56 thoughts on “Raise Taxes”

1. As long as entitlement reduction isn’t part of the discussion I refuse to believe that the Dems actually believe their own rhetoric about the apocalyptic consequences of failure to raise their credit limit. If their only “solution” is to raise taxes, then they can’t be all that worried.

2. I agree Jason, but I’m afraid that they are less worried about the consequences rather than the political hay to be made of it. After all, they have little skin in the game, as their pensions and healthcare is better and different than social security and medicare. To keep that, they need to retain political power, and so, granny, your granny, just might get it (along with the grandkids for decades to come).

3. There were a lot of different things a person could focus on during that press conference. One of them, that Obama would rather be talking about new programs (more spending) or the NFL than reducing the deficit and debt. Another, that Obama said we need to get our revenues in line so that a year or two from now (or maybe next week?) when we are on better financial footing we can spend more money.

   Not one of the reporters asked why it took so long to pass this years budget or why Obama and the Democrats haven’t passed next year’s or why if Obama was so serious about the deficit did he propose a budget with a $1.4t+ deficit.

4. As long as entitlement reduction isn’t part of the discussion

   In what world? In this one Obama and Biden have offered trillions of entitlement reductions. The questions are whether the GOP House will accept a deal with revenue increases, and, if not, whether Obama and the Senate Dems will accept a deal that is 100% spending cuts.

   My guess is that the answers are no and no. In that case we’ll default, and the public will decide which party to blame more.

5. the worst president for blacks, ever

   Worse than Hayes?

6. “…revenue increases…”

   Spew that Democrat Party line. They’re called tax increases. Another typical leftist action, trying to change the lexicon to make robbing people of something look less bad.

7. In this one Obama and Biden have offered trillions of entitlement reductions.

   Evidence please. Particularly like to see the evidence of net reductions equating to trillions.

8. In this one Obama and Biden have offered trillions of entitlement reductions.

   Really? What was their proposal? Be specific.

   And if he’s not worse than Hayes, that’s a pretty low bar.

9. See http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/271694/dems-offer-three-options-debt-limit-andrew-stiles

   Option 3 is about 2 trillion in entitlement cuts, plus a trillion in discretionary spending cuts.

10. Spew that Democrat Party line. They’re called tax increases. Another typical leftist action, trying to change the lexicon to make robbing people of something look less bad.

    I’m using “revenue” because that’s Eric Cantor’s terminology. He has said that he wants no net revenue increase from a debt ceiling deal. I think he uses that term to make it clear that he doesn’t support a deal that would raise revenue by eliminating tax deductions.

11. You justify using a false term because somebody else did. Wow. So logical. We call it BS here Jim.

    Unfortunately, demagogues have to have an enemy. That’s how they work. So if Obama can parade out those in misery he will be able to get all those fools that voted for him to blame others. Fools are fools.

12. The simple fact of the matter is that if we don’t raise the debt ceiling, we do not have the money to pay all of our bills. Either we short “granny” or the bond market, but somebody doesn’t get paid.

    If we don’t pay the bond market, we’ll never be able to borrow again and half the banks in the US will collapse. Banks invest their reserve capital in US Treasuries, which if they are in default are by definition worthless.

    So, raise the debt ceiling or don’t pay social security or don’t pay any government worker, including the military. Pick one.

13. Spew that Democrat Party line. They’re called tax increases. Another typical leftist action, trying to change the lexicon to make robbing people of something look less bad.

    Speaking of changing the lexicon, what is the “Democrat Party”?

    You justify using a false term because somebody else did.

    Do you know who Eric Cantor is?

14. Either we short “granny” or the bond market, but somebody doesn’t get paid.

    What nonsense. The Federal government pulls in $5.9 billion a day, and SS and Medicare have to write checks for about $2.5 billion a day, while the bondholders require $0.5 billion a day in interest. That leaves 5.9 – 2.5 – 0.5 = $2.9 billion a day to spend elsewhere. If you want to fully fund the military, that’ll cost you $1.9 billion a day, leaving a mere $1 billion a day for all other functions of government.

