It is mathematically impossible to balance the budget on the backs of the rich.
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  It is mathematically impossible to balance the budget on the backs of the rich.
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Author Topic: It is mathematically impossible to balance the budget on the backs of the rich.  (Read 2122 times)
tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« on: April 18, 2011, 12:27:44 PM »

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704621304576267113524583554.html

Emphasis mine.

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opebo
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« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2011, 12:38:33 PM »

Nonsense article. 
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Associate Justice PiT
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« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2011, 12:40:04 PM »


     I can't say that that's the most eloquent rebuttal I've seen recently. You have to work on your routine, man.
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opebo
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« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2011, 12:43:19 PM »


     I can't say that that's the most eloquent rebuttal I've seen recently. You have to work on your routine, man.

I wasn't tying to rebut it, just noting that was nonsense.
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memphis
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« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2011, 12:44:09 PM »


^^^^^^^^
At a certain point we're going to have to go after wealth rather than income. That's where the big bucks are. I prefer to do this through a hefty estate tax. It's the most fair way to do it as you're not taking money that has been earned. The deceased obviously could not take it with him/her. The United States is still an extraordinarily weathly nation. Any suggestions that we can't afford to maintain the same level of support for poors and olds that we've had for decades is nonesense. We just have to summon will to battle the powers of organized money. It won't be easy, but it is imperative.
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tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2011, 01:07:03 PM »

http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2011/03/feed-your-family-on-10-billion-a-day.html
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DrScholl
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« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2011, 02:12:16 PM »

It's mathematically impossible to balance the budget without increasing revenue, which means tax increases for the top income bracket. Spending cuts alone aren't enough. Before invoking math, you need to know how it works.
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Napoleon
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« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2011, 02:13:33 PM »

I agree, the numbers are super fishy. Taxes on the rich and cuts to military spending and social security are critical to any kind of deficit reduction plan but we all know one party would never go along with it.
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tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2011, 02:16:07 PM »

It's mathematically impossible to balance the budget without increasing revenue, which means tax increases for the top income bracket. Spending cuts alone aren't enough. Before invoking math, you need to know how it works.

Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.
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bullmoose88
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« Reply #9 on: April 18, 2011, 02:18:58 PM »

Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.


Hello.  Welcome to Planet Earth...I trust this is your first visit here.
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opebo
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« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2011, 02:20:08 PM »

It's mathematically impossible to balance the budget without increasing revenue, which means tax increases for the top income bracket. Spending cuts alone aren't enough. Before invoking math, you need to know how it works.

Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.

It is also quite easy to increase government spending and taxation if one fantasizes absolute power.  I would prefer that the federal government be a much higher percentage of the economy.
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DrScholl
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« Reply #11 on: April 18, 2011, 02:21:26 PM »


Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.

Actually, there would no surplus, because there would be no budget at all with 100% tax cuts and selling all government assets wouldn't cover all the bills that must be covered.
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Napoleon
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« Reply #12 on: April 18, 2011, 02:52:47 PM »

If we did that we'd probably still owe debt interest.
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tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« Reply #13 on: April 18, 2011, 02:57:48 PM »


Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.

Actually, there would no surplus, because there would be no budget at all with 100% tax cuts and selling all government assets wouldn't cover all the bills that must be covered.

If we did that we'd probably still owe debt interest.

Well, I'm sure that government liabilities now exceed assets, thanks to multifarious retards over the years, so obviously the people who were dumb enough to purchase IOUs on fancy pieces of paper from the federal government would have to take something of a haircut.  Of course, that's the best they'd ever get in the end, and they kinda had it coming to them.  Nevertheless, whatever the case, it would be a one-year surplus, with no deficits coming thereafter.

By the way, Nappy, who is this "we" you speak of?

Of course it's possible, and with substantial tax cuts, too.

THE WORMYGUY BUDGET PLAN:

1. Cut all spending 100%
2. Cut all taxes 100%
3. Sell all government assets.

Voila, largest surplus in history.


Hello.  Welcome to Planet Earth...I trust this is your first visit here.

Yep, just arrived in my starship from the Anarchy Nebula.  As you can see, we've reached a somewhat higher plane of civilization than you have.  Pleased to meet you!
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specific_name
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« Reply #14 on: April 18, 2011, 03:03:56 PM »

Well we do have to raise revenue, unless you're fine with this country being turning into some kind of neo-feudal/Latin American nightmare. I'm sure the rich will be treated very gently no matter what happens, so don't lose any sleep worrying about one of the most privileged classes of human beings in recorded history.
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Napoleon
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« Reply #15 on: April 18, 2011, 03:06:59 PM »

Is Nappy supposed to be an insult? We means we as Americans. The people stuck footing the bill. I know I'm part of it and assumed you were too.
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opebo
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« Reply #16 on: April 18, 2011, 03:09:39 PM »

By the way the original thread title is hilarious - on 'the backs of the rich'!  Surely we all agree that the rich receive their incomes not from 'their backs' or 'their own efforts', but from powers they are vouchsafed by the State over the poor.
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tpfkaw
wormyguy
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« Reply #17 on: April 18, 2011, 03:19:40 PM »
« Edited: April 18, 2011, 03:21:42 PM by Say no to fascism, impeach Obama. »

Well we do have to raise revenue, unless you're fine with this country being turning into some kind of neo-feudal/Latin American nightmare.

