“spending reductions in the tax code.” – Ending tax cuts, President Obama, April 13, 2011
Clarity we can believe in.
It would be recklessly naive to go about our business in Washington pretending there won’t be severe consequences for the mountains of debt we are piling up.
It would be recklessly naive to go about our business in Washington pretending there won’t be severe consequences for the mountains of debt we are piling up. Yet today it is evident that this kind of willful ignorance is sweeping across Washington. We are set to lift our Nation’s debt burden to $14 trillion. I would ask my colleagues in this chamber if they know how many zeroes 14 trillion has. I would ask the American people if they know how many zeroes are in 14 trillion. It is 14 trillion. It is beyond comprehension to be talking about numbers this big. More precisely, the limit is 1, 4, 2, 9, 4, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0. It is a travesty. The writing is on the wall. Congress needs to wake up and realize that the future of American prosperity is in dire straits, mortal danger. As Americans hunker down to weather the economic storm, Democrats in Congress boosted Federal spending by 12 percent.
February 4, 2010, when the then-Democrat-controlled House of Representatives voted to lift the debt ceiling to $14.294 trillion, then-Minority Whip Eric Cantor
I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office. Obama
We cannot, and will not, sustain deficits like these without end. Contrary to the prevailing wisdom in Washington these past few years, we cannot simply spend as we please and defer the consequences to the next budget, the next administration, or the next generation.
We are paying the price for these deficits right now. In 2008 alone, we paid $250 billion in interest on our debt — one in every 10 taxpayer dollars. That is more than three times what we spent on education that year; more than seven times what we spent on VA health care.
So if we confront this crisis without also confronting the deficits that helped cause it, we risk sinking into another crisis down the road as our interest payments rise, our obligations come due, confidence in our economy erodes, and our children and our grandchildren are unable to pursue their dreams because they’re saddled with our debts.
And that’s why today I’m pledging to cut the deficit we inherited in half by the end of my first term in office. This will not be easy. It will require us to make difficult decisions and face challenges we’ve long neglected. But I refuse to leave our children with a debt that they cannot repay — and that means taking responsibility right now, in this administration, for getting our spending under control. President Obama, February 23, 2009
The sad part is that he is right, but instead of doing what he said, the deficits have continued, become much worse, and will have tripled the national DEBT according to projections. In short, it is the exact opposite of “A New Era of Responsibility.” Unfortunately the actions have not followed the words.
See: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jJvkkNmR_8 and http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_New_Era_of_Responsibility
How can they explain that they think it’s fair to force our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren to finance this debt through higher taxes. That’s what it will have to be. Why is it right to increase our nation’s dependence on foreign creditors?
If my Republican friends believe that increasing our debt by almost $800 billion today and more than $3 trillion over the last five years is the right thing to do, they should be upfront about it. They should explain why they think more debt is good for the economy.
How can the Republican majority in this Congress explain to their constituents that trillions of dollars in new debt is good for our economy? How can they explain that they think it’s fair to force our children, our grandchildren, our great grandchildren to finance this debt through higher taxes. That’s what it will have to be. Why is it right to increase our nation’s dependence on foreign creditors?
They should explain this. Maybe they can convince the public they’re right. I doubt it. Because most Americans know that increasing debt is the last thing we should be doing. After all, I repeat, the Baby Boomers are about to retire. Under the circumstances, any credible economist would tell you we should be reducing debt, not increasing it.Democrats won’t be making argument to supper this legalization, which will weaken our country. Weaken our county. Senator Harry Reid on raising the debt ceiling, 2006
Senator Reid is right here, debt is not the answer and never has been.
The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure….Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren.
Worth reprinting:
“The fact that we are here today to debate raising America’s debt limit is a sign of leadership failure. It is a sign that the U.S. Government can’t pay its own bills. It is a sign that we now depend on ongoing financial assistance from foreign countries to finance our Government’s reckless fiscal policies. … Increasing America’s debt weakens us domestically and internationally. Leadership means that ‘the buck stops here. Instead, Washington is shifting the burden of bad choices today onto the backs of our children and grandchildren. America has a debt problem and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better.” Senator Obama, March 20, 2006
Then Senator Obama was right then, debt is not the answer and has never been the answer.
Corporations don’t pay taxes, people do. Corporations are tax collectors.
Power-hungry politicians WANT to keep people ignorant of the true tax burden. Complaining about “corporate taxes” just confuses the naive, ignorant and uninformed which serves only politicians. It is useful to them also to divide and conquer so that there are fights just like this. Where one side is arguing for higher corporate taxes “for fairness” while not understanding that THEY and everyone else are going to be the ones paying.