    There’s no doubt that, as you say, somebody doesn’t get paid. But shorting granny or the bond market would be a choice.

15. Option 3 is about 2 trillion in entitlement cuts, plus a trillion in discretionary spending cuts.

    From link:

    •Discretionary cuts: $1.2 trillion

    No details

    •Slightly more significant changes to Medicare (e.g., increase retirement age, means testing, benefit structure)
    •Social Security Consumer Price Indexing (CPI)

    Work longer. If you save while you work, you are taxed but don’t get benefits. If you don’t save, your benefits will be changing. So this is the “shoot grandma” option.

    •“Massive” future savings in out-years

    The best bullet. It’s the “and then something magical happens”. ROFLMAO

    •De-coupling Bush tax rates on upper income brackets

    TAX THE RICH

    •$1 trillion in “new revenues”

    Another, then something magical happens.

    •Comprehensive tax reform, to be completed by agreed upon date

    An Obama promise! Sort of like, “I’ll pull the troops out of Iraq!”, “I’ll be the most transparent administration ever”, “I’ll close Gitmo”, “I’ll end the Patriot Act”, “I’ll stimulate the economy!”, etc.

    I’m back to please provide evidence. Hope and change is a great slogan, but evidence is tangible not unfullfilled promises.

16. Oh, how could I miss it. The proposed trillions in savings!!!!! It’s over 12 years.

    Um, Jim, you ignorant slut. Obama and the Democrat Congress increased spending by +1 Trillion dollars in their very first year. And supposedly that was a one time increase to stimulate the economy. None of the proposals even cut back that spending. So when Jim says “trillions in entitlement reductions”, he really means “less than 100 billion in entitlement spending, much of it to start 3 years from now and after taxes are raised.”

17. Carl Pham – first, since you provide no sources for your revenue and expense figures, I will assume that they are completely inaccurate. Second, the issue isn’t “daily averages.” Taxes aren’t paid daily – they are paid quarterly (mostly) with a large additional boost coming in February – April. Checks are cut on their own schedules, mostly monthly. The question is, “how much money does the government have at hand right now?”

    The Treasury Department, AKA, “the people we pay to keep track of the money” say we need to raise the debt limit by August 2 because otherwise we won’t have enough money in hand. They actually said that back in April – they did some juggling of payments (pension fundings, among others) to get us this far.

    So, yes, it really is “short Grandma or the bond market.”

18. “The proposed trillions in savings!!!!! It’s over 12 years.

    Yep, and when McConnell asked the OMB specifically how much next years non-discretionary spending cuts that Joe Biden’s group proposed would be it amounts to a paltry 2 Billion dollars — that’s billion with a B. Or about how much money falls out, rolls across the floor, and gets lost under the sofa when the politicians raid the social security trust fund drawer. And besides, if tax increases were such an integral part of getting the economy balanced then why does Obama’s proposed tax increases not take effect till 2013? It’s almost like there is something that happens between now and then that might become upset if he were to immediately pump up tax rates. Not sure what that could be though…… 😐

    But Obama can threaten to starve Granny all he wants. I don’t even think it’s possible to stop the printing presses that chug out the checks. Hell, it’d no doubt greatly add costs to the system to gracefully bring the presses down and then start them back up again when the budgets get passed.

19. Obama and the Democrat Congress increased spending by +1 Trillion dollars in their very first year.

    ARRA was about a half-trillion.

    And supposedly that was a one time increase to stimulate the economy.

    Are you under the impression that ARRA was passed more than once?

    Yep, and when McConnell asked the OMB specifically how much next years non-discretionary spending cuts that Joe Biden’s group proposed would be it amounts to a paltry 2 Billion dollars – that’s billion with a B. …. And besides, if tax increases were such an integral part of getting the economy balanced then why does Obama’s proposed tax increases not take effect till 2013?

    It’s almost as if Obama and Biden recognize that the economy is very weak, and that for the next couple years unemployment is a bigger threat than the deficit.

