User Tag List

+ Reply to Thread
Page 4 of 14 FirstFirst 12345678 ... LastLast
Results 31 to 40 of 134

Thread: Fiscal Cliff will we solve it in time? Yes or No...

  1. #31
    Points: 24,520, Level: 38
    Level completed: 14%, Points required for next Level: 1,130
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Social10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awryly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    976
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    12,000 merciful miles from the US
    Posts
    3,031
    Points
    24,520
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    74
    Thanked 146x in 132 Posts
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    Nobody has even suggested a credible plan to cut deficit spending. It is set to increase for the next 10 years. Just at least of a rate than previously planned.
    Well, cutting the Bush tax cuts and closing the tax loopholes on wealthy individuals will help, won't it?

    As would removing subsidies for corporates, penalising them for sending jobs offshore, cash to tax havens, and the various other rorts they indulge in to get (as happens in in some cases) their taxes down to 0%.

    Or, FFS, get billions in tax breaks even when they are making billions in profits.
    Last edited by Awryly; 11-13-2012 at 10:15 PM.
    Come sit down beside me I said to myself
    And although it doesn't make sense
    I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
    And together I sat on the fence


    Anon. Very anon.

  2. The Following User Says Thank You to Awryly For This Useful Post:

    Peter1469 (11-13-2012)

  3. #32
    Points: 24,520, Level: 38
    Level completed: 14%, Points required for next Level: 1,130
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Social10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awryly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    976
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    12,000 merciful miles from the US
    Posts
    3,031
    Points
    24,520
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    74
    Thanked 146x in 132 Posts
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Castle View Post
    They will do something to put a temporary band-aid on the problem like they always do. Hell, if liberals are unwilling to cut funding for Big Bird, does anyone really believe they will ever get serious about cutting $1 trillion?
    The poor like Big Bird. And PBS is your only non-partisan media outlet.
    Come sit down beside me I said to myself
    And although it doesn't make sense
    I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
    And together I sat on the fence


    Anon. Very anon.

  4. #33
    Points: 664,068, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 88.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433116
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,304
    Points
    664,068
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,902
    Thanked 80,705x in 54,607 Posts
    Mentioned
    2009 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Awryly View Post
    The fiscal cliff has an interesting array of political possibilities.

    Some Dems say let it happen so that they can blame (proven) Republican obstructionism and retake the House. Some Pugs say let it happen so that they can (hopefully) blame the Democrats and cement their majority. (But they have lost any reputational ability to do that in any credible way.)

    The Dems have the better strategy and the stronger levers. They can totally neutralise the Republican extremists if the tax increases and expenditure cuts go ahead. Especially if they can cast Republican extremists as having caused it. Even moderate Republican politicians would welcome that because it would give them the edge over Tea Party incumbents.

    Maybe you will have to jump after all.

    Happy landing.

    (Fond wishes from 12000 miles)
    What you describe, awryly, is the political maneuvering and brinkmanship that will take us over the edge.

  5. #34
    Points: 24,520, Level: 38
    Level completed: 14%, Points required for next Level: 1,130
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Social10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awryly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    976
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    12,000 merciful miles from the US
    Posts
    3,031
    Points
    24,520
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    74
    Thanked 146x in 132 Posts
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    What you describe, awryly, is the political maneuvering and brinkmanship that will take us over the edge.
    It's your system, sunshine. It only works with compromise. And you have fallen in love with extremists. Parliamentary systems work completely differently.

    You compromise or you go down the dunny. That's what your Founding Fathers decreed.
    Last edited by Awryly; 11-13-2012 at 10:22 PM.
    Come sit down beside me I said to myself
    And although it doesn't make sense
    I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
    And together I sat on the fence


    Anon. Very anon.

  6. #35
    Points: 664,068, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 88.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433116
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,304
    Points
    664,068
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,902
    Thanked 80,705x in 54,607 Posts
    Mentioned
    2009 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Awryly View Post
    It's your system, sunshine. It only works with compromise. And you have fallen in love with extremists. Parliamentary systems work completely differently.

    You compromise or you go down the dunny. That's what your Founding Fathers decreed.
    Compromise is failure. If you knew more about Madison you'd understand our government was designed for political contention.

  7. #36
    Points: 664,068, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 88.0%
    Achievements:
    SocialRecommendation Second ClassYour first GroupOverdrive50000 Experience PointsTagger First ClassVeteran
    Awards:
    Discussion Ender
    Chris's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    433116
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Posts
    197,304
    Points
    664,068
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    31,902
    Thanked 80,705x in 54,607 Posts
    Mentioned
    2009 Post(s)
    Tagged
    2 Thread(s)
    Critics argue that Congress has become the "broken branch," marked by extreme partisanship and few achievements. They prescribe nostrums ranging from campaign finance regulation to redistricting reform to foster compromise rather than conflict on Capitol Hill. Yet the American founders, especially James Madison, believed "ambition must be made to counteract ambition" as a way to limit the power of government. The Constitution itself favors broad consent to laws over an efficient implementation of the will of a majority. William Connelly believes many of the "flaws" in Congress identified by critics arise from the Constitution. Please join us for a lively discussion of how and why the Constitution created a Congress marked by conflict, polarization, and partisanship and why that might be a good thing.
    @James Madison Rules America: The Constitutional Origins of Congressional Partisanship where you'll find video expanding on that blurb.

