Well the answer to this will vary depending on who you ask, but I believe the best moves would be to lower taxes, reduce spending, and not intervene in the markets. I would not have extended unemployment insurance as this administration did as several studies have shown a direct correlation between unemployment insurance and higher unemployment for the obvious reason. I also was against the bailouts and the stimulus. I believe in creating confidence through a strong and reliable currency and allowing the already resilient market to sort things out.
Aren't taxes low enough? A 1% decrease in our sales tax in 2008 only led us to a high inflation, thus our consumers actually did not save any money. How are you going to pay off debts with less revenue coming in? In addition to that, by spending less, how are your citizens going to be able to do anything? Do you really want to leave them for dead?
I am saying that taxes should be cut along with spending, so that leaves no need for inflation. As for lower spending leading citizens to not being able to do anything- I am not sure what you mean by that. Lower spending and lower taxes means more money in the pockets of citizens. If anything, they can do MORE.
Also, cutting certain taxes would actually increase tax revenue- capital gains is a good example. Remember the Laffer curve.
I think it is funny how people say "lower taxes"
I make 118k in Cleveland ohio you want to know how much TAX I paid last year in Federal?
$12,400
That is it.. Here is where I am with this.. If you GAVE me back my 12 grand.. and then started CHARGING me Ala carte for everything? I am not sure I would be ahead.
I love these teabaggers.. they SLAY me.
Here is what I dont understand 50 years ago.. the top percentages paid 80-90% of their income in TAXES. and THAT seems wrong.. unfair immoral how about a FLAT 20% for everyone?
. today.. (I can show you the tax tables) as you make more.. you pay LESS as a percentage. Has anyone here heard of the Warren Buffet Challenge? 1 million dollar price. No one has claimed it. Right now.. the rich are taking this country to the wash. They ARENT paying their fair share of the benefits of living in this country imo. Taking all the middle class jobs.. doing EVERYTHING they can for the stockholder and screwing the customer AND the employee.. Anyone here got job security anymore?
anyone here buying products MADE in the USA? No.. everything is made in china and is made cheap..
I think we been had.. There aint a soul here making over 250k I am betting.. we are all getting screwed infighting while they reach around and take our labor and give us smaller and smaller cuts of it. Well you think that people would be waking up now that the stock market has rebounded..
anyone got their great paying jobs back?
Lower taxes.. fine give me my 12 grand back.. it WONT be a game changer AT ALL.
that is a extra 1000 a month.. BIG deal.
I dunno.. government IS inefficient. but.. captialism at least the American brand isnt good for the high middle class and down. imo. Rich keep getting richer and we are losing our jobs our houses and our retirements as the American dream slips further and further way.
keep lobbying for tax reductions.. soon you will have your tiny bit of tax money left and all your services you didnt realize you had will be gone.
Zero safety net and we all are screwed.
I make 118k in Cleveland ohio you want to know how much TAX I paid last year in Federal?
$12,400
That is it.. Here is where I am with this.. If you GAVE me back my 12 grand.. and then started CHARGING me Ala carte for everything? I am not sure I would be ahead.
I love these teabaggers.. they SLAY me.
Here is what I dont understand 50 years ago.. the top percentages paid 80-90% of their income in TAXES. and THAT seems wrong.. unfair immoral how about a FLAT 20% for everyone?
. today.. (I can show you the tax tables) as you make more.. you pay LESS as a percentage. Has anyone here heard of the Warren Buffet Challenge? 1 million dollar price. No one has claimed it. Right now.. the rich are taking this country to the wash. They ARENT paying their fair share of the benefits of living in this country imo. Taking all the middle class jobs.. doing EVERYTHING they can for the stockholder and screwing the customer AND the employee.. Anyone here got job security anymore?
anyone here buying products MADE in the USA? No.. everything is made in china and is made cheap..
I think we been had.. There aint a soul here making over 250k I am betting.. we are all getting screwed infighting while they reach around and take our labor and give us smaller and smaller cuts of it. Well you think that people would be waking up now that the stock market has rebounded..
anyone got their great paying jobs back?
Lower taxes.. fine give me my 12 grand back.. it WONT be a game changer AT ALL.
that is a extra 1000 a month.. BIG deal.
I dunno.. government IS inefficient. but.. captialism at least the American brand isnt good for the high middle class and down. imo. Rich keep getting richer and we are losing our jobs our houses and our retirements as the American dream slips further and further way.
keep lobbying for tax reductions.. soon you will have your tiny bit of tax money left and all your services you didnt realize you had will be gone.
Zero safety net and we all are screwed.
HvyHitter, our progressive tax system places the burden on the rich, I am not sure what you are referring to when you say they pay less than the rest of us. As for the middle class- remember that it was when this country had a smaller government and fewer restrictions (when it was more capitalist) that the world's first strong middle class was born. Before that it didn't even exist at the levels seen only a few decades back. It is only with growing government interference in the market that we have had a decline in the middle class and a corporatist policy. A big government is the one that has the resources to prop up corporations and give them back-door deals, a small government has no such power.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/21708265/War...es_Don_t_Bite_on_Million_Dollar_Tax_Challenge
How is it a progressive tax system in this country? As income levels go up you pay less as a PERCENTAGE. Sure as a dollar figure rich pay more but isnt that a war of semantics?..The difference between someone making 30k and paying 30% and someone making 5 million and paying 18% is huge. Sure the 5 million dollar person is paying about a million in tax whole the person at 30k is paying 10k so yea if you are talking about the 1 million versus the 10k. sure. But then at the end of the day one person has 20k and the other has 4 million.. hmmmm...