20. I got them from Wikipedia, Chris. They’re available many places, so go ahead and google if you have trust issues. The one extra step I took was to multiply Wikipedia’s “Social Security” category by 0.75, because I believe about 25% of SS payments are disability SS, not old-age pensions. That’s a form of charity, and has nothing to do with grandma per se. I also divided “Medicare/Medicaid” in half, because I think only about half of that category is Medicare, grandma’s health care bills, versus Medicaid, which is charity medical care for the poor.

    Second, the issue isn’t “daily averages.” Taxes aren’t paid daily – they are paid quarterly (mostly) with a large additional boost coming in February – April.

    Well, first of all, you’re wrong. Taxes withheld from your paycheck — you do earn a paycheck, right? — must be deposited electronically with the government either every month or every two weeks, depending on some rules that made my eyes glaze over as soon as I tried to read them. There’s certainly a surge on the quarter dates and April 15, coming from people who earn irregular income, are entrepreneurs, businesses, and so on. But quite a lot of blood money flows into the hopper in a regular way.

    Secondly, I made it a daily average just to make it easier to compare the numbers, and see exactly the amount of crap of which you are full. But you really want to claim the real issue is a cash flow problem? The government has the money, it’s just all in tax arrears right now or a big Christmas bonus?

    If anything, that greatly undercuts your point, since there are any number of ways the world’s largest taxing and spending authority can get around the mere difficulty of moving money from October to September and back again. If the issue is just that we need to cover a little gap between the paycheck and rent check, it loses a lot of its urgency.

21. Hey, remember back when Jim was trying to convince everyone that tax rates have no effect on employment?

22. It’s almost as if Obama and Biden recognize that the economy is very weak, and that for the next couple years unemployment is a bigger threat than the deficit.

    But Jim, what if we’re right, and unemployment is caused by the deficit — meaning caused by a giant capital grab by government, plus the greatly increased meddling that implies?

    See, there’s the problem. Every time you folks try to meddle with the economy it gets sicker, or at least takes longer to get well. It’s almost like you’re a bunch of witch doctors who haven’t a real clue what you’re doing, and when the patient spikes a fever you start bleeding him. So then he faints. My God he’s getting worse! We need to do more! You rub mercury on his belly and ask him to job in place while wearing magic magnetic bracelets. And so on.

    Try leaving him alone. You don’t know what you’re doing. Honestly, I’d be the first to sign onto your merry crewe if there was evidence that you do — that macroeconomics was the equivalent of 21st century and not 11th century medicine.

23. Carl Pham – First, by your own admission, your numbers are BS. Social Security disability and Medicaid are not “charity,” they are obligations of the US government. We, via the democratically-elected government, said we’d pay them, so they are due. Since Congress authorized them, the President has to pay them (or short them equally) – otherwise you just gave Obama a line-item veto. So, to figure out how much money we owe, add those numbers back in.

    Second, the way we can “get around the mere difficulty of moving money” is to borrow it, which means increasing the debt limit. No, the government does not have the money, which is why it needs to borrow. The issue of when the drop-dead date is does hinge on revenue vs. expense. Your withholding model completely ignores corporate income tax and the employer’s portion of SS and Medicare, which is not paid monthly.

    The bottom line – even the Wall Street Journal gets it when they say The debt ceiling is going to be increased one way or another, and the only question has been what if anything Republicans could get in return. Anything else is a default, and it will make 2008’s crash look like a picnic.

24. Carl Pham – What “capital grab?” If the US Government were having to compete with the private sector for capital, then the T-bill rate would be up. It’s not – it’s low. Regarding “meddling” – what meddling? Letting GM go bankrupt and liquidate would be good? As opposed to fixing them so they can hire people and make a profit? Goverment spending is exactly how we got out of the Great Depression. You can see unemployment and other economic indicators march in lock-step with government stimulus spending.

25. “It’s almost as if Obama and Biden recognize that the economy is very weak, and that for the next couple years unemployment is a bigger threat than the deficit.