  8. #37
    Original Ranter
    Points: 856,676, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 99.9%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496106
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,090
    Points
    856,676
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    152,933
    Thanked 147,116x in 94,140 Posts
    Mentioned
    2547 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Awryly View Post
    Well, cutting the Bush tax cuts and closing the tax loopholes on wealthy individuals will help, won't it?

    As would removing subsidies for corporates, penalising them for sending jobs offshore, cash to tax havens, and the various other rorts they indulge in to get (as happens in in some cases) their taxes down to 0%.

    Or, FFS, get billions in tax breaks even when they are making billions in profits.
    I can go along with eliminating loopholes for the wealthy, but raising taxes in a weak economy is a bad move. The poor and middle class got much larger (%) cuts than the wealthy under Bush.

    But as I say over and over, it isn't tax revenues that is killing us, it is spending. We took in ~$2.6T last year, BUT spent ~$1.3T more than that. We simply can't raise that much more in taxes.

  9. #38
    Points: 24,520, Level: 38
    Level completed: 14%, Points required for next Level: 1,130
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Social10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awryly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    976
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    12,000 merciful miles from the US
    Posts
    3,031
    Points
    24,520
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    74
    Thanked 146x in 132 Posts
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Peter1469 View Post
    I can go along with eliminating loopholes for the wealthy, but raising taxes in a weak economy is a bad move. The poor and middle class got much larger (%) cuts than the wealthy under Bush.

    But as I say over and over, it isn't tax revenues that is killing us, it is spending. We took in ~$2.6T last year, BUT spent ~$1.3T more than that. We simply can't raise that much more in taxes.
    The rich hold two trillion in cash they are not willing to invest. Trickle-down economics has been shown time and again not to work. The only way to get money out of the rich is to tax them. And tax them heavily.

    As for spending, future generations (including the rich) will have to pay for the excesses of the current generation. Income and asset testing will have to become the norm for entitlements. Lower graduated scales for future state benefits are something you will have to get used to.

    You have been living beyond your means. Welcome to the real world.
    Last edited by Awryly; 11-13-2012 at 10:51 PM.
    Come sit down beside me I said to myself
    And although it doesn't make sense
    I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
    And together I sat on the fence


    Anon. Very anon.

  10. #39
    Points: 24,520, Level: 38
    Level completed: 14%, Points required for next Level: 1,130
    Overall activity: 0.1%
    Achievements:
    Social10000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awryly's Avatar Senior Member
    Karma
    976
    Join Date
    May 2012
    Location
    12,000 merciful miles from the US
    Posts
    3,031
    Points
    24,520
    Level
    38
    Thanks Given
    74
    Thanked 146x in 132 Posts
    Mentioned
    16 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Chris View Post
    This:

    the American founders, especially James Madison, believed "ambition must be made to counteract ambition" as a way to limit the power of government.
    ... means compromise as the only way out.

    The Tea Party's ambition knows no compromise. So it must die if your system is to work.
    Come sit down beside me I said to myself
    And although it doesn't make sense
    I held my own hand as a small sign of trust
    And together I sat on the fence


    Anon. Very anon.

  11. #40
    Original Ranter
    Points: 856,676, Level: 100
    Level completed: 0%, Points required for next Level: 0
    Overall activity: 99.9%
    Achievements:
    SocialCreated Album picturesOverdrive50000 Experience PointsVeteran
    Awards:
    Posting Award
    Peter1469's Avatar Advisor
    Karma
    496106
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    NOVA
    Posts
    241,090
    Points
    856,676
    Level
    100
    Thanks Given
    152,933
    Thanked 147,116x in 94,140 Posts
    Mentioned
    2547 Post(s)
    Tagged
    0 Thread(s)
    Quote Originally Posted by Awryly View Post
    The rich hold two trillion in cash they are not willing to invest. Trickle-down economics has been shown time and again not to work. The only way to get money out of the rich is to tax them. And tax them heavily.

    As for spending, future generations (including the rich) will have to pay for the excesses of the current generation. Income and asset testing will have to become the norm for entitlements. Lower graduated scales for future state benefits are something you will have to get used to.

    You have been living beyond your means. Welcome to the real world.
    Take all income over $1M and run our current budget for 8 months. What next?

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts