A question of taxes.

[rdean]

Without going and looking it up, I heard that when Eisenhower was president, the tax rate on the super rich was 90%. It was 80% for most of the eighties. When Reagan was president, it was 70 or 75%.

During all that time, we had unpresented growth.

Now, you listen to Warren Buffet with his tens of billions. He said his tax rate is 17% and his secretaries is 30%. He said he could pay much less if he used "loopholes" that aren't available to his secretary.

Republicans keep saying that taxes are why the economy sucks and we need to cut even more. It seems to me that it's the tax cuts that are hurting the economy. Has this been seriously studied? Are we just following Republican propaganda? All the tax cuts, where are the jobs?

Insanity - doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome. Is that where we are now?

 

[Polk]

While tax rates on the top bracket were much higher back then, the threshold for the top bracket was much higher in real terms.

 

[Paulie]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

 

[rdean]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

I believe that there is too much defense spending. But we have to be careful what we cut. The problem is that we haven't spent "wisely". You have conservatives going nuts over this "missile defense", a system that only works "sometimes" when the target is known, and has a locator built into it. They seem to want to spend recklessly on anything military as long as it seems some kind of weapon. The don't seem really too concerned about "benefits" for attracting better soldiers.

It also gets tiring when people say "both sides" when you have conservatives questioning the legitimacy of this president as well as announcing they want him to FAIL and they only pretend to work with him so they can sink his policies. What kind of Americans are those?

Conservatives seem to forget that before the Katrina fiasco and the Iraq debacle, Former President Bush had the highest approval rating IN HISTORY from both Democrats and Republicans. Conservatives fail to recognize that it was his incompetence and dishonesty and his following Conservative dogma that turned Democrats against him. Conservatives refuse to see that. They mentally change history as it suits their prejudice.

 

[blu]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

Actually I have seen threads on other forums where people on the right say any cut in defense spending in unpatriotic and a threat to teh country. Good luck getting any elected Rs to go with defense spending with their crazy constituents having access to email and phones

 

[Paulie]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

Actually I have seen threads on other forums where people on the right say any cut in defense spending in unpatriotic and a threat to teh country. Good luck getting any elected Rs to go with defense spending with their crazy constituents having access to email and phones

Those are the wacko righties. A lot of conservatives I know are coming around on the defense spending issue. It's hard to argue that our military presence around the world is extreme and wasteful. 150 countries is ridiculous.

I know several conservatives on this board who agree, and not just Ron Paul types either.

 

[blu]

Those are the wacko righties. A lot of conservatives I know are coming around on the defense spending issue. It's hard to argue that our military presence around the world is extreme and wasteful. 150 countries is ridiculous.

I know several conservatives on this board who agree, and not just Ron Paul types either.

the wackos/neocons run the party now though and are the loudest. they think if you cut one cent from defense spending that you hate america and will spit on the troops as they return home from war. unfortunately people of this type exist on the left as well, if you cut one cent to a social program you are an elitist who want poor people to die.

until we go bankrupt officially I don't think its going to get anywhere. I also started a thread a couple days ago about which side is willing to cut their spending and it got 100 views and no responses.

 

[rdean]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

Actually I have seen threads on other forums where people on the right say any cut in defense spending in unpatriotic and a threat to the country. Good luck getting any elected Rs to go with defense spending with their crazy constituents having access to email and phones

Those are the wacko righties. A lot of conservatives I know are coming around on the defense spending issue. It's hard to argue that our military presence around the world is extreme and wasteful. 150 countries is ridiculous.

I know several conservatives on this board who agree, and not just Ron Paul types either.

We outlasted the USSR because our economy was bigger and richer.

Europe, with it's agreements, has basically become "The United States of Europe". The economy of that "new" country is at least as large as ours, if not bigger. There is simply no reason to maintain the military force there that we have.

Our anti science, anti education policies will cause us to fall farther behind them.

The money that we wasted on Iraq could have paid for health insurance for every man, woman and child in the US for at least a hundred years. Yet, Republicans feel fighting wars against camel jockeys 10 thousand miles away, who never did anything to us is money wisely spent, as opposed to spending it on American citizens. And they still feel that way. Go figure.

 

[Paulie]

Actually I have seen threads on other forums where people on the right say any cut in defense spending in unpatriotic and a threat to the country. Good luck getting any elected Rs to go with defense spending with their crazy constituents having access to email and phones

Those are the wacko righties. A lot of conservatives I know are coming around on the defense spending issue. It's hard to argue that our military presence around the world is extreme and wasteful. 150 countries is ridiculous.

I know several conservatives on this board who agree, and not just Ron Paul types either.

We outlasted the USSR because our economy was bigger and richer.

Europe, with it's agreements, has basically become "The United States of Europe". The economy of that "new" country is at least as large as ours, if not bigger. There is simply no reason to maintain the military force there that we have.

Our anti science, anti education policies will cause us to fall farther behind them.

The money that we wasted on Iraq could have paid for health insurance for every man, woman and child in the US for at least a hundred years. Yet, Republicans feel fighting wars against camel jockeys 10 thousand miles away, who never did anything to us is money wisely spent, as opposed to spending it on American citizens. And they still feel that way. Go figure.

I lean right, and I pretty much agree with you on this.

Not so much about paying for health care for all citizens though. Iraq cost about 700 billion so far. That money will be taxed out of us. If we had that money back in our pockets, we could pay for our OWN health insurance.

