You're clearly revenge-minded. Many more variables go into a balanced budget, bro -- it's not just the highest income bracket's tax rate.
Ah, yes. The brilliant "if it doesn't solve the whole problem, it's not useful at all" argument. I see your time away didn't help your quality of analysis.
You are absolutely right! Cut 30% out of the military budget and voila! Balanced budget! Thanks Texxx!
Revenge? Facts are facts. We've done this twice now, once under Reagan and once under Bush with the exact same results; huge budget deficits and poor job creation. Why should we do it again? Why is not justified for the rich to pay what they paid ten years ago? Why when the vast majority of the gains of the last ten years went to those that least needed them? Now you are right Reagan and Bush did blow money like drunken sailors on defense spending exacerbating the issue of the budget deficit. Also the Medicare Part D legislation which was rammed through by the GOP was a huge giveaway to big Pharma who now charge 30% more for drugs under Medicare then they do Medicaid. We've done it over and over the Republican way with worse and worse results.
This whole thing is just screwy to me from both sides. Things I don't like: 1) On Left, the class warfare that was the talk leading up to this, i.e. everyone turning against the rich. 2) On Right, Seriously, there's a huge deficit, that hole needs to get plugged somehow. Taxes will have to raise. It doesn't have to be permanent, and it doesn't have to replace the idea of subsidiarity, small government. In fact, there is a moral obligation to pay fair share, especially for those who have been given more. Aquinas says as much (with the caveat that that money be used to help the less fortunate). 3) On Left, the idea that we can just continue policies that create huge budget holes and then just expect to take from the wealthy to make up for being reckless. 4) On both sides, lack of creativity to come up with a solution. I mean the Internal Revenue Code is completely in the hands of Congress, and can be adjusted in so many ways to create a better tax regime. For instance, let's add some more tax brackets, i.e. 250K+ gets a 1% raise; 350K+ 2% raise, $750K 3% raise, with corresponding raises in the lower tax brackets, or creating more in-between lower brackets. I don't mind paying taxes to help those truly in need. I do mind programs that enable poor decisions, fund stupid things in the name of stimulus. 5) Both sides acting stupid.
Simple way to balance the budget by 2020, no tax hikes: Just cut $130 billion per year from projected budgets (not even hard cuts).
Listen moron my brother tried to commit suicide after your hero Reagan threw off 1/2 of all Americans who were on social security disability due to ignorance like yours. Google it you moron. My wife's sister got a denial in the mail which we read a week after her death from an incurable lung disease. Go back to your Fox news you ***hole. better yet get out of your little Rice kid ghetto. ok, you moron I'll google for you. 1981-1984 The Reagan Administration terminates the Social Security benefits of hundreds of thousands of disabled recipients. Advocates charge that these terminations are an effort to reduce the federal budget and often do not reflect any improvement in the condition of those being terminated. A variety of groups, including the Alliance of Social Security Disability Recipients and the Ad Hoc Committee on Social Security Disability, spring up to fight these terminations. Several disabled people, in despair over the loss of their benefits, commit suicide. http://www.sfsu.edu/~dprc/chronology/chron80s.html The legitimate suicide notes from the folks who did kill themselves were shown on a show like 20-20 IIRC correctly and Reagan had to back off his cruel ignorance.
1. Calm down 2. Sorry I touched a nerve with you, but you have to admit there are a lot of BS claims out there. The trick is to separate them from the legit ones. Could be done, through a smart approach. and what the hell is a "little Rice kid ghetto"? I'm dying to know. Please enlighten me with your wisdom. TIA
I assume you are the original bigtexx the snotty Rice kid who claimed to be a country club Republican. If so, apology not accepted. BTW as a lawyer I have worked on a few disabilty claims throughout the years and it is hard to tolerate common right wing ignorance on this issue aside from more personal experience.
Great Post. Didn't want to quote it all, but that sums it up. People for the most part tend to think from a mindset of either democrat or republican it seems and there's no real in between for logical decision making. Obama isn't perfect. Bush wasn't perfect. It's natural for people to question those in power, but at the same time, it can be difficult to have patience and look at different perspectives. I like Obama as an individual, but obviously the country is in a crisis and he's manning the helm so every decision is doubly scrutinized. Bush definitely made his fair share of poor decisions, but because of wars, etc. they were overlooked. As for taxes, I am a complete proponent of a consumption tax rather then a gradated income tax because of the spending rather then savings mindset it perpetuates and the heavy cost of the IRS. If we are to keep an income tax, it's difficult, in my view, to justify tax increases on the wealthy due to the government's inability to reduce spending. Why not just print more money? Why not just increase our debt further? Why should people be asked to invest dramatically more into the nation for working hard and succeeding? Some of the diatribe makes it sound as if those who make 250k+ are somehow leeching off the poor/middle class and that's why they're struggling. I have a few friends struggling in today's economy and I have a few friends succeeding. There's no Wizard of Oz cackling maniacally and pulling the strings on their careers. It just so happens that some succeed while others don't and due to this economic climate it's a leaning more towards the wrong way. I have faith that the ship will be righted at some point and I hope others do as well. I myself am striving to better my career and one factor in that is economic reward. I'm working as much as possible, improving my skill sets, gaining knowledge, and hopefully one day, I'll be in that 250k+ bracket. At the same time, if I'm going to be taxed to pay for bloated government programs with no incentives to improve then it's a difficult pill to swallow especially knowing the more bloated they become, the more people will expect the "wealthy" to make up for their shortcomings.
More people have died still trying to work their way into that bracket than have made it into that bracket in the past 30 years. We really need to scrutinize the whole ideal of social mobility much more closely in this country. It's getting increasingly difficult with every passing generation.
Great point. I think some of that has to do with the failing education system. The disparity between schools is pretty vast and based on talking to some friends who did Teach for America, there aren't many students in the economically disadvantaged areas who have a zest for bettering themselves through education. According to the US Census Bureau, there is a 3 to 1 ratio of birth rates for those receiving public aid versus those who aren't so the economic gap isn't going to improve as a percentage of our populace unless we can somehow idealize and possibly incentivize education as a long term goal. How are people supposed to break any economic scales if they subscribe to cycles of poverty and bring zero needed skills to the job market?
Great post and I agree 100%. Keep working hard and maybe some day you will be in that 250k income bracket. Unfortunately it might be due to hyper inflation and 250k might not be that much. Which is why I posted earlier I really don't think 250K/year makes you rich at all especially if you are in San Diego, Los Angeles or the Bay Area. 250k just isn't what it use to be. I have worked my butt off on my startup business and worked nights and weekends and lived on instant noodles for years to get to where I am right now. You are exactly right why am I required to pay more into these bloated government programs and wasteful spending? I have no problems paying my fair share of taxes but not when the tax code is not fair and whatever I pay just gets wasted so some lazy bum can vote for me to pay even more taxes so they can sit on their ass and collect welfare.
I am curious on what glynch meant by snotty little rice kid also. Are you implying he's asian? or he has a Pimp my Ride car that is Rice?
Actually you should apologize to me for your insult-filled post. A little immature for a lawyer, I would say. You haven't shown or proven any "right wing ignorance", only that you've been touched personally with your anecdotal evidence. I'm sure you've seen some examples of fleecing the system, also.