    Uh, no….Having a looming tax increase sitting out on the horizon is going to have businesses sitting on their hands for the next 2 years waiting to see what the impact of said increases are going to be on their bottom line (you know, like they already are with Obamacare). It’s an ever changing tax and regulatory regime that will most assuredly keep business leaders in limbo. It’s the very same dynamic that had unemployment climb past the 8 percent number that the Stimulus was designed to save us from. Regulatory uncertainty is what has been driving the number of disaffected workers through the roof. And it’s not just the incoherent policies that has the economy in a flat spin. Who knows what or who Obama is going to demagog next week. He’s already called out fat cat bankers, doctors who lob off feet, private pilots that zoom around the skies laughing at the little starving children down below, or best selling authors that have been shirking their responsibility to society all along. Who’s next? What number on the enemies list are we down to next? What has Obama done at all in the last 3 years to give any indication that he really gives two flips about jobs, or the deficit, in any way?

26. They’re not BS, Chris. You said “either granny or the bondholder’s get shorted.” I came up with quantitative measures of (1) how much was owed to granny and the bondholders, and (2) how much income there was to pay them. Which showed that your head was firmly up your arse.

    Now you’re saying you meant to lump poor unemployed crack addict mothers of five in LA into your “granny” category? Or possibly “bondholders?” Strange. Try to frame your bombastic assertions more carefully next time.

    the way we can “get around the mere difficulty of moving money” is to borrow it

    Of course. But the government has many ways to do that, from moving money from one account to another, to changing the dates on which it pays people, and so on. Anybody does. If I really need an extra $100 right now, one option is to not pay the cable bill. They’ll just send me another one next month with a late charge tacked on. And so on. In any event, the government has many ways to finagle money around its gigantic balance sheet without going out and selling Treasury bonds. You don’t think they go sell 30-day Treasury bonds when some ordinary hiccup in revenue or outflow comes up, do you?

    Your withholding model completely ignores corporate income tax and the employer’s portion of SS and Medicare, which is not paid monthly.

    The IRS disagrees with you, Chris. Relevant quotes from IRS Publication 15: “In general, you must deposit federal income tax withheld and both the employer and employee social security and Medicare taxes. You must use electronic funds transfer to make all federal tax deposits” and a little further down “There are two deposit schedules—monthly and semiweekly—for determining when you deposit social security, Medicare, and withheld income taxes. These schedules tell you when a deposit is due after a tax liability arises (for example, when you have a payday).”

    The bottom line…the debt ceiling is going to be increased one way or another

    Probably. But your assertion, that if it doesn’t, either granny or the bondholders must take it in the shorts, is false. That’s my point. Now that it’s been rudely shoved down your throat with maximum public humiliation — when will you learn the futiility of arguing with me? — you can carry off those goalposts to wherever you want ’em.

27. But Jim, what if we’re right, and unemployment is caused by the deficit — meaning caused by a giant capital grab by government

    If the economy was short on capital, interest rates would be high. They’re low. The deficit is a symptom of a sick economy, not its cause.

    Every time you folks try to meddle with the economy it gets sicker

    Immediately cutting 40% of federal spending would constitute “meddling” with the economy to an unprecedented degree.

28. Having a looming tax increase sitting out on the horizon is going to have businesses sitting on their hands for the next 2 years waiting to see what the impact of said increases are going to be on their bottom line

    We have been in that state for a decade, since the GOP put an expiration date on the Bush tax cuts. A bipartisan “grand deal” like the one Obama is pushing would reduce uncertainty about future tax rates.

29. If the economy was short on capital, interest rates would be high. They’re low. The deficit is a symptom of a sick economy, not its cause.

    You mean, in the absence of a massive printing of money? Could be. But you also, like the Fed, may be confusing genuine capital — savings plus ingenuity plus confidence — with funny money that can be borrowed easily, and short term “stimulus” from government that would convince someone with a 60-day attention span to go out and buy something.

