Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_dux
Ace, we ran a surplus in each of Clinton's last for years....before the Bush tax cuts.
In fact, individual income taxes as percent of GDP was the highest in recent history in 2000 (10.2 percent) and declined with the onset of the Bush tax cuts to 8.1 percent in '02, 7.2 percent in '03 and 6.9 percent in 04, only to rise marginally in the last Bush years., but nowhere near that 10.2 percent before he took office.
Total income tax revenue decreased in each of the years following the Bush 01 and 03 tax cuts. It took until '06 to get back to the level of revenue from Clinton's last year.
See OMB: Historical Tables | The White House
see tables 2.1 and 2.3
As to deficit spenders, the two worst spenders were Reagan and GW Bush.
National debt by U.S. presidential terms - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia |
My core belief is that individuals do a better job of allocating capital in the economy than government, with few exceptions. So, low individual income taxes as a percent of GDP is a good thing in my view. Is your core belief the opposite of mine or are we really discussing degrees of difference? Once I better understand your core belief I will know better how to respond.
---------- Post added at 09:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:04 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
It looks like Obama needs to stop spending like a Republican and more like a Democrat. Damn economic meltdowns...! ...Making Democrats spend like Republicans!
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I did not support Bush's attempt at a bailout of the financial sector, I actually think he abdicated his responsibility to his Treasury Secretary a former Goldman Sachs CEO. He had one foot out the door and it is unforgivable. Given, my view regarding Bush, Obama made it worse many times over. Republican or Democrat, the spending (implied is the taxation that goes along with it or lower standards of living for future generations to pay for our spending) in Washington is the reason there is a Tea Party. I will not support a Republican candidate who supported the bailouts or who would be willing to do something similar in the future. Ron Paul may be my only viable option and if that is the case, I will support him 100%.
---------- Post added at 09:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:11 PM ----------
Quote:
Originally Posted by dc_dux
Or, the Independents who voted Republican in 2010 will swing back to Democrats out of disapproval of the "less than shared sacrifice" of the Republican debt reduction plan that is based as much or more on ideology than on fiscal impacts.
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Are you assuming that Ryan's plan is going anywhere other than the vote in the House? i doubt the Senate is going to do anything with it. Obama would veto it. The only plan that will pass will be a compromise plan between Obama, the Senate and a few Republicans willing to compromise. I seriously believe the 2012 election is going to be based on Obama's track record. If Obama is serious and makes progress, he won't have to worry about the Tea Party.
There has been news coverage indicating that eliminating the Bush tax cuts on the top bracket will not make much of a difference in the deficit. I have not crunched the numbers myself - but on the surface it does seem clear that serious spending cuts have to bee put on the table. I am willing to see cuts in Medicare and in defense spending including bringing our troops home and lowering our international military foot print.
I am not sure what it will take for people to understand that the truly rich have legitimate ways of not paying the top rates, just look at some of the things people in Congress or on Obama's team do to avoid taxes. At this point rather than talking about the Bush tax cuts, we need to modify the entire tax code. if we eliminate the loopholes and special treatment some receive at the expense of others, we might end up with a system that is fair. it is interesting to me that Obama seems more interested in being punitive or class warfare rather than in fairness.
Regarding polls on taxes, I am surprised the results are not skewed more to - tax them, not me. There is a reason why 99% don't support more taxation on the 1% in polls. When citing poll results on taxes, perhaps pausing and thinking about that would be of value before drawing conclusions from those polls.