Raise taxes.

[W_HAMILTON]

I know it's not popular, because the teabagger types hate all things taxes, and even we progressives think other programs should be cut to pay for some of the more important governmental programs.

Next, I don't want to get into a discussion about whether or not something is really "running out of money" or not, because I know those arguments as well.

Having said that, how hard would it be to raise FICA by 1%? Or FUTA? Or increase the amount of the taxable base under FUTA?

Both sides bitch and moan about our deficit, but no one seems to be willing to pay more in taxes. I am still in my 20s, but I would gladly pay more in taxes to ensure the long-term viability of these programs.

Of course, I still want to see some expenditures cut (we spend too much for defense and we need to reduce our military presence abroad), and I think the extremely rich should pay more in taxes because of how they've used and profited from our country in recent years, but that doesn't mean I'm opposed to paying more taxes myself.

[Taverner]

1. Yes. Especially in California.

Raise all taxes, across the board, by .5%

We need the cash, and the ONLY option here is to raise taxes.

[anonymous171]

2. I am all for taxing the shit out of the rich

If they refuse to pay or try to get out of it in any way I would also support sending them to prison for life.

[NoNothing]

3. What if they just leave the country?

Are you going to forbid emigration?

[anonymous171]

5. Personal emigration? No

Capital Emigration? Maybe.

[laughingliberal]

9. Not many places they can go where they won't pay taxes. nt

[NoNothing]

11. True

But jack the rates up and there are lots of places that they won't have to pay as much.

[Tesha]

13. They won't leave. The alternatives in the civilized world mostly have higher taxes.

They could go to a very few true tax havens, but a rapid influx of ex-pat
US wealthy will eventually drive up prices in such places to the point where
it would be cheaper to stay here and pay their taxes. The alternative is
third-world low tax places and they won't go there.

Tesha

[NoNothing]

20. The top income tax rate in, e.g. England

Is 40%. Are you calling England a third-world country?

[Statistical]

54. Yeah most countries don't have a highest marginal tax rate much higher than US.

http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/tax_hig_mar_tax_rat_ind_rat-highest-marginal-tax-rate-individual

France: 48%, Italy: 43%, Germany: 42%, Ireland: 40%, Japan: 37%, Finland: 32%, Spain 29%, Sweden: 25%, Hong Kong 20%

Also remember Income tax in US is broken into federal & state (average of 7%).

So while we likely should raise taxes on the rich some of this talk like 99% marginal tax rates is simply a pipe dream.

[abelenkpe]

16. Where are they gonna go

the whole world is part of the economic crisis. You think they're gonna go live somewhere and escape taxes?

[W_HAMILTON]

44. Where are they going to go?

To one of those "evil socialist" countries with even higher tax rates than ours? To China, where the government can seize all their wealth if they so choose to? Where else are they going to go?

[dems_rightnow]

4. Taxes aren't the answer

If we had a 100% tax (120% on the rich,) Congress would spend it all, and demand more.

[laughingliberal]

8. Seems we were in a LOT better shape in the working and middle classes pre-Reagan

when the top rate was 74%. All the problems seem to have started since he lowered the top rate, increased the payroll tax, and deregulated everything that was not nailed down.

[NoNothing]

14. What?

I'm guessing you didn't live through the stagflation era? No, what gutted the middle class was the loss of huge numbers of manufacturing jobs, starting in the seventies.

[laughingliberal]

23. I did live through those years

and wages were still going up in the 70's.

[dems_rightnow]

24. Not as fast as infation was

What good are higher wages that buy less?

[laughingliberal]

27. Okay, then roll the tax rates back to pre 1964 when the top rate was 91%

Perhaps Johnson lowering the top rate to 74% was our downfall. I do know the stagnating/declining wages of the working and middle class has been consistent now for 30 years. And I'm pissed off they used my payroll taxes to cover the income tax cuts for the wealthy all these years and now want to tell me SS is broke.

Here's a link to some analysis of the various decades.

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/6Economy.htm

[Hannah Bell]

50. you're mistaken.

[trackfan]

48. I lived through the stagflation era.

Things are a lot worse now.

[Hannah Bell]

49. I did. we were much better off.

[Tesha]

15. Are you sure you're on the right website? (NT)

[dems_rightnow]

21. Thinking Congress spends too much money

is a merely Republican notion? It's a factual matter. They'll spend EVERYTHING we send them, no matter how much it is.

[ellenfl]

25. like the dod.

when they submit their budget, they always ask for at least what they got the prior year. they NEVER ask for less because they don't want to lose their place. :eyes:

what we really need to do is convince the teabaggers that the dod budget is the taxpayer money black hole.

ellen fl

[Tesha]

41. No, the faux-Democrats of the DLC like that notion as well. (NT)

[dems_rightnow]

42. Then I guess I'm one of them

You're welcome to your "Keep spending" ideas.