That is the nature of the Warren Buffet challenge. Prove to me that you pay more in taxes than your receptionist. 3 friends of his calculated it and each was paying about 17% while their receptionist were paying 30%.
Tax Cuts? what I would like to know is HOW were the tax rates that high 50 years ago. Is your suggestion that the bottom dollar amount someone pays is more relevant than the percentage of their income? Why arent the rates the SAME. I am not talking about a 90% tax rate on the top !%.. I am talking about a flat rate for everyone? Why not? 20%?
How is it a progressive tax system in this country? As income levels go up you pay less as a PERCENTAGE. Sure as a dollar figure rich pay more but isnt that a war of semantics?..The difference between someone making 30k and paying 30% and someone making 5 million and paying 18% is huge. Sure the 5 million dollar person is paying about a million in tax whole the person at 30k is paying 10k so yea if you are talking about the 1 million versus the 10k. sure. But then at the end of the day one person has 20k and the other has 4 million.. hmmmm...
That is the nature of the Warren Buffet challenge. Prove to me that you pay more in taxes than your receptionist. 3 friends of his calculated it and each was paying about 17% while their receptionist were paying 30%.
Tax Cuts? what I would like to know is HOW were the tax rates that high 50 years ago. Is your suggestion that the bottom dollar amount someone pays is more relevant than the percentage of their income? Why arent the rates the SAME. I am not talking about a 90% tax rate on the top !%.. I am talking about a flat rate for everyone? Why not? 20%?
If you look at our tax brackets you will see that per income, the top does pay more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Income_tax_in_the_United_States#Year_2010_income_brackets_and_tax_rates (I know wiki isn't the best source, but I think it is ok for these purposes.) I actually think that is wrong to make the rich pay more, but that is how it is right now. I don't understand how you can rationalize or even say it is moral to punish the rich for being successful. That is just absurd in my mind. I personally think everyone should pay the same amount in taxes because the government is here to protect all of us equally. My preference: abolish the income tax altogether.
I am not sure how Buffett came up with the 17% number, but the tax brackets clearly say otherwise in terms of comparing himself to his secretary. It might be because he takes a large portion of his pay in stock options and not straight cash, but again I am not sure on that.
yeah I think we might be saying the same thing here. I dont think either of us would mind a 20% tax rate for everyone. No deductions. (good GOD that seems like a LOT of money though.)
what I was speaking about before was the insane percentages people used to pay back in the day. I cant figure out how people got away with that before.
what I was speaking about before was the insane percentages people used to pay back in the day. I cant figure out how people got away with that before.
While I am not sure of the exact numbers, I am pretty sure everyone didn't pay that much, but just some of the higher brackets. Personally, I liked what it was before 1913- no income tax at all. I believe in keeping the fruits of one's labor.
The tax system here is progressive by percent, but it's by the first x amount of dollars are taxed on this rate, the second y amount of dollars are taxed on a higher rate, etc. It is unfair that as a whole, the poor are contributing more percentage-wise than the rich.
That is how it is here too and the poor here are NOT contributing more than the rich, far from it.
:giggle:I'm not sure if the situation is the same in U.S. as I dont live there...but there are so many greedy union groups here who always demand pay raises even though we were in a recession. One of the University unions went on strike for a coupon of months because the T.A.'s said they werent getting paid enough. Other examples are government workers, auto industry, etc. These people never give and always take, thus driving up costs and taking away new/existing jobs due to budget...its a big problem here.
If these ungreatful workers would be replaced by people working for a fraction of their wages, it would definitely help the recession problem.
If these ungreatful workers would be replaced by people working for a fraction of their wages, it would definitely help the recession problem.
Gotta love York University =/. But that's the problem when you give the unions too much power. OC Transpo in Ottawa is a big example of that. You also mentioned the UAW as well. Their salaries compared to a non-unionized Toyota worker (whose salaries are still pretty decent) made GM less competitive in the market, which definitely took them down.
I do not think that spending even more money and pushing us further into debt is the answer. A reform of the welfare system is needed. Particularly unemployment and how health benefits are paid out.
I agree that we need Health Care Reform but the way we are going about it is completely wrong. People are not held accountable for the bills they ring up at a hospital or doctor's office. The majority of these people who have these outrageous bills don't care if it hits their credit because their credit is shot anyways. Health care is not a right in this country. Doctor's deserve payment for their services and the way Americans go about not paying bills or this idea of "entitlement" we have become accustomed too is just plain wrong.
As for the progressive tax system. I believe the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers pays over 40% of the entire federal income taxes our country gets. Yes, the rich do get richer. But, they also do a thing called investing. They invest in our economy via businesses and other things that help spur economic growth. Taxing them more so we can have more of their money takes away money that can be put towards more growth.
I agree that we need Health Care Reform but the way we are going about it is completely wrong. People are not held accountable for the bills they ring up at a hospital or doctor's office. The majority of these people who have these outrageous bills don't care if it hits their credit because their credit is shot anyways. Health care is not a right in this country. Doctor's deserve payment for their services and the way Americans go about not paying bills or this idea of "entitlement" we have become accustomed too is just plain wrong.
As for the progressive tax system. I believe the wealthiest 1% of taxpayers pays over 40% of the entire federal income taxes our country gets. Yes, the rich do get richer. But, they also do a thing called investing. They invest in our economy via businesses and other things that help spur economic growth. Taxing them more so we can have more of their money takes away money that can be put towards more growth.
The best way to get out of this economic recession is the role of government. Government should inject more money and create more employment opportunities, also the interest rates should be lowered so the investment rate increases!
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