Trickle-down is a scam, extending the Bush tax cut is wrong:

[digimon7068]

Ok.

Seriously though...

The fact of the matter is that Bush lost 670k private sector jobs during a pretty remarkable economic growth period. Ironically, Bush presided over a pretty strong public sector growth period.

I understand how theoretically tax cuts for the wealthy are supposed to work, but reality shows that it hasnt been doing anything close.

Einstein and the whole insanity definition kind of applies.

the actual fact of the matter is that...roads and schools and stoplights and fire trucks and flak jackets and tanks and guns and bombs and f-18's cost like a SHITLOAD (technical financial term) of money...and right now we don't have any...taxes are gonna go up...and the middle class is gonna pick up most of the tab (because they are the biggest group in the tax-paying population...it's a fucking bell-curve for chrissakes!!!)...and i didn't make up the rules...and, while we're on the subject of rules...owning a home is not a right, it's a privilege...being able to retire some day is not a right, it's a privilege...access to the best health care that the world has to offer is not a right, it's a privilege...fuck, getting a gawddamn driver's license is not a right, it's a privilige...in the u.s. we have certain "rights", and they are here FOR OUR CITIZENS, but honestly??? those rights are pretty damn few. everything else is a privilege...and privileges are earned through hard work...13 more months of unemployment ain't gonna earn you any privileges...there are jobs to be had...get the fuck off your ass and go back to work! oh and, you're probably gonna earn a little less for a little while...welcome to the new world order!

i'm a republican...and i approve of this message.

 

[stevesmi]

my gf is being sent off to the navy for 3 years and it pisses me off that some people are crying about their taxes being too high. she is putting her neck on the line to defend the country and her salary is with federal taxpayer dollars. when you put your neck on the line or have a loved one put their neck on the line you can bitch about your taxes.

this tax bill has something for democrats (cuts taxes for lower and middle class and extends unemployment benefits) and something for republicans (cuts taxes for the rich)

so everyone should be happy

 

[digimon7068]

my gf is being sent off to the navy for 3 years and it pisses me off that some people are crying about their taxes being too high. she is putting her neck on the line to defend the country and her salary is with federal taxpayer dollars. when you put your neck on the line or have a loved one put their neck on the line you can bitch about your taxes.

this tax bill has something for democrats (cuts taxes for lower and middle class and extends unemployment benefits) and something for republicans (cuts taxes for the rich)

so everyone should be happy

except you...because, as i said above, the machinery, equipment and supplies that you're gf relies on to do her job (and that you rely on to protect her while she's doing her job) costs a LOT of money...and the u.s. doesn't have any money...and tax cuts ain't gonna help that situation...so, there's a pretty good chance that your gf and her co-workers will not have all the stuff that they need to do their job properly.

if i don't have the proper tools to do my job...maybe i lose a client.

if your gf doesn't have the proper tools to do her job...maybe she comes home in a box.

 

[Mr. dB]

this tax bill has something for democrats (cuts taxes for lower and middle class and extends unemployment benefits) and something for republicans (cuts taxes for the rich)

so everyone should be happy

You'd think. Instead, everyone has something to be pissed off about.

 

[kx250rider]

My question would be: If tax cuts for the uber rich are so awesome at creating jobs, why did private employment under 8 years of Bush decline by 670,000?

Not to mention the fact that between 1979 and 2005, the mean after-tax income for the top 1% increased by 176%, compared to an increase of 69% for the top quintile overall, 20% for the fourth quintile, 21% for the middle quintile, 17% for the second quintile and 6% for the bottom quintile.

If we're not going to enact tax reform (or move to a flat tax), the upper rates should revert back to Clinton-era levels*, if not higher. A new tax rate for those making $1 million and above would be a good idea.


*And LOL @ people who say Obama wants to raise taxes. All he would do is let a part of a piece of legislature expire as it was written to do. If you have a problem with tax rates for millionaires going up at the end of the year, take it up with Bush. He's the one who came up with the idea.

The whole real estate bubble is directly a result of Carter and Clinton, forcing banks to lend to people who could never in their wildest dreams pay back the loans. Plain and simple fact, and it was done under the guise of affirmative action and Fairness in Lending Act. Banks were forced to make quotas of home loans to all races, and if there weren't enough qualified applicants of any one race, they were legally forced to take sub-prime applications to make up the quotas. (with the majority of the defaults being young white people, btw)... Then when the banks figured out how much more they could charge to lame borrowers, they took advantage, and started making sub-prime loans to anyone who breathed, and just assumed that in a year when the borrower couldn't pay, they'd sell the house and still come out way ahead. It worked great for a few years, then BAM! the truth couldn't be hidden anymore, and the investors disappeared like a morning hard-on out in a blizzard.