    Immediately cutting 40% of federal spending would constitute “meddling” with the economy to an unprecedented degree.

    Only in the sense that a 200 pound man getting off of the 98 pound granny on which he’s been sitting would strongly “meddle” with her ability to move around.

30. You don’t think they go sell 30-day Treasury bonds when some ordinary hiccup in revenue or outflow comes up, do you?

    No, which is why the government is still in business today, despite hitting the debt ceiling in May. But when the Treasury is only bringing in 60% of what it’s spending it runs out of cushion pretty quickly — i.e. on August 2. At that point the Treasury has to break a law, either borrowing beyond the debt ceiling or not spending money that Congress ordered it to spend. Since anything they do will break some law, they might as well stiff the recipients who are most likely to create pressure for a speedy resolution of the crisis, i.e. bondholders and grannies.

31. Only in the sense that a 200 pound man getting off of the 98 pound granny on which he’s been sitting would strongly “meddle” with her ability to move around.

    You can’t be serious. An immediate $1.5T cut in federal spending would throw millions of people out of work. We’ve lost a half-million government jobs in this crisis already — how’s that working out?

32. You can’t be serious. An immediate $1.5T cut in federal spending would throw millions of people out of work. We’ve lost a half-million government jobs in this crisis already — how’s that working out?

    It’s a start. 🙂

33. Obama is doing something that occurs in even the smallest towns and villages when they town leaders want to raise taxes:

    In my town when the leaders want to raise taxes, they threaten to lay off teachers, police and firemen.

    They NEVER threaten to stop the periodic street cleaning by those monster street cleaning rotary brush machines.

    Or never suggest that the cemetery will be mowed every other week.

    Without a mainstream media to display the silliness of Obama’s threats, he gets away with it.

    I fear the GOP is going to screw up – cave in like they did in the Continuing Resolution fight and try to trick everyone with bogus cuts. The CR fight was far less of a threat and the GOP caved.

34. “You can’t be serious. An immediate $1.5T cut in federal spending would throw millions of people out of work. We’ve lost a half-million government jobs in this crisis already — how’s that working out?”

    Very well. Throw out millions more. End the Dept of Education, Energy, Health, Commerce, go to a flat tax and reduce the IRS to a laptop and a retiree.

    Eliminate these:

    * Administration for Children and Families (ACF)
    * Administration for Native Americans
    * Administration on Aging (AoA)
    * Administration on Developmental Disabilities
    * Administrative Committee of the Federal Register
    * Administrative Conference of the United States
    * Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts
    * Advisory Council on Historic Preservation
    * African Development Foundation
    * Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)
    * Agency for International Development
    * Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
    * Agricultural Marketing Service
    * Agricultural Research Service
    *
    * Appalachian Regional Commission
    * Architect of the Capitol
    * Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board)

    * Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Interagency Coordinating Committee

    And that’s just the A’s

    Obtained from:

    http://www.usa.gov/Agencies/Federal/All_Agencies/index.shtml

35. OK, I’ll ‘play’ granny, as I’m one the Charity Cases on SSD.

    I’ve said here, elsewhere and most often to my elected offals at the Federal level that they NEED to cut the ‘entitlements’. I’ve suggested other cuts too. But I always start with ME when I write them. And I sing the same song.

    I’d rather keep getting 3/4 or 2/3 of what I now get, than face the INEVITABLE of NOT receiving 100% of what I get NOW!

    I don’t care who says they can solve this, it’s BS. The ONLY two tings that will solve this is LESS spending and MORE income from working people and operating companies. Neither of those things are going to happen with the current occupants of the WH sitting there. He thinks HE can run the economy better than business people with experience running things can run the economy. Yeah, so can my grandkids!

    I don’t think many of the Old Guard GWB Republicans get it either.

    They want to ‘manage’ the economy so that all their Pet Projects / Business Sectors / Industries can keep helping them get re-elected. They realize that this will create more jobs. But those jobs are supporting THAT old guard more than it does the country or the people.

