue earmarked for debt reduction
4. 20% across the board cuts in spending
5. corporate consumption tax
6. reduced corporate taxes
7. more domestic energy exploration
8. stopping the war on coal
9. a roll back on eggregious EPA regulations
Otherwise (we certainly will, as no one has the political will to do the above) we face insolvency. Obama will have increased the debt $12-$13 trillion, which is more than all the presidents previously in US history combined!
I dont agree with the VAT ONTOP of the income tax
I would certainly agree to a consumption tax INPLACE of the income tax
A colorful anecdote, which means nothing, of course.
The facts are that we have a huge spending problem and EVERYONE needs to take a bite of this giant turd sandwich.
"Taxing the rich" is idiotic, at best, and simply panders to class warfare. Taxing "the rich" at 100% rates (let's even take those making $200K and call them "rich") generates $1.2 trillion. Taxing "the rich" (those that make more than $250K per year) generates $900 billion.
"Taxing the rich" does NOTHING of any substance. We need-
1. 15% VAT tax
2. balanced budget amendment
3. 10% of each annual revenue earmarked for debt reduction
4. 20% across the board cuts in spending
5. corporate consumption tax
6. reduced corporate taxes
7. more domestic energy exploration
8. stopping the war on coal
9. a roll back on eggregious EPA regulations
Otherwise (we certainly will, as no one has the political will to do the above) we face insolvency. Obama will have increased the debt $12-$13 trillion, which is more than all the presidents previously in US history combined!
This disastrous plan was already debunked. Then you claim no answer was given? VAT taxes are something only a welfare queen invested by the state could love.
A colorful anecdote, which means nothing, of course.
I did think of y'all when dealing with that old man. He had NOTHING beyond talking points.
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"Taxing the rich" is idiotic, at best, and simply panders to class warfare. Taxing "the rich" at 100% rates (let's even take those making $200K and call them "rich") generates $1.2 trillion. Taxing "the rich" (those that make more than $250K per year) generates $900 billion.
And more of the typical right wing idea, for an excuse.
Obama is obsessed with increasing taxes on "the rich" in spite of evidence showing that this measure only generates an additional $80 billion per year, while we have deficits of $1.2 trillion per year. Obviously, this is a drop in the bucket and does nothing to address our fiscal woes. In fact, if every single one of "the rich" (those making over $250K per year) were ENSLAVED and gave 100% of thier income to the government, it would only generate $900 billion per year (even with slaves, we would have an annual deficit).
So what next, libs? Income tax increases will do little, if anything to make a dent in the annual deficits, let alone the debt.
A VAT tax of 15% would raise $1.3 trillion per year (wiping out annual deficits), however our politicians lack the will to initiate such a tax and the feds would simply blow the "surplus" anyway.
So..................................... what do you do when these "taxes on the rich" fail to produce any significant revenue and the impact on small business increases unemployment?
Wow. So you decided to come back to this forum after taking multiple victory laps after that Romney-Ryan landslide you predicted?
I agree. If we do the responsible thing and start getting spending under control, there may be some short term pain. But it's far superior to long term financial suicide. Unfortunately, I doubt that either party has the integrity to do what is necessary on the spending side.
Not when they say the cuts will "have to be to SS, medicare and medicaid". Until they start discussing the money that goes to their cronies, to govt agencies that are corrupt, to duplicate govt agencies, and foreign countries that either don't need it or use that money against us, they'll never even consider cuts.
Too draconian, you know....
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