Or so we keep hearing. Even people who have never commented politically, are appearing on my facebook timeline, telling me the country doesn't have a spending problem, it has a revenue problem.
So, do we really have a revenue problem?
My argument is no, we don't. John F. Kennedy cut taxes. Revenue increased. Ronald Reagan cut taxes, Revenue Increased. George W. Bush cut taxes, revenue increased. Don't believe me? Instead of just listening to the hype on the news, go look. The numbers are available. Do some research. It's there to see. Why is this the case? Because when you tax corporations and rich people, they can afford fancy lawyers who can find every loophole necessary to protect their money. So they pay less taxes. Of course Warren Buffet doesn't mind if taxes are raised for rich people, because he knows he can afford 40 tax lawyers that will make sure he never has be pay an extra cent. He knows that by peddling class warfare, he can help someone get elected, and still not have to pay a dime. So we lower the threshold to $250,000 and now your small business owners, who can't afford tax lawyers get stuck with higher taxes. To stay above water, they don't hire new people. No jobs = less revenue. Yes, yes it does. If you aren't making money you can't pay taxes. So a year goes by and we have no new revenue from that avenue, so we keep lowering the income threshold until the middle class is footing the bill. We can't afford tax lawyers either. We don't own businesses. We just pay our taxes as they continue to go up. That's how the "raising taxes" thing works. You really want to increase revenue. Flat tax. No deductions. No loopholes. Works for me.
If you think we have a revenue issue, then I suggest you look hard at your monthly budget and figure out if you can afford and want to pay more, and then I urge you to just send a check to the government for that extra money. I bet more than half the people screaming about revenue are not going to even consider that. Or better yet, just tell the government you don't want your tax refund. They can keep it. Are you willing to do that? If not, then stop advocating the spending of other people's money, assuming you will not have to pay. Trust me. You will.
We have a SPENDING problem. A huge one. Medicare is more costly than the national defense budget. Medicare costs more every year than the Iraq War... times 5. yes... more than 450 BILLION dollars. Every year. And now we have yet another healthcare plan that will add to that. Social Security is going bankrupt. When someone tells you the trust fund isn't empty, it's filled with t-bills? Guess what they are? Money the government OWES ITSELF. Hello? Where is that money going to come from? They took social security funds to pay for other things. (Side Note: That's how Bill Clinton got a surplus...he was counting the social security trust fund.) We hemorrhage money in this country, and the only solution is to...raise taxes. But it DOESN'T work. It has NEVER worked. You want to raise taxes? Fine. For every DOLLAR in taxes you raise, you need to cut a dollar out of the federal budget. EVERY one. Then I'm on board. But there's no way I'm paying more taxes, so the government can keep throwing away money. Forget it.
(One more side note: the current President voted, when he was in the Senate, to raise taxes on anyone making more than $50,000. How long do you think before that becomes "necessary" for our revenue problem to be solved).
(Another Side Note: Maybe we could slash public pensions... instead of the Military's Benefits. He suggested slashing Military Benefits for Retirees, while continuing to feed public pension slush funds).
Stop with the revenue problem, people. The only way government gets money is taxes. If you over extend yourself, do you go ask your boss for a percentage raise to cover it? No, because he'd laugh at you. So what makes it right for the government to overextend itself and then ask US to pay for it? Cut spending. Then if we need to raise taxes to whittle down the deficit, I'm fine with that. But spending cuts HAVE to come first.
So, do we really have a revenue problem?
My argument is no, we don't. John F. Kennedy cut taxes. Revenue increased. Ronald Reagan cut taxes, Revenue Increased. George W. Bush cut taxes, revenue increased. Don't believe me? Instead of just listening to the hype on the news, go look. The numbers are available. Do some research. It's there to see. Why is this the case? Because when you tax corporations and rich people, they can afford fancy lawyers who can find every loophole necessary to protect their money. So they pay less taxes. Of course Warren Buffet doesn't mind if taxes are raised for rich people, because he knows he can afford 40 tax lawyers that will make sure he never has be pay an extra cent. He knows that by peddling class warfare, he can help someone get elected, and still not have to pay a dime. So we lower the threshold to $250,000 and now your small business owners, who can't afford tax lawyers get stuck with higher taxes. To stay above water, they don't hire new people. No jobs = less revenue. Yes, yes it does. If you aren't making money you can't pay taxes. So a year goes by and we have no new revenue from that avenue, so we keep lowering the income threshold until the middle class is footing the bill. We can't afford tax lawyers either. We don't own businesses. We just pay our taxes as they continue to go up. That's how the "raising taxes" thing works. You really want to increase revenue. Flat tax. No deductions. No loopholes. Works for me.
If you think we have a revenue issue, then I suggest you look hard at your monthly budget and figure out if you can afford and want to pay more, and then I urge you to just send a check to the government for that extra money. I bet more than half the people screaming about revenue are not going to even consider that. Or better yet, just tell the government you don't want your tax refund. They can keep it. Are you willing to do that? If not, then stop advocating the spending of other people's money, assuming you will not have to pay. Trust me. You will.
We have a SPENDING problem. A huge one. Medicare is more costly than the national defense budget. Medicare costs more every year than the Iraq War... times 5. yes... more than 450 BILLION dollars. Every year. And now we have yet another healthcare plan that will add to that. Social Security is going bankrupt. When someone tells you the trust fund isn't empty, it's filled with t-bills? Guess what they are? Money the government OWES ITSELF. Hello? Where is that money going to come from? They took social security funds to pay for other things. (Side Note: That's how Bill Clinton got a surplus...he was counting the social security trust fund.) We hemorrhage money in this country, and the only solution is to...raise taxes. But it DOESN'T work. It has NEVER worked. You want to raise taxes? Fine. For every DOLLAR in taxes you raise, you need to cut a dollar out of the federal budget. EVERY one. Then I'm on board. But there's no way I'm paying more taxes, so the government can keep throwing away money. Forget it.
(One more side note: the current President voted, when he was in the Senate, to raise taxes on anyone making more than $50,000. How long do you think before that becomes "necessary" for our revenue problem to be solved).
(Another Side Note: Maybe we could slash public pensions... instead of the Military's Benefits. He suggested slashing Military Benefits for Retirees, while continuing to feed public pension slush funds).
Stop with the revenue problem, people. The only way government gets money is taxes. If you over extend yourself, do you go ask your boss for a percentage raise to cover it? No, because he'd laugh at you. So what makes it right for the government to overextend itself and then ask US to pay for it? Cut spending. Then if we need to raise taxes to whittle down the deficit, I'm fine with that. But spending cuts HAVE to come first.
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