What? How? Why? When?

[ebonyleopard]

What will they do? What is their agenda? What is their goal? Do you know? Do you really know because we haven't been told. We know what they are against, but we don't actually know what they are for. Just what do will they cut. They want to reduce government spending, but does anyone, anyone at all actually know what that means? What exactly will

Comments

[wolfbrotherjoe]

Looking through this post, there's lots of things I could touch on ... but the easiest thing to bring up, methinks, is this

[pseudomanitou]

Your second paragraph is inaccurate.

The Bush era tax cut, which the Republicans have expressed their desire to extend this cycle, has not paid for itself, nor will it ever, according to the IRS.

Obama has pushed tax cuts, thought they are more balanced to favor lower income earners. It is this balance between which taxes favor who that is in debate. Due to constitutional restrictions on government power, taxation is one of the few tools government can use to influence behaviors and voluntary policy.

Before Reagan, taxes on the top wealthy earners were rather high, almost 80% -- but that money was not owed to the US government if it was reinvested into the economy directly. There are pushes to go back to this strategy.

[wolfbrotherjoe]

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200

As you can see, here...

The tax cuts happened in 2003.

Federal Tax Revenue:
2003: 1782.3 billion
2004: 1880.1 billion
2005: 2153.6 billion
2006: 2406.9 billion
2007: 2568.0 billion

When the tax cuts occurred, revenue went *up*. This is, in fact, the largest leap in revenue in only 4 years in US history. We have never seen such a drastic increase in revenue.

How, exactly, do you figure?

[pseudomanitou]

The total cost of the tax cuts are, last I got a number, $2.3 trillion... I'm not including interest payments.

A sharp rise in revenue after a far more massive cut in revenue based on borrowing does not add up. Nor does it help that this is costing even more as it continues by driving the cost of further lending up. Look around -- neither party debates that the tax cuts inflate the deficit -- they only debate where necessary revenue to cover any tax breaks will come from

[zorro456]

The power to tax is the power to destroy and there has been a LOT of destruction coming from Washington for the past 4 years.

John Kennedy knew this as did Ronald Reagan. Taxes act as brakes on the economy, the less taxes the better business works and there is less incentive to avoid them, which is why actual taxes received increase when you lower them.

The current problems are completely driven by ideology; all you have to do is STOP TORTURING BUSINESS! Penalizing people for working hard to get ahead is just plain wrong.

Frankly I’m not so sure being in the United States is a good Idea for any state anymore; Texas would thrive as a nation without the dead weight of the East and West coast dragging it down. Dead economies like California and New York.

[pseudomanitou]

The destruction caused to business came from lack of credit. Taxes have been dropped to an all-time low, including rates on lending

[ebonyleopard]

Few people also don't realize or fail to acknowledge that when the stimulus was passed there were many tax cuts in them, but since it wasn't done in the fashion of receiving a check, people rarely actually realize it.

[pseudomanitou]

I realized it -- my tax return went from an average of 2,600$K, to 3,200$K. Sure, I wrote off some business expenses -- but nothing that would account for that.

[xzadfor]

I don't get this and don't take this as a personal attack, we're friends.

Were you happy before because you haven't said anything about it and now that new peopel are elected, you act like the sky is falling.

[pseudomanitou]

Post-election blues/fears. They are common on all sides.

[xzadfor]

I think the South PArk episode after the last Presidential election was a good example. :)

[pseudomanitou]

I defer to Stephen Colbert's comment -- that these elections were the last ones that will decide the political landscape for ever and ever from here on out :)

[brighttail]

Tax cuts do not shrink the amount of the deficit. WHen done right, tax cuts give people more expendible income. They give businesses more income to hire more people

[brighttail]

Oh and where to start cutting? I would say pass a law that does NOT allow EARMAKS of any kind. No add-on pet projects to a bill you know is going to pass and you want 1million for your constituency for the mating rituals of cockroaches. No buying votes by putting in things like the Louisiana Purchase, the bridge to nowhere, ect. THIS is where gov spending gets out of control, the add ons and pork barrel spending.

I think each time a congress(person) wants some money it should be a new bill. We'd save tonnes this way. But never happen.

[ebonyleopard]

I agree with you but that's my point. You've said more of an idea than I've heard any official say, other than their primary goal is to defeat Obama for the next 2 years.

[brighttail]

Well lets get it clear. beating Obama is part of the priority. In my opinion he needs to go else America is going to be bankrupt, working for China and more socialized than European countries. :)