And on the "Bush tax cuts" being extended or not; why is it (and why was it ever) fair to punish someone for being successful, by charging them a higher tax rate? If I make $10K a year, and pay $1K taxes, which is about what I'd pay, then why aren't the Dems happy if I make $1M, and pay $100K? The pre-Bush tax rate would have made the tax on $1M earned income appx $550,000!!!!! A flat tax is perfectly fair as far as I can see, and it would encourage me to make more & more; not watch out for a ceiling whereby if I make a penny over, I get raped. And "investment opportunities" are very often things like putting a new company together, or building an apartment building, or doing something that involves hiring people at all levels, and buying all kinds of materials. And letting a successful earner make good investments and not getting butt raped by Uncle Sam, leaves more cash to get pumped back into the economy by spending on fun stuff, spending on sports & travel, and buying durable goods.

And I don't find it reasonable when people say that "rich people are lucky and/or selfish". It's NOT luck. Some are selfish, but so are many poor people and "barely making it" working people. Look at any movie star who is popular for a year or 2 and makes millions & millions, then falls out of stardom, and all the $$$$ is GONE in a few years, and they're either in a rehab or on public assistance (or even in & out of jail on drug charges). The whole issue is knowing what to do with money, whether it's $5 or $50,000,000. Selfish? I'm not going to list a bunch of stuff, but my wife and I have 2 people in our rentals who can't afford to pay rent, and we said don't worry about it. There was a fire at the German Shepherd rescue shelter in Los Angeles last year, and maybe we had something to do with a brand-new kennel building that they now have, and my father-in-law is paying tuition for someone who couldn't qualify for a scholarship, to attend 4 years at USC. Does any of that count?

Just my 2c worth, if Obama will allow me to keep 2c, that is....

I'm not here to blast you or disrespect your opinion, and you didn't say anything about anyone being selfish, but I got off on a rant. Your opinions are just as valid as mine, and that's what makes the USA a free country.

Charles

 

[EnderJE]

I said it once, I'll say it again. Flat tax FTW.

That way, everyone is "punished: the same percentage.

 

[EnderJE]

my gf is being sent off to the navy for 3 years and it pisses me off that some people are crying about their taxes being too high. she is putting her neck on the line to defend the country and her salary is with federal taxpayer dollars. when you put your neck on the line or have a loved one put their neck on the line you can bitch about your taxes.

Perhaps, but I would argue that her sacrifice isn't really valued that much or (more correctly) valued at the market forces. Just like teachers, ER doctors, etc.

 

[Mr. dB]

David Stockman: How Nixon, Reagan, the Bushes and their GOP Demolished the Economy - David Stockman on Deficit Spending | FlaglerLive - Your News Service for Flagler County News Palm Coast News Bunnell Flagler Beach Beverly Beach and Marineland

 

[EnderJE]

The whole real estate bubble is directly a result of Carter and Clinton, forcing banks to lend to people who could never in their wildest dreams pay back the loans. Plain and simple fact, and it was done under the guise of affirmative action and Fairness in Lending Act. Banks were forced to make quotas of home loans to all races, and if there weren't enough qualified applicants of any one race, they were legally forced to take sub-prime applications to make up the quotas. (with the majority of the defaults being young white people, btw)... Then when the banks figured out how much more they could charge to lame borrowers, they took advantage, and started making sub-prime loans to anyone who breathed, and just assumed that in a year when the borrower couldn't pay, they'd sell the house and still come out way ahead. It worked great for a few years, then BAM! the truth couldn't be hidden anymore, and the investors disappeared like a morning hard-on out in a blizzard.

I understand your point, but I think that's an over-simplification of things.

For example, I've also seen other argue that banks should of appealed more directly or gone after those that could afford it (not everyone owns a house) rather then the lowest of the low who they knew couldn't.

That statement is also an over-simplification. Neither are completely right and both have some truth to them.

And I don't find it reasonable when people say that "rich people are lucky and/or selfish".

I don't think that people think that "rich people" are the small business owner (although statistically they are). Instead, I think that people think that "rich people" are the Madoffs and others of the world who have "gamed" the system.

I'm not here to blast you or disrespect your opinion, and you didn't say anything about anyone being selfish, but I got off on a rant. Your opinions are just as valid as mine, and that's what makes the USA a free country.

A civil disagreement on EF? Whoa.

 

[ortiz34]

They want to extend Unemployment benefits another fvckin year ??????????