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"Let the fiscal cliff happen and reduce the deficit very substantially as a consequence," quips...
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Thursday, December 13, 2012, 7:41 PM ET"Let the fiscal cliff happen and reduce the deficit very substantially as a consequence," quips GOP advisor Bruce Bartlett. The combination of spending cuts and tax hikes will eventually strengthen the economy. Conversely, he says, the Republicans refusal to raise taxes will actually hurt the economy. Baby boomers are due to retire in droves over the next few decades, and government spending has to rise. If we don't raise taxes we'll just have to borrow more from abroad, thereby increasing interest payments on the debt. (video)
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See, they WERE really, really clever when they cut the current deal a few years back.
They got the stimulative tax cuts we needed back then, we grew our economy like gangbusters, and now that we need to increase government spending, the tax increases are in place to fund that spending.
Who knew? And we didn't have to elect mittens to make it all happen.
Isn't life just perfect, sometimes?
The middle-class tax cut is actually more expensive to maintain. Let 100% of the people pay for the government they want. Besides, if people want clinton-era prosperity, wouldn't that mean EVERYONE paying clinton-era rates?
Raising taxes on 100% of people instead of 2% is going to go a lot farther to fixing the debt problem
Those in debt have made their own choices and can live with them. The idea that I should be paying off my neighbors 600 station cable bill, super duper smartphone data plan, 2 luxury cars, the 10 vacations they have taken the past five years, and their student loans is a joke.
Somehow we had a great economy when people saved 10% of their income. Getting back to that would also mean we've told people the government isn't there to take care of them - which would be extremely good and the resulting spending cuts would be dramatic.
The reason education costs are high?
1. Higher education is more expensive than 30 years ago because the government will give any idiot almost unlimted loans which allows higher education institutions to raise prices to the moon.
2. Primary education is being run for and by the teachers union. We have TWICE the number of adults per pupil than we did in the mid-80's. Teachers are earning more than those in the community that they serve and their pensions are creating long term debt for our children to pay.
The answer is less government involvement in our life, not more.
This is a Chinese finger trap. If we pull hard against it we will never escape. We must give a little first to pull our way out of this one.
1. Federal Government guarantee up to 50% of a loan to purchase a farm or home.
2. $500 per school year for tuition. At the time Harvard charged $400 a year. And an unmarried vet received a $50 monthly stipend for living expenses. Those amounts in today's $'s - $6,484 and $648.
3. Unemployment for up to a year.
Now take a look at what the current GI bill provides and tell me something looks a bit different. Government money provided a great education initially.... but what happened.... more and more government programs - "We can help everyone!"..... leads to more and more waste, higher and higher prices, less and less value.
Something interesting is that only 20% of servicemen needed the unemployment payments and only 51% took advantage of the educational opportunities under the GI Bill.
Equally interesting is that in 1950 direct payments to institutions were stopped due to.... get this.... overcharging and defrauding the government!
So Harvard prior to government money flooding the system $5000 (in today's dollars), and its what? $50K today? Someone else can look into state schools but I'd be fairly sure its similar.
And what other laws would you like to suspend for certain groups?
Government taking whatever they want...... like in the USSR.
I don't see police officers telling certain drivers to drive 100 mph? I see them exercising discresion. The law applies to all but they discern the guy going 80 through a neighborhood and the guy going 80 on the interstate. Just like the IRS discerns between miscalulating interest owed on taxes paid versus lying about earnings.
And is seems to me that your liberal democrats controlled all houses of congress and the presidency and prosecuted exactly how many of the fraudster bankers? Huh?
And given your last statement about finishing business I'd say I hit the nail on the head - your just one of the elites that believes you are best to decide who should have what. Bureaucrats ran the USSR into the ground. They lived better than the general population, lorded over the masses, and made up the law to whatever purpose was needed.
Democrats seem to be going right down the same path.
Why do we have to borrow more from abroad? Just borrow it from the FED. They can increase the size of their balance sheet to what? Maybe $10 or 20 Trillion.
I have friends that are retired from government service and their pensions are plush IMO. I would like to see a cap on all government pensions of say $50K per year and then index it for inflation.
Many state schemes give folks a percentage of their salaries based on number of years worked times a percentage times the average of their three highest earning years. So work 30 years and retire with 65-75% of your three best years, depending on the formula applied. And thats ignoring the states where its just based on your last year's pay or best year's pay (including overtime).
There is no reason that 52 year olds should be able to spend their days gardening, driving BMW''s and collecting 100K+ from the government - all for shuffling papers for 30 years. Sorry but it simply theft.
In California that retirement percentage can reach 95%.
I'm thinking the only way this country recovers long term is if the federal government goes bankrupt and goes away for the most part
The recession they are "warning" about is nothing compared to what will happen if the debt keeps piling up - because the music will stop at some point in time.... how many people in Athens 5 years ago thought their society would break down???