The problem with the corporate tax in general is that only people pay taxes. Corporations do not. Corporations are just groups of people working together: shareholders, employees and consumers. Taxes will be paid by those groups. Usually a corporations biggest cost is payroll which means the people being paid will be paying most of the cost of increase taxes through lower wages. Consumers will be paying the next largest portion through higher prices, followed by a small percent by shareholders. Shareholders are in the most control though because they have the freedom to say “I will invest” or “I won’t invest” at those rates of return.
Corporate taxes – just like the myth of “employers paying half of social taxes etc – just hide the true tax rates that people are paying. It is like saying “charge corporations 100% and people nothing” – people are still paying it, just they don’t know it. They’re paying it through reduced wages, higher prices, and fewer opportunities because people won’t invest money for nothing, whether it is your $100 in your monthly retirement account contributions or Bill Gates.
The point of the arguments about corporate taxes is to get people upset and divided between people who understand that only people pay taxes and the people who don’t. This enables power-hungry politicians to get a group of people upset about corporate taxes rates which is one of the most regressive out there. It is ironic that the poor and unions are being manipulated into supporting an increase in taxes that will impact them the most through higher prices, lower wages, fewer benefits, and less retirement. What is more disturbing is that they are naive enough to go along with increasing an already regressive tax.
Remember that each step of the manufacturing process adds to the cost through hidden taxes. It is the perfect setup for power-hungry politicians so that they can spend as much as they want without people being aware of what is going on. It is perfect to manipulate a population that is unaware that taxing corporations is just another name for using a corporation as a tax collector to collect money from them.
If you want a regressive tax, a corporate tax is the perfect way to hide it and even better for the politicians. The tricksters can dupe the foolish into voting for them because they say they’ll raise the corporate tax. What this means in reality is they’ll just use the corporations to collect the taxes on the people buying the products. which as a percentage of income, is usually the poorer group. And the poorer group is the one clamoring for higher taxes on corporations.
It is a great racket – trick people to be upset that corporations aren’t paying more taxes by fueling envy and class-warfare and then let someone else collect it for you. A divide and conquer strategy at its best.
The tax code is perfect for manipulation – it allows politicians to play the blame game (“well so and so didn’t pay taxes”) never mind the fact that THEY were the ones who put the rules in and people are allowed to follow the laws. And the added “benefit” is that then lobbyists have to be paid to contribute to politicians to protect people from the government and the government’s long arm.
Remember that corporations are nothing but tax collectors and higher taxes on corporations result in the following on you:
1. Higher prices
2. Lower wages
3. Lower benefits
4. Lower return on your retirement and other investments.
This is intentional. Just as withholding taxes hide from people the true cost of their tax burden, corporate taxes hide from people the true cost of their tax burden. It is a great ploy from Washington (and other world capitals) to keep the un-educated upset and ready to follow them over a cliff. The people who are un-educated about the issue are being suckered by the power-hungry and the politicians will keep it going as long as possible.
The best solution is to have people pay taxes with no withholding. There is no masking of the size of government and the tax burden. No hiding behind ignorance while allowing yourself to be manipulated.
Keep your vagina out of my wallet
To the women carrying signs saying “Keep your Boehner out of my Vagina!” I say, keep your vagina out of my wallet.
If you don’t want other people’s input, don’t expect other people to pay your bills.
Sign “Keep your Boehner out of my Vagina!”- Stop forcing us to fund your vagina
After seeing women carrying signs saying “Keep your Boehner out of my Vagina!” it has been a bang up day for “the new civility.” To the women who have the sign, two things:
(1) Keep your vagina out of my wallet, and
(2) we don’t want to be involved with your vagina, which is the point – stop forcing us to fund your vagina.
We don’t want the government in the bedroom, the wallet, or any part of you or anyone else.
Once you invite the government in, it becomes a political issue. The answer is, don’t invite the government in in the first place.
What we have here is a flea – Democrat Chuck Schumer on The New Civility
What we have here is a flea, wagging a tail, wagging a dog,” said Schumer, chairman of the Senate Democratic Policy Committee. The Hill.
In a day full of “new civility” from Democrats in Washington, Chuck Schumer couldn’t resist joining in the “love.”
White Powder sent to Allen West’s Boca Office
The Palm Beach Post is reporting that white powder was sent to Representative Allen West’s Boca Raton (R-FL) office with a letter mentioning “anthrax.”
The New Civility at work again. Not to mention racism.