akuma587 said:
Why not tax gas? Or have a 1% national sales tax. Those taxes are geared towards consumption. The more you use, the more of a share you are entitled to pay. It is entirely fair.
Or raise the income tax by 1 to 2% across the board. We are probably going to have to raise some of the payroll taxes too while ALSO cutting some funding to many of those programs.
Its going to have to come down to that one way or another. I'm for completely overhauling Medicare, Social Security, Medicaid, and other government programs as well. I've got the gusto to do what is necessary.
People will be getting more from the government soon when we reform the healthcare system. Prices will be more reasonable because the insurance companies won't be able to price gouge people like they have been anymore. So in turn, some of that money they would otherwise have to pay will need to go to the government. Frankly I would rather cut out the bureaucracy that is medical insurance (an organization you pay to pay your bills, if that is a middle man that is offering no real service I don't know what is) altogether and just move to a one-payer system.
So frankly, we have to raise taxes AND cut spending. I don't suggest doing either of those until the economy starts to stabilize though. But that is the ONLY way that you will see any real changes on the deficit. Cutting spending alone doesn't work, because politicians don't cut spending. They just cut spending in one place and raise spending in another.
I am glad that Obama is already being very forthright about fixing the deficit in the future, and a lot of Republicans in the last few days have also been happy about it. We have a serious problem. But the middle of a recession is not the time to fix it.
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The thing is though if the recession lasts until say 2011 as most economists are saying until 2010 at least, then Obama would not want to risk political capital by raising taxes as his reelection would be a year away by then in Nov. 2012. I could see him doing some reform but only if he is reelected as to not piss off the wrong hand and not bite the hand that feeds him, in this case American voters.
