Sallow
The Big Bad Wolf.
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- #81
I don't get the disconnect between government revenues and taxes. That..is how government funds itself..mainly through taxation. Cut taxes and there were be less money to spend. And we've been spending money like crazy lately; two wars, a brand new agency, a brand new entitlement, bailing out corporate fuck ups and saving our banking, financial and insurance institutions. And this year..more butter. An extention of the Bush taxs cuts..yay!
Drying up the government, as Grover Norquist suggests, is going to make this country look like Guatemala..without the charm.
Krugman's take:
Op-Ed Columnist
The New Voodoo
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: December 30, 2010
Hypocrisy never goes out of style, but, even so, 2010 was something special. For it was the year of budget doubletalk the year of arsonists posing as firemen, of people railing against deficits while doing everything they could to make those deficits bigger.
And I dont just mean politicians. Did you notice the U-turn many political commentators and other Serious People made when the Obama-McConnell tax-cut deal was announced? One day deficits were the great evil and we needed fiscal austerity now now now, never mind the state of the economy. The next day $800 billion in debt-financed tax cuts, with the prospect of more to come, was the greatest thing since sliced bread, a triumph of bipartisanship
<-snip-<
How will this all end? I have seen the future, and its on Long Island, where I grew up.
Nassau County the part of Long Island that directly abuts New York City is one of the wealthiest counties in America and has an unemployment rate well below the national average. So it should be weathering the economic storm better than most places.
But a year ago, in one of the first major Tea Party victories, the county elected a new executive who railed against budget deficits and promised both to cut taxes and to balance the budget. The tax cuts happened; the promised spending cuts didnt. And now the county is in fiscal crisis.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/opinion/31krugman.html?_r=1&hpAs this last Snowstorm in NYC proved..the people that complain the loudest are people that have that tax/finance the goverment disconnect.As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities points out, the incoming House majority plans to make changes in the pay-as-you-go rules rules that are supposed to enforce responsible budgeting that effectively implement Mr. Kyls principle. Spending increases will have to be offset, but revenue losses from tax cuts wont. Oh, and revenue increases, even if they come from the elimination of tax loopholes, wont count either: any spending increase must be offset by spending cuts elsewhere; it cant be paid for with additional taxes.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/opinion/31krugman.html?_r=1&hp
Less revenue = Less Services.
Everytime.
I have an idea. We can start the saving by cutting salaries for politicians. They should be compensated only for reasonable expenses, and given a wage that is no higher than the poverty level of their community. They only way they get a raise is if everyone they work for gets the same raise first.
See, we can cut revenue without cutting services. There are other things that can be cut first.