The Bush Tax Cuts

[Conley]

Should now be called the Obama Tax Cuts, as he renewed them. Enough with his blaming of the past administration.

Anyhow, the speed of the hand basket hurtling towards hell is speeding up:

"Tax collections could keep pace with those costs if Congress permitted the George W. Bush tax cuts to expire on schedule in 2012 and allowed the alternative minimum tax to hit millions of additional households, the CBO said. But under current tax policies, the CBO said, tax collections would barely cover the cost of the health and retirement programs alone by 2035."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/congressional-budget-office-warns-of-debt-explosion/2011/06/22/AGNwb2fH_story.html

[Conley]

The alternative minimum tax is an abomination. The tax code in this country is beyond absurd, like the rest of government it has been allowed to bloat fester and spread.....channeling....my.......inner......grump y...........rage....

[Vermouth]

Or better yet we could have cut costs.

[Conley]

Or better yet we could have cut costs.


at this point we have to do both. we're in deep fiscal doo doo.

[GRUMPY]

reduce govt to that held within the constitution and institute a flat tax.....while at it move to amend the constitution: term limits for all of congress, the judiciary included....congress is called into session 2-3-4 times per year you pick, no law may be passed within the session that it is proposed and those seeking to vote in favor of a law must stand and make the argument for it's constitutionality before their state legislature....further all proposed laws must be produced in plain english and presented to the people one full session prior to approval....all legislation must stand on its own, earmarks and/or unrelated bs forbidden....ethics rules for both houses and the president to be developed through a states convention...pay, staff, benefits etc to be determined and the responsibility of the individual state and the people thereof respectively....repeal the 17th amendment, legalize ss through constitutional amendment providing a limiting definition and make all other entitlements a state prerogative and responsibility to fund....reign in regulatory agencies, their job being to enforce regulation, develop needed regs and PRESENT THEM TO CONGRESS FOR APPROVAL.....just some suggestions....

[Conley]

these are all great suggestions really...but now as far as reality goes, how do you propose moving from our current state of affairs to what you propose?

what you're describing sounds much more libertarian than republican to me. so how do we move the compass so to speak? both dems and republicans are quite drunk on their power and show no interest in changing.

[GRUMPY]

these are all great suggestions really...but now as far as reality goes, how do you propose moving from our current state of affairs to what you propose?

what you're describing sounds much more libertarian than republican to me. so how do we move the compass so to speak? both dems and republicans are quite drunk on their power and show no interest in changing.

reject elevating the debt ceiling under any circumstance and i mean any, this would force govt to make immediate structural changes.....force this president to stand before congress and justify libya....elect a truly conservative president, not invested in reelection....an individual of character with a clear fidelity to the constitution and it's limiting structure/principles....

[spunkloaf]

I think the best answers come when you ask questions.

What would happen if we eliminated some government services which are paid for by our taxes?

What would happen if we imposed a flat tax, and what should the percentage be?

How do we realistically create jobs?


I'm not sure about the first 2 questions, but I have an idea for the third. I think America really needs to compete harder in the world job market. It used to be that people came to America for our jobs (which is better than worse), now they come here for our free shit (which isn't good at all). Our population needs a revival, something to re-motivate us. Our economy is reflecting our weakening culture.

[Mister D]

I don't know much about economics but I have read several times over the last coupe years that the global supply of cheap labor is drying up. Jobs may very well be coming back here sooner rather than later.

[Conley]

I think the best answers come when you ask questions.

What would happen if we eliminated some government services which are paid for by our taxes?

What would happen if we imposed a flat tax, and what should the percentage be?

How do we realistically create jobs?


I'm not sure about the first 2 questions, but I have an idea for the third. I think America really needs to compete harder in the world job market. It used to be that people came to America for our jobs (which is better than worse), now they come here for our free shit (which isn't good at all). Our population needs a revival, something to re-motivate us. Our economy is reflecting our weakening culture.


I don't think many people come here for 'free shit', only Mexicans. Isn't it Venezuela where they have huge government handouts backed by their oil profits? There are many countries that hand out 'free shit' a lot more than the U.S. -- Canada, the entire EU, parts of S.A., etc.

