Yeah, but the problem is that where they really need to be raised is on the middle class - which has an effective tax rate of something like 11%. And because they make up the bulk of the population, they make up the bulk of the tax base. But no one wants to raise their taxes.
Republicans want to lower taxes further, which is insane.
The Democrats think they can solve all the issues by hitting the top 5% of the taxpaying public - which is insane.
As usual, the whole debate has become about taxes, and who should be taxed, and both parties are wrong about it.
What both parties should be focusing on right now is structural growth. Not temporary stimulus gimmicks or dicking around more with the money supply, but working to get economic growth rolling again. That means policies that promote fiscal stability, reduce uncertainty, and remove barriers to permanent investment decisions and permanent job creation, and a strategy to get entitlements under control to remove the threat of future tax hikes or fiscal meltdown.
The smart thing to do would be to make cuts- lots of them. Show you are serious about cutting. Cut until it hurts, so people know that there is no more to be cut. THen and only then can you come back and sell a tax increase.
There is always more to cut. Cut on Medicare benefits, cut on Social Security, cut the Department of Education, cut anything but defense. If it doesn’t work, say you didn’t cut enough, and cut again.
Well, you see, we got this funny thing called “Democracy”. There would be a certain point where people would say, “Okay, we’ve cut enough.”
And frankly, I’d be happy to be rid of the whole Department of Education and ANY Federal involvement. Slice that putrid appendage off at the root.
I’m open to defense cuts. I don’t think we need to be building stealth fighters or aircraft carriers or anything else that isn’t needed lacking a Cold War class enemy.
Seems to be that Republicans want to lower taxes further, which I agree with you is insane.
Seems like the Democrats are starting with the easiest income raising tactic - eliminating tax breaks on millionaires and/or raising taxes on millionaires. I think you’re exaggerating wildly that Dems think taxing such a tiny base will fix the problem. Rather, that taxing millionaires is a good start and why piss off their base now with raising taxes on the middle class when taxes on the rich haven’t been solved yet.
There are 3 things that can be done: get non-discretionary spending under control, raise taxes/eleminate breaks, and grow the economy.
And you might as well accept that the President will not sign a debt ceiling increase that does not have tax increases. That’s just the way it is. So Republicans and better get ready for their corporate handlers to jerk their chain HARD, because that is what happens when you throw a shoe into the economic machinery that makes Republican donors rich.
we’ll see, but I doubt it. I don’t think the guys who really run the GOP, the guys who planted the Astro-Turf that is the TEA Party really want their taxes to go up, either.
If we default, people aren’t going to blame Congress, they will blame Obama.
He blinked on the Bush tax cuts, he blinked on Netanyahu, he’ll blink here.
They will do cost a benefit analysis and conclude their loss from a default debacle are far worse than any tax increases proposed by Obama. Corporate strategists are nothing if not good accountants.
Wishful thinking. Moderates and independents see what the Republicans are doing, and they will punish them accordingly.
He has an ace in the hole here, though. He knows who controls the GOP, and he knows they know default is much worse than tax increases. Unlike Republicans, who frequently speak without considering the consequences, the Obama news conference was a calculated tactic to call their bluff and put them on the defensive. It worked.
I consider myself a moderate, unless you talk to the folks over at Town Hall, who apparently think I’m a socialist because I don’t think ObamaCare or RomneyCare are that bad.
As for his “news conference”, sorry, man, even Mark Halperin (a guy who buried stories in 2008 if they reflected badly on Obama) said he came off like a “Dick”.
Incidently, I think that we really should raise taxes, no dispute about that. I just kind of doubt that Obama has enough of a spine to get the job done. He hasn’t shown much of one so far.
“Dick” is the appropriate response to the childish tantrums of Cantor and Boehner; nice guys finish last. Are you willing to wager there will be no revenue increases in the final agreement? Because if there are, that means Republicans folded, not Obama.
I’m just hoping it gets done so we don’t collapse the economy.