    Both sides need to step the hell out of the way AFTER lowering taxes AND gub’ment spending.
    .
    .
    .
    And Jim, why is it that you come here?

    I get that you firmly believe what you say.

    But your like a guy on a Yamaha 600, wearing a new denim jacket, board shorts and tennis shoes, who keeps waking into a Hells Angels bar. You’re just going to keep getting your @$$ kicked and none of the HA’s are going to join you on a ride!

    You’re not going to change anyone’s mind, why bother?

36. In my town when the leaders want to raise taxes, they threaten to lay off teachers, police and firemen.

    They NEVER threaten to stop the periodic street cleaning by those monster street cleaning rotary brush machines.

    Towns spend much more on teachers, police and firemen than they do on street cleaning. When you need to find savings, you go where the money is.

    To immediately balance the federal budget we could keep defense, Social Security, Medicare, and interest on the debt, but we’d have to eliminate absolutely everything else. That means VA benefits, Medicaid, unemployment benefits, food stamps, government pensions, all NSF and NIH research, food inspection, interstate highways, air traffic control, the weather service, FEMA, national parks, border security, the Coast Guard, federal courts, federal prisons, etc. — everything.

    If you want to keep any of those smaller things — the “street sweepers” of the federal budget — you have to cut the big items: defense, Social Security, and Medicare. All three of which send money to predominantly Republican constituencies.

37. AFTER lowering taxes

    Federal revenue is currently 15% of GDP, the lowest it’s been in decades. Meanwhile, we have an older population than ever before, and health care costs more than ever before. And you think revenue should be even lower?

    And Jim, why is it that you come here?

    Duty Calls

38. It like the obese person that says I’ll start a diet next month.
    Any plan that does not cut actual spending (not projected increases)
    starting today is a deception. Any real plan needs to start cutting today.

    If you fund all the legislated entitlements, and promised retirement checks for those already retired, the IRS and pay interest on the debt at real rates(not funny money fed printing rates) then you have ZERO extra to fund anything else. No military, no courts, no FBI, no congress,no EPA, no ag subsidies, no Department of Ed, no CIA, no nothing. So if we are EVER going to reach a balanced budget it needs to start today with some kind of entitlement cut.

39. “Towns spend much more on teachers, police and firemen than they do on street cleaning. When you need to find savings, you go where the money is.”

    Clearly the concept of example is lost upon you.

    And your response betrays the mindset of a lot of libs:

    Before – *BEFORE* – I lay off one fireman, I cut EVERYTHING that isn’t absolutely required. If you did that first, I would at least have a little respect for your position. We would be debating hard choices, and that’s a reasonable debate. But you don’t want that.

    What you (and the town leaders) are saying is cut the fireman and keep the street sweeper.

    I have no respect for that. Zero. The Dems are saying that this huge bloated stinking colossus of a Fed government is ALL required. And if they don’t get their way, Granny gets thrown under the bus.

    And I don’t agree that the list of street sweeper-like items amounts to nothing. First off you cut the street sweeper’s job. You sell the sweeper truck, and save on the gas. You cut the cemetery staff in half and so the cemetery grass gets mowed less often. And on and on.

    I posted a lot of major Federal departments that need to be eliminated long before Granny’s SS check is ever spoken about. People get cut along with those departments. And I only covered the A’s.

    Sorry – don’t threaten granny until you’ve done SOMETHING first.

40. Jim Says:

    “Federal revenue is currently 15% of GDP, the lowest it’s been in decades. Meanwhile, we have an older population than ever before, and health care costs more than ever before. And you think revenue should be even lower?”

    Step 1 – learn the difference between revenue and rates.

    Step 2 – find out why the revenue is low – hint: it has a lot to do with rates and the recession.

41. I have to give Jim credit, the duty calls link was just perfect.

42. And Jim, why is it that you come here?

    He ran out of Prozac.

43. Any plan that does not cut actual spending (not projected increases)
    starting today is a deception. Any real plan needs to start cutting today.

