And where were they the last 8 years? Don't give me that BS about they finally reached their limit now after Obama became president. That point should have easily been reached during the initial round of bail outs last year. These people are just mad as hell about the election and are still acting out as a result. You still haven't offered any kind of response to the stats about how taxes were higher during the Reagan years. We are all interested, so please don't keep us waiting any longer.
When you first light a fire under a tea kettle, does it whistle? No, steam has to build to a critical point -- then you get the whistle. Obama was elected, in part, as a reaction to the mistakes by past administrations, but Obama and his czars -- for good or ill and in fact or fiction -- have scared the shnitzel out of Middle America.
I don't have to stick my hand up an elephant's, ahem, trunk, because no one here is interested in the elephant itself. The elephant is pink; it is a figment, imagined. Instead, we are talking about the motivations of the people who gathered from far and wide to see this imaginary elephant, who traveled many miles to get in the circus tent and see the elephant exhibit. In order to get those impressions, those motivations, the best way is not to read the "mainstream media" reports on the circus, but instead listen to the words coming out of the circus barker himself. I watch Glenn Beck just about daily: he's the one who announced this march six months ago, and has been in many cases the lone public spokesman for it (though Freedom Works, an astroturf organization, was doing the heavy lifting behind it). He's the one who has encouraged all his listeners to travel to Washington yesterday, to protest. He's the one fomenting hate. He's the one who called the president a racist. He's the one who says our government is run by socialists, terrorists. He's the one who tried to capitalize off of our emotional grief over the loss of life of the 9/11 victims yesterday, though he's the one who once claimed he "hated" the families of those victims. Beck's greatest hits: Spoiler <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QrtXT2aBAyU&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QrtXT2aBAyU&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> He is the carnival barker, and yesterday's march was his freak show. [Also, thumbs, please address the chart above, as to why now, and now only, is the time when the top income tax bracket represents such an "oppressive" burden on the already tremendously wealthy.]
You do realize that these are completely contradictory notions, don't you? You can't lower tax revenues without increasing long term debt. That's why the Bush tax cuts were so irresponsible. How do you think the Bush tax cuts were paid for? (Trick question: they weren't). The typical response is that lowering the tax rates on the wealthy will magically increase tax revenue. We've tried this before: it has not, does not, will not work. You can show me all the Laffer curves you want to, but again, the history of our nation's tax revenues isn't on your side.
Play the ostrich, then, and ignore those big, pink, imaginary elephants -- and their counterpart donkeys for that matter. However, if you have ever read my posts, you will know that I favor tax reform from uncapping FICA to a implementing a graduated tax plan on all earned income and capital gains to eliminating all tax shelters and exemptions. Tax laws should not be passed for or against a "class" of people. However, my views are not shared by a great many people, but I do what I legally can to influence my representatives to see it my way. That is my right, privilege and duty as a citizen. I urge everybody to do the same.
Preventing overly burdensome taxation and avoiding increased debt are NOT mutually exclusive. When I have less revenue, I spend less. Debt is incurred by spending money you don't have.
Why didn't Bush's czars scare you? Most of these czars now are filling out positions created previously.
So it is based on what you fear may happen because you do not trust the President rather than anything that has happened or has been proposed. Smart.
Probably because, to my shame, I never knew Bush had any cabinet-level appointees that were not approved by the Senate. Perhaps it was because Obama's czars have been so much more vocal as to command the spotlight.
True. The question is what spending to cut. Those in Congress will not agree to cut projects (pork or otherwise) in their district. I personally believe that the Federal government dictating education to the states has not improved school systems. Therefore, it is an expensive and ineffective use of resources. It should likely go back to the states. There are other things that do belong under the purview of the Federal government. States and municipalities simply lack the logistical capability to undertake these tasks. So...what would you cut? Please do not say "welfare." I will ask you to define the specific programs that you call "welfare." I will then ask you for the statistics that show what % they are of the Federal budget and how much the spending is in nominal dollars.