Our economy sucks not because we spend a lot on illegals but because we've poured billions and billions into wars, rather than investing in America. Now you can say that we already spend too much on education, and we certainly don't get our money's worth in that department, but there is something else that's missing from this debate. Infrastructure. Spending on American infrastructure would give a huge boost to the lower middle class / manual labor contingent -- there are your jobs right there -- and it's something that is sorely needed. Water mains are blowing up all over, the roads are full of potholes, there are traffic problems everywhere, and so on. From a security standpoint, our air traffic control is out dated, we have insecure and outdated nuclear facilities, questionable electrical grids, and so many other problems. While I think healthcare and education are more controversial, does anyone here think basic infrastructure is a-ok?

[GRUMPY]

I think the best answers come when you ask questions.

What would happen if we eliminated some government services which are paid for by our taxes?

What would happen if we imposed a flat tax, and what should the percentage be?

How do we realistically create jobs?


I'm not sure about the first 2 questions, but I have an idea for the third. I think America really needs to compete harder in the world job market. It used to be that people came to America for our jobs (which is better than worse), now they come here for our free shit (which isn't good at all). Our population needs a revival, something to re-motivate us. Our economy is reflecting our weakening culture.




I think the best answers come when you ask questions.

What would happen if we eliminated some government services which are paid for by our taxes?

What would happen if we imposed a flat tax, and what should the percentage be?

How do we realistically create jobs?


I'm not sure about the first 2 questions, but I have an idea for the third. I think America really needs to compete harder in the world job market. It used to be that people came to America for our jobs (which is better than worse), now they come here for our free shit (which isn't good at all). Our population needs a revival, something to re-motivate us. Our economy is reflecting our weakening culture.


I don't think many people come here for 'free shit', only Mexicans. Isn't it Venezuela where they have huge government handouts backed by their oil profits? There are many countries that hand out 'free shit' a lot more than the U.S. -- Canada, the entire EU, parts of S.A., etc.

Our economy sucks not because we spend a lot on illegals but because we've poured billions and billions into wars, rather than investing in America. Now you can say that we already spend too much on education, and we certainly don't get our money's worth in that department, but there is something else that's missing from this debate. Infrastructure. Spending on American infrastructure would give a huge boost to the lower middle class / manual labor contingent -- there are your jobs right there -- and it's something that is sorely needed. Water mains are blowing up all over, the roads are full of potholes, there are traffic problems everywhere, and so on. From a security standpoint, our air traffic control is out dated, we have insecure and outdated nuclear facilities, questionable electrical grids, and so many other problems. While I think healthcare and education are more controversial, does anyone here think basic infrastructure is a-ok?

this has got to be the dumbest pile of tripe i have ever read....are you insane conley, really....

[Conley]

I started a new thread for the infrastructure tangent...this is pretty wild:

http://politirant.com/rants/the-san-francisco-bay-bridge-made-in-china/

ps tripe is pretty tasty actually ;)

[spunkloaf]

Or better yet we could have cut costs.


Hi Vermouth, great to see you!

[Juggernaut]

Obama doesn't know what he's doing, that's why Bill Clinton held his hand after Christmas explaining why taxes must remain low. Obama doesn't get it and he looked weak having a previous potus explain what could have been loaded in the teleprompter. What a joke!

25% corporate taxes will ignite manufacturing and make us more competitive at home and overseas. We can't sell in many countries at a discount due to higher labor and tax costs, yet dems have screamed for years demanding we raise taxes. DUMB and reckless and our feckless leader has ranted the same.

The only reasons we can sell cheaper in the EU is because of a weaker dollar to euro plus Bush cut regulations and tarrifs to make export cheaper. The Bush tax cuts worked as intended but we needed to cut costs and spending to make them work. Both parties spent regardless and the economic decline caught up with us. It was coming as Dems refused to change banking laws, instead they obstructed reform whining racist stupidity. Dems are dumber than the other dumb party.