Wiseacre
Retired USAF Chief
I don't think the Dems have given up on raising taxes, they just realize the House simply will not pass anything with tax increases in it. I would expec it to be a major campaign issue next year.
This tax thing, is realy a distraction from the main problem, which is spending. Who knows what'll come out of the debt ceiling compromise, but as it stands now the national debt is projected to go up by about 10 trillion, and that's the conservative estimate. Some say it'll be much more if our credit rating is lowered, which seems likely sooner or later. So if you rise taxes you get maybe 700 billion - 1 trillion in new revenue, where are you going to get the other 9 trillion? Frankly, I don't think the gov't will get that much money, rich people will find ways to avoid paying more taxes, they always do. AND, you disincentivize investment from both foreign and domestic sources at a time when we don't need to be putting up any obstacles to economic growth. Later maybe, but not now.
This tax thing, is realy a distraction from the main problem, which is spending. Who knows what'll come out of the debt ceiling compromise, but as it stands now the national debt is projected to go up by about 10 trillion, and that's the conservative estimate. Some say it'll be much more if our credit rating is lowered, which seems likely sooner or later. So if you rise taxes you get maybe 700 billion - 1 trillion in new revenue, where are you going to get the other 9 trillion? Frankly, I don't think the gov't will get that much money, rich people will find ways to avoid paying more taxes, they always do. AND, you disincentivize investment from both foreign and domestic sources at a time when we don't need to be putting up any obstacles to economic growth. Later maybe, but not now.