You are not the American government. The American government, when run by politicians who claim the above, instead spends more (see: Reagan, Bushes), not less. What exactly would you cut? Because non-essential spending isn't going to make up the gap, and defense and most social programs are, you know, highly popular. Why not just not cut taxes, and keep the social programs and defense where they are? Or, I don't know, actually raise the tax rates on the rich back to a reasonable figure, and not add any to our debt?
My guess is that if you polled those tea partiers about whether they'd like their taxes lowered even if spending couldn't be, they'd say hell yes, debt be damned.
I agree with your statements in this post. Everybody has a different ax to grind and ox to protect. That is why I urge people to work within the political system to influence their representatives. Now, as to your questions, what would I cut? Our bloated federal bureaucracy is so huge and wasteful that I almost have to say everywhere. However, since you want specifics, here are some: Military -- I would pull all the troops out of Germany, Japan, South Korea and other sovereign nations that are perfectly capable of raising their own armies and defenses. United Nations -- I would donate $1 billion per year and tell them to waste it as they see fit. Meanwhile, I would divert all the foreign aid (which doesn't get to the impoverished anyway) money to helping America's poor. I'd much rather spend money to feed a starving kid in the Bronx than in Darfur. (I'd prefer to feed both, but to save money I have to choose). Internal Revenue Service -- Dismiss 75% of the bureaucracy. Leave enough to process the flat tax cards, which should be simpler than the 1040EZ form from 10 years ago -- no shelters, no exemptions, just total income times percentage of income of graduated tax (10% to !7%) starting at $25,000 per family member. Congressional largess -- Limit congressional representatives to one secretary and two aides and a 4- round trip travel budget based on distance from Congress to the center of their representative area. As an added caveat, legislators should not be allowed to earn any income -- current or deferred -- other than their federal stipend. Any income from trusts or holdings would be donated to the government. Education -- Everybody is entitled to higher learning, but stop making universities and colleges into businesses where teachers are paid by popularity rather than by teaching skills. A large percentage of students are meant to be astrophysicists -- they should be encouraged to attend schools that will teach trades from plumbing to mechanics. Just because a person chooses to become a plumber doesn't preclude him from reading the classics and taking history and other "academic" courses. Tuition should be free, but should be strictly graded. The Australians cut the bottom 10% of every class, so they tend to study if they want to stay in school. We need to motivate our students the same way. Is that enough?
Do they send you to a tea party camp to learn all of the proper buzzwords and catchphrases? And don't you mean that Obama and his czars -- for good or ill and in fact or fiction -- have scared the shnitzel out of Mental America?
There is always somebody who would, but the great majority of tea partiers are worried about the debt we are leaving to our children. They would prefer a proposal to pay down the debt, if not eliminate it, even if that meant increasing taxes. However, with Obama's free spending ways, they don't see that ever happening.
So your group is bringing guns and threatening violence for something that hasn't happened and isn't going to happen because you have a hunch that Obama is lying about what's going to happen with taxes. Not what has happened, not what he's planned or announced, in fact, the opposite of what he's announced. You guys are so sure he's going to do the opposite of what he's said he'd do, so pissed off about this fantasy for which there is not even a hint or shred of evidence, that you're planning to take "your" country back by force. Yeah, it's just a coincidence that nothing pissed you guys off over the last eight years and reached your boiling point when the black Democrat got elected. Tell the truth now: is it his blackness or his party affiliation that pushed you guys from ambivalent, even supportive (you on Iraq, you on Bush generally), to mad as hell and not going to take it anymore. Which is it, thumbs? Black or Democrat? thumbs, I'm not kidding when I tell you this is the most r****ded thing I've ever read on this board. You have lost your damn fool mind.
Ridicule the tea partiers to your heart's content, but be aware they are motivated. acclimated to success and anything but stupid or crazy.
Curiously, I'm starting to think that Bush's free speech zones were very prescient and are just the the thing we need to expand upon for the tea party birther movement.
