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Originally Posted by shakran
We are not talking about having the government steal from the rich and give to the poor. We are talking about having the government make the rich pay their fair share. They have more money, they enjoy more benefits of the american capitalism system, they should pay more into the system. This is not a tough concept. But as it is, we keep giving tax cuts to the rich, while forcing the middle class to shoulder the burden. That's ridiculous. Works out great for the millionaires, but not so well for the majority of the people.
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Taxing income from labor and savings is not fair in my opinion. I suggest taxing consumption. A billionaire can show little or no income, but have a billionaire lifstyle. Taxing consumption addresses many problems. To me the real issue is not tax cuts but developing the most effecient way to tax.
Perhaps it is not you, but hearing about how the tax cuts are wrong over and over is making me delirious especially given what happens when excessive tax rates are lowered to more reasonable levels.
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If government spending is a drain on productivity, why does productivity go up in times of war, when the government is spending lots of money on arms?
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Because government employs labor (soldiers) at little costs. Resource directed towrd the "war machine" negatively affects the quality of life. During WWII we had all kinds of shortages of goods and services. Quality of life does not improve during times when war consumes major portions of an economy. I could write a report on that and cite sources, but do I really need to?
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..but let's take your ideas to the logical conclusion - let's say the government stops spending money on anything but defense and running itself (power bill for congress, etc). No more spending for roads. We'll make 'em all toll roads (worked great for Chicago right? Those are just silky smooth roads right?) Let's cut government spending on the agriculture industry. For example, no more meat inspections. Of course, some people will die from contaminated meat, but at least we're saving money right?
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We can look at markets that have developed without significant government involvment, what happens? The market finds a way to regulate itself. I am not an anarchist but there is a really, really long road between what we have today and a country where government is only involved in defense. Personally I beleive local and state government should do many of the things we expect from the federal government.
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Just a couple of examples of why government spending is necessary. Of course, whining that the government is too big is very popular for the "conservatives" (who then come in, cut social programs, and spend just as much, and more, on attacking innocent countries, therefore not saving a dime anyway). But they fail to point out what smaller government really means.
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Here is what it means. You don't send money to Washington and then have them send some of it back. No Pork. Zero based budgets. Cost benefit analysis for programs anually. Sunset provisions. Part-time law makers. Accountability, I can have lunch with my local school board president. I can not meet with the head of education at the federal level, lobbiests can. If my school board does something stupid, they hear about it. If they do something stupid in Washington, they blame someone else. There is no accountability for most federal government programs. Does FEMA come to mind?
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And tax cuts are very popular, and irresponsible, ways for a politician to gain favor with the voters. Look how well it worked for Minnesota. Everyone got tax refund checks, then suddenly they were millions in the hole. Looks pretty stupid in hindsight doesn't it.
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Government spending acounts for $1 out of every $5 in our economy. How big do you want government? Pork is a bigger problem than tax cuts, don't you agree?
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I agree that the government spends entirely too much, but that does not mean that the solution is to cut income. That's just senseless.
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Government income is up after the tax cuts, not down. Check the CBO website.