Or of course, we could all just buy big screen TV's and another car we don't need.

 

[Richard-H]

The Conservative movement is a consortium of theives. Each group may not have much in common other that they are profiteering through some mechanism of extreme social and/or economic injustice. They stand united in defense of their mutual interest in continued thievery. Their goal is to block justice by preventing fair and moral progressive government policy.

They promote militarism and the continued expeditures on the military industrial complex, against the best interests of this country, just simply for the sake of the continued looting of the American people.

They couldn't care less about this country or it's people, or about het Americans who die fighting these wars. They have no sense of patriotism whatsoever. It is not their kids that are fighting and dying in the wars they create. All they know or care about is that governement spending on major high tech military systems means money in their pockets.

That's all there is to it!

 

[The Rabbi]

I realize standards of evidence are at an all time low on this site.
But do you have any proof, at all, for any of those outrageous assertions?

And I'd suggest the OP go do some research on what tax rates were under Reagan. Hint: you're completely wrong.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

I believe that there is too much defense spending. But we have to be careful what we cut. The problem is that we haven't spent "wisely". You have conservatives going nuts over this "missile defense", a system that only works "sometimes" when the target is known, and has a locator built into it. They seem to want to spend recklessly on anything military as long as it seems some kind of weapon. The don't seem really too concerned about "benefits" for attracting better soldiers.

It also gets tiring when people say "both sides" when you have conservatives questioning the legitimacy of this president as well as announcing they want him to FAIL and they only pretend to work with him so they can sink his policies. What kind of Americans are those?

Conservatives seem to forget that before the Katrina fiasco and the Iraq debacle, Former President Bush had the highest approval rating IN HISTORY from both Democrats and Republicans. Conservatives fail to recognize that it was his incompetence and dishonesty and his following Conservative dogma that turned Democrats against him. Conservatives refuse to see that. They mentally change history as it suits their prejudice.

Your a leftist of course you think defense should be cut. It is the place they always go. Defense spending should INCREASE. We should be spending 15 to 20 percent of the Budget on Defense absent any costs for the wars.

OF ALL THE SPENDING the Government does, DEFENSE is one of the few that is actually listed as a power of Congress. Gutting the military is the stupidest thing the left always does.

Cut the BIGGEST cost in the Budget, SOCIAL Programs, most of which are unconstitutional to begin with. They not defense are the ones eating up our Budget and they not defense increase every year, some astronomically.

Stop bailing out companies, that is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It is ILLEGAL. The Banks one can argue are within the power of the Government because of the money supply. Companies other then banks are NOT anywhere in the Constitution.

Health Care is NOT a power of the Government to spend for. They can pass laws on it but they have no authority to collect taxes and spend money on Health Care. It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. That would be ILLEGAL for those to stupid to grasp the concept.

 

[blu]

Assuming that the issue of taxation ranks anywhere near the top, in terms of what's causing the most problems in this country, is naive.

The rich are fine whether they're taxed 90% or 20%. The rich can adapt to detrimental monetary policy changes, but the middle class often times can not.

We need to be focusing on monetary policy, not taxes. Also, even many on the left can agree that there's just too much spending going on with government. Maybe both sides don't always agree on WHAT to cut, at least they both see a need to cut SOMETHING.

All we need to do is come to some kind of compromise on worthwhile spending cuts. I know that many on the right agree that there's too much defense spending, and the left obviously agrees. So why not start there?

I believe that there is too much defense spending. But we have to be careful what we cut. The problem is that we haven't spent "wisely". You have conservatives going nuts over this "missile defense", a system that only works "sometimes" when the target is known, and has a locator built into it. They seem to want to spend recklessly on anything military as long as it seems some kind of weapon. The don't seem really too concerned about "benefits" for attracting better soldiers.

It also gets tiring when people say "both sides" when you have conservatives questioning the legitimacy of this president as well as announcing they want him to FAIL and they only pretend to work with him so they can sink his policies. What kind of Americans are those?

Conservatives seem to forget that before the Katrina fiasco and the Iraq debacle, Former President Bush had the highest approval rating IN HISTORY from both Democrats and Republicans. Conservatives fail to recognize that it was his incompetence and dishonesty and his following Conservative dogma that turned Democrats against him. Conservatives refuse to see that. They mentally change history as it suits their prejudice.

Your a leftist of course you think defense should be cut. It is the place they always go. Defense spending should INCREASE. We should be spending 15 to 20 percent of the Budget on Defense absent any costs for the wars.

OF ALL THE SPENDING the Government does, DEFENSE is one of the few that is actually listed as a power of Congress. Gutting the military is the stupidest thing the left always does.

Cut the BIGGEST cost in the Budget, SOCIAL Programs, most of which are unconstitutional to begin with. They not defense are the ones eating up our Budget and they not defense increase every year, some astronomically.

Stop bailing out companies, that is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. It is ILLEGAL. The Banks one can argue are within the power of the Government because of the money supply. Companies other then banks are NOT anywhere in the Constitution.

Health Care is NOT a power of the Government to spend for. They can pass laws on it but they have no authority to collect taxes and spend money on Health Care. It is UNCONSTITUTIONAL. That would be ILLEGAL for those to stupid to grasp the concept.

and this is why the country will go bankrupt.

 

[Neubarth]

Simple fact of the matter is that we have to cut spending across the board. Unfortunately, in too many cases we can not afford to.

Go think about that for a while.