[Zoeisright]

56. How stupid.

Of course taxes are the answer. They are the government's source of income. How exactly do you expect to pay for the army, roads, food safety, clean water, and medical research without money?

That sounds like a meme from the other side of the aisle.

[Winterblues]

57. How did we ever survive as a country for two hundred years?

Your cynicism is not exactly realistic..

[onehandle]

6. Just return to Reagan era tax rates. Call it the 'Ronnie's Tax.'

What are conservatives going to do? Attack Reagan?

[abelenkpe]

17. lol!

That was awesome. I'm all for it.

[laughingliberal]

7. I do not agree with another across the board payroll tax increase until they restore more

progressivity to the income tax code. Our payroll taxes have funded the tax cuts for the wealthy for 30 years. Raise the top rate, lift the cap on FICA. Cut some military spending. Then we'll talk about my working class butt paying more of my fair share. And not until then.

[Roselma]

10. From an

old person in her 50's, you make good points. Nobody wants to pay taxes, but the taxes we pay today are not particularly high compared to the taxes paid in other industrialized countries. When a family has heavy debt and wants to maintain its lifestyle while paying down its debt, the family will determine that it must increase its income. Maybe the adults will take better jobs or add part time jobs, but the family will do what it takes. Our government needs to make some unpopular choices, and we ALL need to grow up about what government MUST do to increase revenues. That way, our younger citizens won't have a bleak and depressing future. Taxes are going to have to go up.

[Zywiec]

12. What do you do with your family budget?

Do you always look to find a new or additional job to increase your family's income, or do you try to find things that you can cut out to reduce your spending?

For me, first I would cut everything except the very basic necessities. Only after that would I look at opportunities to increase income if needed.

[laughingliberal]

34. It's a problem that people think running the US economy works the same as their checkbook

Cutting back on spending too much threatens to strangle recovery in its crib. Some spending will, over time, increase revenue. For instance, spending that spurs job growth will increase the tax base and, therefore, revenue.

In addition to that, I think it should now be obvious that the stagnation of wages for working and middle class Americans has been in full swing starting with the tax cuts at the top with Reagan. It is past time to restore some progressivity to the tax code.

[W_HAMILTON]

Well, if I had an easy option to make more money, I would do that.

And if I cut out expenses, it wouldn't be for necessities. I consider social programs like Medicare, Social Security, unemployment compensation, etc as necessities.

As I said in my original post, I understand that everyone wants to either (1) not pay taxes at all or (2) cut out something before they have to pay more in taxes. But I don't think a slight increase in taxes is going to truly hurt anyone.

[Hannah Bell]

51. there's no resemblance between a family & a national budget. for one thing, a family budget

couldn't run a deficit for nearly 200 years.

but if you want to deepen the depression, by all means, "economize".

pennywise, pound foolish.

[jrodefeld]

18. A balanced budget is the goal

We cannot raise taxes enough to cover the cost of insolvent government programs. We need to cut spending dramatically. A read a statistic recently that said that if Americans were taxed enough to fully cover the federal spending we would ALL (rich and poor) be paying approximately 95% of our income to the government each year. You cannot simply shift around the tax burden or tinker with the tax code and solve this problem. We no longer produce anything. Our spending comes from borrowing from other countries (which won't last) and the Federal Reserve simply printing money to cover the shortfall (which simply leads to inflation and a reduced standard of living for the middle class).

I'm glad you recognize the waste in the defense budget and our expansive empire abroad, and I would agree that we need to slash the military budget by half (or more). But that is not enough. Entire departments, bureaucracies, and wasteful programs of all varieties should be up for grabs. We should not even be THINKING about adding new programs or spending obligations (health care, welfare programs, etc) until we have lived in a sustainable fashion for a period of time. We need to once again establish confidence in our system and prosperity to our people and that will not happen until we shed the excesses and burdens that have weighted down our economy for the past few decades.

When I hear the argument that we need higher taxes to deal with the deficit or maintain viability in our programs, I think that you are putting too much faith in our politicians to be responsible and actually use the increased revenue in the correct manner. They will simply increase spending on further programs and get us deeper into a hole, and NOT spend it on deficit reduction or maintainability of current obligations.

I say cut spending first, balance the budget, prove to us that you can be responsible stewards to the peoples money, THEN we can talk about raising taxes.

[laughingliberal]

35. Cut too much spending now and be prepared to see a repeat of 1937

It is way past time to restore progressivity to the tax code. We are seeing the results of cutting taxes at the top over 30 years and trying to balance the budget on the backs of the working and middle classes. The result is a disappearing working and middle class. The reason for high rates at the top, before we had voodoo economics forced on us, was that the wealthy, in order to avoid the high tax rates, were forced to invest or donate which did keep the economy growing as the money circulated. Now, they just hoard the money and we have the greatest income disparity we've seen since before the last depression.

