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I actually agree and disagree with both sides

Posted: Jul 16, 2011

I do believe that we need to bring in more tax revenue. I agree with the pres on that one. However, I don't believe raising the taxes on the rich is the answer. That alone still will not cover the amount of money we are spending. I also think that the initial step in bringing in more tax revenue is to close loopholes in the tax code. We are in major need of tax reform here. What good is taxing the rich more when you have big companies like GE not paying ANY taxes because of loopholes. Seems rather counterproductive to me.

As to the debt ceiling. I can kinda see both sides. I don't want it raised because...well...enough is enough. I don't care how many times other presidents have raised the debt ceiling in the past. Things haven't been this bad with those other presidents. Had we foreseen how things would have turned out, perhaps we would have nailed Bush for raising the debt ceiling and stopped him from doing so....who knows. I just know a lot of people weren't paying attention back then because things were still going well. Some of us didn't start paying attention until the economy started to tank. I know a lot of people are saying we are highly critical of Obama because he is black...well I'm sure that is true for some but the reason I am highly critical is because I didn't pay attention to what Bush was doing and look where we ended up. Now Obama is the pres and I'll be d@mned if I just let more bad decisions be made...ya know.

Many say that if we don't raise the debt ceiling we will lose all credibility and it will hurt us greatly. More scare tactics or truth? I don't know...I'm no economist. I just know that we definitely need to make a lot of spending cuts and start living within our means. First and foremost...bring our troops home. Screw the middle east. Let them deal with their own problems. Reduce or stop foreign aid. These people don't want us in their business but have no problems taking our money....so I say we stop giving them money.

Also, have you seen what these politicians are making? No wonder they don't have a clue how us regular folk live. They are receiving great salaries while making decisions to screw us over.....another reason I suspect many of them like higher taxes for the rich because they too can use the loopholes in the tax code to get out of paying their fair share no matter how much they raise taxes for the rich but whatever. Our second spending cut should be their salaries. We should drop 'em down a notch and make them actually work for their money. I've just had enough with the whole lot of them.

Thanks for the rant and rave. I'm just so sick and tired of all politicians. They all make me wanna puke!

;

i believe - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
what the tax increase includes is removing loopholes, which in turn will raise the taxes.

It's not rocket science - EmpireLady

[ In Reply To ..]
This is how I see it.... By encouraging outsourcing (both sides of the aisle in the past and present), government has thus encouraged big corps to pretty much gut out middle America. Middle America is who pays (or paid, past tense these days), I would say, the majority of tax revenues. Big Gov has basically cut off a major portion of cash flow by sending jobs out of this country.

To me, it's real simple. Go ahead and give the big corps a tax break, BUT... do it for the right reason, keeping jobs in this country. This so-called idea that raising taxes on big corps will eliminate jobs is ludicrous. They have already eliminated so many jobs that America now is a house of cards, or like that game where you try to pull sticks out of the middle of the tower without toppling the whole thing. I think they are finding they have pulled out too many sticks or cards, and the whole thing is about to collapse.

Bring the jobs back to America and watch the money begin to flow again, in all directions.

I blame corporate greed more than the government - sm

[ In Reply To ..]
If we didn't have the minimum wage, OSHA, environmental protections, etc., it would be kids working in sweatshops, asbestos/benezene/PCPs/e.coli/mercury poisoning--but plenty of wealthy corporations.

Totally agree - EmpireLady

[ In Reply To ..]
except big corps ARE the government now, don't you know? That is who truly runs this country and a lot, if not most (not saying all) of our politicians. What big corps want, they get, with very few exceptions.

Furthermore, the saddest thing is, because of this present corporate greed, many of our children may not working in those conditions, but they are living in those conditions due to substandard buildings that are the only thing their parents can now afford, if they aren't downright homeless. Again, didn't say all; I do believe one can still make something of one's self in this country, but it's becoming more and more difficult every day.

As long as this country continues to put the emphasis and control in greedy corporate hands and not education, healthcare, and clean energy, we will continue to sink lower and lower and fall even more into being someone else's "Mexico" or "old China," and believe me, we are already well on our way to that reality.

Example: Government stating they refuse to recognize Tibet's plight with China, because why? We now have too many corporate interests in China and we don't want to upset them off. Not to mention the money we owe them. Foreclosure on your gravy train would be a real drag, wouldn't it, big corps? Therefore, who cares whose foot is on the Tibetans' necks, as long as we are in good standing with the one attached to the foot and your millions aren't at risk?

They keep cutting education, healthcare, etc., and this country will continue to dumb down until all but a lucky few who manage somehow, by hook or crook, to get themselves through college will be educated enough for anything above blue collar or stained white collar jobs, and that's no guarantee anymore either, is it?

The next bubble is education. - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
It is not a good financial investment to go to college for many, many people. While it is always great to learn, colleges are trying to recoup money by applying fees that add up to hundreds of dollars per semester. My local community college is now close to $400/credit when fees are added in. The state U's expanded and now charge a $500-600 "construction fee because they can't afford what they started. Many people cannot afford it and with financial aid cuts, many will not be able to go to college. This has terrible implications for the future.

