Open questions for dems: debt and deficit (Iraq, arsenal, Afghanistan)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Lifting the FICA cap is exactly the sort of reform I had in mind. But I'm also open to means testing for benefits and reconsidering retirement age.
I am split on that. As it is, people are holding on to their jobs, just so they can qualify for Medicare and for SS. The longer we push retirement, the longer these jobs will be held, which will have its own implications on the economy.
And then there is the case of someone in the early 60s being laid off, looking for a job. Still years to go before eligible for retirement.
However, you are misguided if you think gov't spending all it wants while taxing the rich will balance anything.
I subscribe to the expert, objective, data from the NYT budget calculator which allows me to balance the 90% of the budget with moderate cuts to defense and moderate hikes in the taxes of the wealthy..
a) Are you worried about the debt and the deficit? Yep.
b) If you are worried about it, how do you want us to get out of it? Combination of increased revenue and decreased spending.
You?
Here is the right wing plan.
Lower taxes for everybody. Massive cuts in government benefits which they don't spell out. The mythical, benevolent "job creators" will then be "confident" and start investing, and will be so crazy to hire more costly "workers" and not look to go overseas to get cheaper labor. So! You can fry them a hamburger! And remodel their chalet in Aspen. And walk their dogs! And when you are 80 you can retire!
OMG! I'm a Southern, white, male, with high income and I can't fathom the stupidity of my same demographic falling for insane nonsense spouted by these right wingers. Let alone these poor dumbass whites that live paycheck to paycheck, that are just begging to have the SS benefits cut cause "it's a ponzi scheme", and " I won't get anything anyways"...LOL
Last edited by padcrasher; 11-30-2012 at 02:48 PM..
a) Are you worried about the debt and the deficit? Yep.
b) If you are worried about it, how do you want us to get out of it? Combination of increased revenue and decreased spending.
You?
Personally i dont like tax increases on anyone. But i will not be upset with letting some of the bush tax cuts expire as long as we cut our spending. We need a balanced budget by april 1st. This budget needs to have hard caps to its spending. Only a 3/4 vote to override it. We need to cut tax loopholes and also cut red tape for small business start ups and small business expansion. We need to push american pride and buy american. We need to drop substadies for oil, electic cars, and ethonal. We need to encorage natural gas vechicles. We need to continue towards energy independance including the keystone pipeline. We need to cut out earmarks buy not allowing add ons to bills and also have the media turn into a more watchdog entity. Let them break down these bills and make big deals out of the little issues in the bills.
You will find general agreement with many ideas in this thread regardless of party. We have attacked the other side too much without actually putting our ideas in print.
We need to stop saying the obama plan or the bush plan or the romney plan and instead get into details on what we are willing to cut to balance. We need to hold our goverment to balancing our books. To spending wisely. Conservatives and liberals want most of the same things there is just disagreements how to go about doing it. If we dont get spicific with our ideas how can we come to agreements?
Personally i dont like tax increases on anyone. But i will not be upset with letting some of the bush tax cuts expire as long as we cut our spending.
That is the plan by a democrat (the President). Now all democrats might agree with his exact plan, but the idea is pretty much the same (where and how to cut will be an issue).
Quote:
We need a balanced budget by april 1st.
We need what we can actually do, not what we would like to have. That is this liberal/progressive's view anyway.
That is the plan by a democrat (the President). Now all democrats might agree with his exact plan, but the idea is pretty much the same (where and how to cut will be an issue).
We need what we can actually do, not what we would like to have. That is this liberal/progressive's view anyway.
Obama's going to cut middle class entitlements in return for minor increases in the taxes of the wealthy.
If he does hold to putting incomes over $250K back to the Bush levels, he will agree to offset that by lowering their taxes in other areas.
Few progressives know how gutless Obama is and how he craves to be liked by the elites that own this country.
Personally i dont like tax increases on anyone. But i will not be upset with letting some of the bush tax cuts expire as long as we cut our spending. We need a balanced budget by april 1st. This budget needs to have hard caps to its spending. Only a 3/4 vote to override it. We need to cut tax loopholes and also cut red tape for small business start ups and small business expansion. We need to push american pride and buy american. We need to drop substadies for oil, electic cars, and ethonal. We need to encorage natural gas vechicles. We need to continue towards energy independance including the keystone pipeline. We need to cut out earmarks buy not allowing add ons to bills and also have the media turn into a more watchdog entity. Let them break down these bills and make big deals out of the little issues in the bills.
You will find general agreement with many ideas in this thread regardless of party. We have attacked the other side too much without actually putting our ideas in print.
We need to stop saying the obama plan or the bush plan or the romney plan and instead get into details on what we are willing to cut to balance. We need to hold our goverment to balancing our books. To spending wisely. Conservatives and liberals want most of the same things there is just disagreements how to go about doing it. If we dont get spicific with our ideas how can we come to agreements?
What you proposed, a balanced budget by April 1, would drive the economy into a recession.
The areas that cost are social security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense and interest on the debt. Cutting the first three imposes severe pain on the most vulnerable. Nobody here seems to be proposing the obvious. Forget about returning to Clinton era rates, return to Reagan era rates, when there was plenty of money to fund the government and send money back to the states.
Republicans have made Americans think that the problem is spending. The problem is the lowest revenue numbers in decades.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm not a dem...