[Edweird]

19. I'm all for a progressive tax structure. Bring back 90% tax on the highest earners.

Wanna leave? Go ahead. But your assets stay.

[NoNothing]

26. How is that remotely enforceable?

Shifting money across borders is about the easiest thing I can imagine.

[laughingliberal]

29. Oh, alright. I guess we should just keep slaving away here while the wealthy continue skating

How foolish to think we should return to a progressive tax code, here and make a stab at a civilized nation.

[Edweird]

31. You're kidding, right?

It's completely enforceable.

[abelenkpe]

22. didn't someone

like Rachel Maddow recently say something like: Republicans want people to believe we can lower taxes and reduce the deficit? Maybe I have that wrong. Heard it somewhere though.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

28. Yes, but only the IDIOTS on both sides bitch and moan about our deficit

Raising taxes, even on the rich, would be immensely destructive to this economy.

The deficit is the stimulus.

It is not a side-effect. The mechanism of stimulus is to spend money you do not have.

There is no good argument for deficit reduction right now, whether by reducing spending or raising taxes.

If anyone wants to raise taxes on the rich and spend every penny of it so that it is a deficit neutral move, fine. Go for it. But we cannot responsibly reduce the deficit right now.

[laughingliberal]

38. With states teetering on the brink of bankruptcy and unemployment still this high

I see no problem being able to spend any revenue we get from restoring a progressive tax system.

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

55. Yes. Taxing the rich while not reducing the deficit is cool.

That's a social justice move more than an economic move.

Just don't cut the deficit right now.

[Hannah Bell]

52. exactly. cutting the deficit = more business failures & job losses, less social spending,

& vicious downward cycle.

[baldguy]

30. Cut the DoD budget in half.

[HughBeaumont]

32. Yes. Taxophobes are some hilarious people

I mean, Bewsh came up with some huge damned mental dumps during his debacle, but I don't think any are as massive as his incredulous notion of keeping his tax cuts PERMANENT.

You know, I'm not getting where all of the believers of the Reagan/Bewsh rhetoric got it etched in their microscopic minds that having decades of lower and lower taxation ("Cut Tax's FEREVER!!") and all of this printing of funny money in order to "stimulate the economy" would never lead to having a giant Bill of Stark Reality come due.

Let's start with making the rich pay their fair share on everything (FICA, SS, etc), and install a .025 trade transaction tax. They won't even miss it.

[laughingliberal]

37. Thank you! And I believe our current President promised to roll back the Bush tax cuts

I don't think that's nearly far enough but it's a start.

[Kyril Enko]

33. NOOOOOOO!!!!! Cut taxes and start another war, dammit!!!

Don't you love LIBERTY?????

:cry:

[era veteran]

36. This country provided the vehicle for the rich to accumulate wealth

Taxes are what the country gets back. I believe it is Patriotic to pay taxes. Then government should spend it wisely. The rich seem to live in a kiss up kick down culture. Tacky

[W_HAMILTON]

47. I do, too.

Was it Joe Biden that said it was patriotic to pay taxes, and the media eviscerated him? I thought that was ridiculous. I think it is patriotic to pay taxes.

[leftstreet]

39. RAISE WAGES n/t

[OneTenthofOnePercent]

40. No. Taxes don't need raised. Tax revenue needs raised.

Loopholes and tax sheleters allow the wealthy to pay a much lower tax rate than most americans. The weathly have attouneys scouring the tax code to protect their money and politicians in their pockets creating loopholes. When "taxes are raised", the middle class and small businesses get hit the hardest.

No taxes do not need to be higher. Wee either need to eliminate some loopholes and shelters or start taxing cap gains at a higher rate.
Alternatively a fair & flat tax, without deductions or loopholes for the wealthy would allow a very low percentage.

After the first taste of Obama and the people he has running things... I doubt they target they wealthy like they should.

[951-Riverside]

43. "I know it's not popular, because the teabagger types hate all things taxes"

So, people who don't like higher taxes are teabaggers?

I am sick and tired of the dumbasses in government wasting massive amounts of money then turning around and demanding more. Instead of "gladly" paying more maybe you should ask your politicians to be more accountable for the money they spend and demand they make lobbying a felony punishable by 10 years in federal prison (..yes I know it'll never happen but a guy can always dream :) ).

[W_HAMILTON]

46. There is a difference in "higher taxes" and simply "taxes."

Teabaggers seem to believe that they owe the Federal government nothing. I would say that most progressives at least accept the existence of taxes, while it's obvious we all disagree about how they should be levied.

I wouldn't mind a slight increase in my taxes to help pay for social programs that benefit the citizens of our nation. I somehow don't think teabaggers would agree.

[WillyT]

45. Did Somebody Say "Taxes" ???

:evilgrin:

[4_TN_TITANS]

53. Less war first.

I'm not opposed to paying more taxes, but the MIC needs to be hacked down more than I need a tax increase.