And frankly, what’s so “childish”. These guys ran on the platform of no new taxes. That’s what the voters obviously wanted, right?
I think it’s wrong to go back and ask the voters for more money (let’s not forget, the Bush Tax cuts are going to expire on their own a year, anyway) when they haven’t gone through that budget with a fine tooth comb and cut out every bit of waste.
This is, incidently, what every business has had to do in order to get through this recession. It’s what the states are having to do. So why can’t the Federal Government do this?
I’d go further. I think we should have a Canada style system of Health Care.
We spend more than any other country in the world on Heath Care, per capita, but we have the highest infant mortality rate in the industrialized world and the lowest life expectency.
I think Romney and Obama made the mistake of conceding too much to the special interests, but it was probably better than doing nothing.
(You guys make the mistake of thinking I’m a doctrinaire conservative. My views really waiver on what issue you are talking about. I’m pretty liberal on abortion, gay rights and health care. I’m conservative on defense issues and education issues. My overall problem with obama is his competence, not his views.)
As for raising taxes, I’m not thrilled with the concept. I think a lot of us on the lower end are paying too much through the death by a thousand cuts system they use to hide how much they are taking us for. I have no problem returning the top rates on the wealthy to where Clinton had them.
I’m assuming that “conservative” for defense means having a strong (the strongest?) military that can project force.
What does “conservative” mean for education issues? Equal weighting to creationism? Getting rid of all federal oversight? Cutting special needs programs? Private schools? Not trying to be snarky but I really don’t know what “conservative” education means.
My views on defense. - Having an effective military. I think (and having seen the system from the inside) we do a lot of things wrong. We have underemphasized ground forces and overemphasized naval and air forces, on the theory that all three services should get the same amount of money.
I think we need to get out of NATO, because we are wedded to a corpse there. If the European Union, which is pretty wealthy, wants to project military power, let them spend their own money doing it. I also think we need to disengage from the middle east as much as possible. Playing hall monitor between various tribes is not what our troops should be doing.
My view on education-
School Choice.
Limiting the power of the Teacher’s unions to contracts only, and not giving them veto power over firing bad teachers.
Letting school boards, not the courts or the ACLU determine cirriculum. Sorry, if the majority of the people in a community really want to teach creationism, that should be their choice.
It’s certainly a lot better than what happens now. They don’t teach either. Schools skip right over evolution because they don’t want the hassles, and because Texas dominates the textbook market, they deemphasize it. . You’d probably accomplish more teaching both.
For special needs, setting standards and realistic goals, and not letting this tail wag the dog. Not declaring every kid ADHD to get more funding. Not spending exhorbitant amounts of money on kids who have limited potential while ignoring kids with more potential.
Also, not everyone needs to go to college. There should be vocational training in the schools. Right now very few schools have auto shops or wood shops because they take away from college prep. (And this isn’t limited to Public Schools.)
Fine. Then I’ll start a petition in my community to teach that the moon is made of green cheese and that pi = 3.0. Hey, I’m pretty persuasive, I could get it done…
Teaching incorrect things is incorrect. What part of that do you not get? Stupid is stupid – faith doesn’t make it any smarter.
It is childish to walk out of negotiations and risk default because Democrats won’t let you do everything your way. Republicans see compromise as them getting 90% of what they wanted and Democrats getting nothing. They forget they hold only one house of Congress and none of the White House. Do they not respect the will of the voters who supported Democrats in the Senate and Obama in the White House?
I think it is wrong to demand severe cuts that affect the middle class, while giving the wealthiest 2% a pass on making any sort of sacrifice at all.
Well, then, that’s a philosophical difference, then.
I’ve worked in government, in both the military and twice for the Census bureau. There’s a lot of waste that can be cut before you come back to any tax payer and ask for more.
I do think eventually, we are going to have to raise taxes, but not until we’ve fixed everything else.
To a lot of people (not me, again) that God had a role in creation is the correct answer. And frankly, it’s not like you can prove he didn’t. All you can really prove is that life in the past looked different than it does now.