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SamuelRSmith on 05 March 2012
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richardhutnik said:
SamuelRSmith said:
Well, I haven't read the article (nor am I going to), but yeah, the middle and bottom classes have been hurting these past few years. Best way to deal with it is to tackle inflation, and to stop handing over trillions of dollars to Wall Street.

As for the tax issue I see propping up above. Let's keep the Bush and payroll tax cuts. Pay for it by cutting back on foreign entanglements.

And you still sit on a debt time bomb, that isn't resolved.  America will be looking at having to get off the world stage the way it had, get its house and order, and is likely facing austerity AND increased taxes to pay off the debt it has.  Taxes will have to go up, but it is a matter on whom.  One can say, "Wow, nearly 50% don't pay income taxes, so we need to have some skin in the game for everyone".  Well, not sure how you get that to fly and then argue that taxes on the upper end needs to remain where it is, or be lower.

There is a reality here, and it is that taxes are just one part of people's lives.  One can't say the net sum of everything is taxes rates.  Economically, there needs to be the generation of real goods and services in need, that generate sufficient income for people, so they can buy more.  One can argue to do more manufacturing, but manufacturing is declining globally, as a portion of the population employed, just as it happened with agriculture. 

What is needed is real answers, or you are looking at problems.  It is only class warfare, if there is a class being hammered and another class getting away with a lot more.  Idea is to look at what can be done that is meaningful, and stop with this BS about tax rates.  Simplify the tax code, figure out what priorities are, and let the country sort it out on its own.  And try to prevent those who can least afford it, to take the brunt of it.  Probably it would make sense also to have capital gains be at the same rate as other sources of income.

And the short, if people aren't getting ahead, but see an elite class doing better and better, do expect people to not be happy with the system that is producing it.


I don't really understand your point (I often don't).

The elite class are doing better and better because of Government intervention. When the Federal Reserve prints up $7.7 trillion dollars and gives it to Wall Street, the elite get richer, and everybody else's dollar devaluates. Not only this, but Government intervention puts in so many new laws that favour the large corporations, it chokes small business owners and reduces the income mobility of the country.

You want 0% unemployment? That's pretty easy: eliminate all taxes relating to employment, and all wage laws. Sure, there will be millions of people earning only a couple of dollars an hour... but that's better than nothing, right? It would be particularly nice if the dollars they earned would actually be worth something, too (which will never happen with the current system of Government intervention).

But, before we even think about 0% unemployment, we need to think about the debt problem. That's pretty easy to solve. End all foreign wars, and cut the defence budget by about 15%, eliminate corporate subsidies,  eliminate foreign aid, sell federal lands (The Feds own something like 90% of Nevada), let the states deal with welfare, healthcare and education.

Ending the war on drugs (and releasing all non-violent prisoners), ending the surveillance state, privatizing the FAA and TSA, privatizing some of the road network, all oughtta save some pennies, too.

And how any one of those policies lead to austerity, or tax increases, I'd LOVE to know.