    The 1990 deal that George H.W. Bush signed did not cut spending immediately — spending still grew year over year — but it was a huge success. It paved the way for the dramatic drop in deficits that we saw under Clinton.

    We don’t have to cut anything today, any more than a person who’s just been laid off needs to immediately pay down his mortgage. His first priority should be getting another job, even if he has to borrow some money to travel to interviews or take a training course. We have millions of unemployed workers who could be contributing to the economy. They aren’t unemployed because the government is spending too much; they might be unemployed because the government laid them off in order to cut spending. More of that is going in the wrong direction.

44. “…even if he has to borrow some money to travel to interviews or take a training course…”

    And if it takes him 3 or 4 years to find another job at the old income level, is the “loaner” supposed to just wait!?

    Jim do you truly think that the issue is PAYING DOWN THE MORTGAGE? The issue is NOT continuing to spend like he still has a paycheck. He has to stop going to Starbucks like he still has a paycheck. He has to quit planning golf trips with his buddies like he still has a paycheck, and look for the BEST way to get a job.

    The Obama crowd acts like they can create jobs, and tax revenue by making federal jobs. They overlook the part where that federal employee is upside down on paying taxes versus their take home pay and benefits.

    A trillion and a half dollars ago Mr Obama said that money would keep the Unemployment Rate below 8%. It’s been almost 1.5% above that mark for the entire time SINCE he spent the money.

    THAT’S why we are a little skeptical about MORE spending. And be assured many of us were against the GWB spending too. This isn’t racism or politics to us. It’s basic math.

    You (we / I / the government[s] )cannot spend more than you (I / they/ we ) make indefinitely.

45. They are unemployed because the government got too big and too overbearing and drove the jobs out of country.

    Things like the Chrysler and GM bankruptcy where “who you know is more important than the Laws as written dried up any outside investment in the U.S. We have fallen in the economic freedom rankings every year in the last 5.

    The chickens have come home to roost, and unless we fix the reasons the jobs left, they are not coming back.

    Start with the corporate tax rate in the top 10%
    for all industrialized nations. Start with the 50+% federal and then add state tax rates for productive people. (Not 35% income 15% SSI etc…)

    I love it when people say our top tax rate is only 35% compared to xxx country, alas the fail to add the SSI, etc… , double taxation on corporate profits etc….

    Note that 15% of GDP revenue is low, but what is it as a percentage of non government GDP, government”s parasitic GDP is way up and the private protion of GDP is way down. The parasite has grown so big its killing the host.

    The Ayn Rand quote:
    When you see that trading is done, not by consent, but by compulsion – when you see that in order to produce, you need to obtain permission from men who produce nothing – when you see that money is flowing to those who deal, not in goods, but in favors – when you see that men get richer by graft and by pull than by work, and your laws don’t protect you against them, but protect them against you – when you see corruption being rewarded and honesty becoming a self-sacrifice – you may know that your society is doomed.

46. …know who Eric Cantor is?

    No Jim. I’m too ignorant to know the majority leader in the house. How does that change your illogic?

47. From the Church of Jim articles of faith…

    They aren’t unemployed because the government is spending too much

    This blog has posted research that says just the opposite.

    When your foundation is sand, the house of cards will not stand.

48. “Immediately cutting 40% of federal spending would constitute “meddling” with the economy to an unprecedented degree.”

    No, that would constitute ceasing to meddle in the economy.

49. “And Jim, why is it that you come here?

    I get that you firmly believe what you say. ”

    Things are a lot more interesting with Jim around.

50. Sorry wodun, I disagree – I find it painful.

    While a lot of folks have expended a lot of energy explaining why Jim and Chris are wrong, they never learn and just keep on coming back with more idiocy. It’s like the story of the bear and the hunter – “you’re not really here for the hunting, are you?” They seem to have a masochistic desire to be made to look like fools.

    Mind you I do appreciate all the fantastic information offered in rebuttal to their foolishness. The lessons I’ve learned almost make the pain worthwhile.

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