I agree - MTtoo

[ In Reply To ..]
"If we didn't have the minimum wage, OSHA, environmental protections, etc., it would be kids working in sweatshops, asbestos/benezene/PCPs/e.coli/mercury poisoning--but plenty of wealthy corporations."

I agree with you. - sweetgirlsmom

[ In Reply To ..]
The government is like any other person or business. If you spend more than you bring in, you will end up bankrupt. Raising the debt ceiling just delays the inevitable crash. The government needs to stop wasting money. They need to work smarter, not larger.

1. Return to the gold standard. It was on TV this week that since we ended that, the value of the dollar has dropped in half and keeps dropping.

2. End the war in Iraq. It costs a billion dollars a month and accomplishes nothing. We should only help a country which has been invaded. We should never occupy a country and fight its own citizens.

3. Flat tax for everyone; all individuals and all businesses. There have been studies that if everyone just paid 15% of their income, we would have more tax revenue without spending billions to get it. That would downsize the IRS. That would end the different categories, brackets, deductions, exemptions, loopholes, etc. that we have to pay accountants to figure out. And it would be fair to everyone.

4. Downsize Social Security.
a. Give everyone an equal and livable amount. We could afford to do that by saving billions on administration.
b. End the income level for SS. Some people pay SS tax on 100% of their income and other people making more do not.

5. Stop unnecessary spending.
a. Just a month ago, I saw on TV the government spends 10 million a year to rent office buildings in Washington DC which sit empty. They said we give subsidies to the oil companies. They gave another example which I agree is wasteful, but I forget it now. The three of them together cost 1 billion a year.
b. Reader's Digest has frequent articles about government waste. There are some agencies with no purpose. The people are at work the entire day, but have nothing to do. And they receive full-time pay with benefits.
c. Congress writes spending bills for one thing and hides additional unrelated expenditures in mountains of paper. It is called pork. They spend billions on things we know nothing about and there is no accountability to the average American.
d. They're spending 15 million to upgrade just one border crossing with Canada. On average only three people a day pass through there.

6. Put our people back to work.
a. Companies should train their own workers and stop bringing people in from other countries to do our jobs.
b. Provide funds to train workers. This country has a tremendous nursing shortage. In my local junior college there were about 700 applicants for the nursing program and only 178 slots. 500 would-be nurses were turned away. This is just one year and one college. Multiply that by 50 states. No wonder we're short of nurses and people are unemployed.
c. Stop outsourcing our work. If we cannot make it illegal, tax every company that outsources and give incentives to every company that keeps the jobs here.

7. We had a Democrat president for 8 years and when he left I saw on TV that the states had budget surpluses and the federal budget was balanced. And if we would stay on the same budget until 2012, the national debt would be paid off. Then we had a Republican president for 8 years, and had to bail out the banks to prevent another great depression. Now our government wants to raise the debt ceiling so they can pretend we are not bankrupt. Our states are bankrupt and are cutting services. Two weeks ago Minnesota literally shut down the state government. Our unemployment rate is very high and millions of people are losing homes and going hungry. If Clinton and his Congress can balance our budget and pay off the debt, their plans need to be repeated. It is outrageous that Bush and his Congress would cancel out those improvements.

8. End lobbying in Washington. Congress spends a great deal of time talking with special interest groups and attending functions where they are wined and dined. They accept contributions for their campaigns and to line their pockets. Then they vote in favor of the lobbyist's cause to keep the money flowing. Some are working for the lobbyists and not the people they are supposed to represent.

9. End Medicare fraud. Billions of dollars are paid to greedy providers for services they do not perform. This problem is on TV every year. Some "providers" are not even doctors and bill for hundreds of services a day. Some "providers" don't have an office and use mail drops or empty storefronts. Medicare acknowledges that every dollar spent in fraud detection returns many more in savings, but there is only enough funding to catch a small percentage of the crooks, something like 1 in 10.

Well said! What we need is compromise....sm - oldtimer

[ In Reply To ..]
Obama and the democrats have proposed four trillion dollars in spending cuts. I call that compromising, no? If the republicans have done anything to compromise, please enlighten me. The majority of Americans polled think the tax code needs to be reformed and the previous temporary tax cuts for the rich should be recinded. Come on guys, give us something.

About congressmen/women salaries....chump change for a great many of them, especially the most powerful ones.

I also think that Social Security needs to be reformed. It is time for the income level for the payroll deductions to be raised. Maybe it should be treated as an insurance policy that kicks in after a certain age when and if your income falls below a certain level?

Agree for the most part. Regarding - anon

[ In Reply To ..]
foreign aid. The US govt doesn't just fork over money. We give loans. Think of it as financial aid. The US makes money on foreign aid. Foreign aid also, unfortunately, includes selling weapons and military air craft, many times the obsolete stuff we no longer use. This is why certain senators will fight to keep military aircraft production in their states, so that the jobs are not lost.

We are really in an awful situation right now - whatever they decide regarding the debt ceiling. We can't just pay the interest on our debt as some politicians are claiming. We ARE losing our so-called #1 status in the world, falling behind the BRIC(S) countries quickly.

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