Well actually, that's a pretty good description of what the Democratic Party intends to turn this country into (or that they already have, to take a more cynical tack), a "neo-feudal Latin American nightmare."  I'll have to remember that one!

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Actually, the abolition of the US tyranny, which is run almost entirely for the benefit of (some) wealthy individuals, would be one of the worst things for them in their entire history, what with the abolition of regressive wealth redistribution through monetary policy, bailouts, subsidies, anti-competitive regulation, and all other forms of corporate welfare, as well as the reintroduction of social mobility via the abolition of state-supported higher education workforce-entry monopolies and the end of the war on poors [drugs].

Is Nappy supposed to be an insult? We means we as Americans. The people stuck footing the bill. I know I'm part of it and assumed you were too.

Only if you want it to be.  Nobody ever asked me if I would like to be "stuck footing the bill," and I neither feel like being nor intend to be (if at all possible) one of those people.
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Bacon King
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« Reply #18 on: April 19, 2011, 03:34:25 AM »

"mathematically impossible" you say Huh

Honestly, I'm not going to bother doing the math at this moment because it's 4:30 AM, but I'm fairly certain that the budget would be balanced if we returned to the tax rates we had in Ronald Reagan's presidency.

This thread is so hyperbolicious.
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Fmr President & Senator Polnut
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« Reply #19 on: April 19, 2011, 09:11:11 AM »

"mathematically impossible" you say Huh

Honestly, I'm not going to bother doing the math at this moment because it's 4:30 AM, but I'm fairly certain that the budget would be balanced if we returned to the tax rates we had in Ronald Reagan's presidency.

This thread is so hyperbolicious.

It's Wormy in relation to a tax Bill... of course it's going to be nonsensical.
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specific_name
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« Reply #20 on: April 19, 2011, 09:21:38 AM »

Well we do have to raise revenue, unless you're fine with this country being turning into some kind of neo-feudal/Latin American nightmare.

Well actually, that's a pretty good description of what the Democratic Party intends to turn this country into (or that they already have, to take a more cynical tack), a "neo-feudal Latin American nightmare."  I'll have to remember that one!

If you mean that they intend to do that via neo-liberal capitalism or whatever one might call the corporatist deal we have at the moment, then I would say we are on that track right now and that Republicans have been leading the charge since the Regan era. The Democrats have been complicit and they in many ways have abandoned a basic commitment to defending the poor and working class.

It's no surprise to me that young idealists in this political climate revere both Ron Paul and Kucinich, despite the disparity in their views. The tepid liberal left is a complete tragedy and the sole reason so many have moved to support right wing populist ideas; which sadly play into the same scheme of making the rich vastly richer, while endangering the interests of the greater mass of the population.
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opebo
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« Reply #21 on: April 20, 2011, 09:37:41 AM »

Look, America doesn't have a tax problem, it has a spending problem. 

No, you have that backwards, you imbecile.
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Cincinnatus
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« Reply #22 on: April 20, 2011, 09:50:12 AM »

Look, America doesn't have a tax problem, it has a spending problem. 

No, you have that backwards, you imbecile.

Awesome, you make friends every time you post don't you?  Nice constructive arguments you have there.  A one liner with no explanation as to why you disagree.  Try adding a little more substance when disagreeing with me next time.  At least then you'll garner some of my respect.
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opebo
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« Reply #23 on: April 20, 2011, 09:59:06 AM »

Look, America doesn't have a tax problem, it has a spending problem. 

No, you have that backwards, you imbecile.

Awesome, you make friends every time you post don't you?  Nice constructive arguments you have there.  A one liner with no explanation as to why you disagree.  Try adding a little more substance when disagreeing with me next time.  At least then you'll garner some of my respect.

Sorry about that, I was just testing the censors - I had thought for perhaps two years now that we couldn't use such terms as imbecile, but then in the Economics thread I found that we were free to call each other 'simpletons'.  Well, you can imagine my excitement, so I came here and called you an imbecile. 

Perhaps I should recant, but surely you'll admit that the wealthy pay absurdly low taxes in america?
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Cincinnatus
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« Reply #24 on: April 20, 2011, 10:06:13 AM »
« Edited: May 13, 2014, 10:46:43 AM by Cincinnatus »

Look, America doesn't have a tax problem, it has a spending problem.  

No, you have that backwards, you imbecile.

Awesome, you make friends every time you post don't you?  Nice constructive arguments you have there.  A one liner with no explanation as to why you disagree.  Try adding a little more substance when disagreeing with me next time.  At least then you'll garner some of my respect.

Sorry about that, I was just testing the censors - I had thought for perhaps two years now that we couldn't use such terms as imbecile, but then in the Economics thread I found that we were free to call each other 'simpletons'.  Well, you can imagine my excitement, so I came here and called you an imbecile.  

Perhaps I should recant, but surely you'll admit that the wealthy pay absurdly low taxes in america?

Wealthy individuals who can hire accountants and former IRS agents to avoid taxes and exploit a loop hole.  I honestly don't think it's a tax level problem, rather a tax code problem.  Books upon books of tax code make it a confusing and flawed system.  I don't want to tax success, but at the same time, wealthy individuals need to pay their share and quit ducking out of their responsibilities.  I live in upstate NY, and it's quite obvious to see how taxes can absolutely destroy business.  There has to be a medium between, paying nothing, and funding everything.  If I were wealthy I would probably seek to avoid what taxes I could as well (Just like any individual would).  So, I think the current tax system is a major obstacle someone needs to address.    
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