Have you heard? Tax cuts fix everything!

Government doesn't have enough money? Tax cuts are what you need!

Unemployment out of control? Cutting taxes will fix that right up!

Got gingivitis? Tax cuts are your cure!

Car won't start in cold weather? You guessed it: tax cuts!

Toilet keeps running after you flush? You may need a new flapper. Or maybe more tax cuts!

Male pattern baldness? Tax cuts, my friend!

Tax cuts fix EVERYTHING!

We need to cut out some programs, tighten our belts and give people at all income levels more of the money that they earn to spend on our economy...since our country doesn't produce much anymore, we are a spend, spend, spend economy....

I don't believe in taking from those that earn more just because we can...it sucks that I didn't have a brilliant idea and start microsoft or something, but I don't begrudge those people the money for their ingenuity. Why bother to work hard or come up with great new products if Uncle Sam takes it all away.

I know that isn't a popular opinion around here though.

you can afford 500,000 a year in taxes and still live...very nicely. There is a marginal gain of happiness after 500,000 in income free of taxes. You pretty much can do what you want but just not what you want all the time.

If you make 50,000 a year you can't afford 25,000 in taxes and live nicely.

Paying your share is a patriotic duty.

Counterintuitive, but true. Top rates throughout the 50's were in the 90% range.

not right. We should all share in the tax burden. I said this somewhere else, but I'll say it again. Our neighbors earn 110,000/yr and have 6 kids (their choice). They get every single dollar back that they give to the taxman during the year when they file their taxes. Screw that. If I have to pay, they have to pay. Period.

Maybe if we had less corporate tax loopholes, everyone shared in the burden (including you and me) and we cut spending in some areas the economy would become strong.

How much of your money are you willing to give up percentage wise in taxes? Do you work hard? Do you earn every penny? What if I came in and said "look, you earn more than me. I know that you got a college degree and worked hard to get it, but...it's not FAIR that you earn more, so I want my share of your money." Would you be fine with that?

If yes....please PM me and I'll give you my bank info. so you can make a direct deposit to my account. =)

i certainly believe in taking more from those who earn more...it's called fairness, as obama mentioned in the last debate. since the reagan era, the tax code, by and large, has favored the very wealthy. just about every deduction that would save the average person's tax dollars (e.g.,consumer interest deduction, charitable deduction for non-itemizers)was eliminated, and social security taxes were increased. all this means: the middle and working class is paying for bush's trillion dollar spending spree.
don't buy the "class warfare" argument. what's really happened is that class war has been waged against you.

I don't think we should tax too much and people should be able to make as much money as you want, but the government has to pay the bills. A fair progressive tax policy works best.

You're right that people spending money is good for the economy, but you're wrong in thinking that taxing the rich is "just because we can." First off, it's a matter of adjusting the tax code to take the burden off the poor. Second, the rich tend to reap much more in government benefits (indirect benefits, I'm not talking about Bill Gates fraudulently collecting welfare, but the benefits from gov't investment in business, protection, ect). Third, it's blatant social engineering, but countries with a large disparity in wealth (such as we've developed here since the Reagan years) tend to be less stable than those with a smaller gap.

It's not about begrudging. It's about ensuring that the government is able to meet its obligation to all citizens, and that the next founder of microsoft isn't locked into some aristocratic system where he can't rise to the top.

The poor don't PAY taxes, but they reap the most benefits.

What is the incentive to work hard anymore if the harder you work the more other people have their hands in your pockets?

I'm sorry...I can't get on board with that! I know it's unpopular here, but it takes all kinds of democrats to make up the democratic party.

The US government has way too much to do right now, with fighting pointless political wars and simultaneously bailing out the foundations of its private financial system, to be impoverishing itself.

It needs to make corporate tax loopholes illegal, pronto. Same with a progressive taxation system. Nix the tax credits for the rich immediately.

The middle class are too indebted to a broken debt system to help. The government needs funding, and corporations and the wealthy are the only viable sources.

Just look how well it worked the last 8 years!

the stock market.

These people are idiots.

They worry about a small tax increase while they lose tens of thousands in the market.

:evilgrin:

The richer the rich are, the better off we all are! One day they will pay us to lick their boots!

You come from a poor family...you get good grades, go to college, work hard, get into a professional program and break out of the cycle of poverty that your family was in. You finally are earning enough money to not just survive, but thrive...to put away money for your kids' college (because now that you earn money, there won't be much financial aid available) and then someone comes to you and says "Hey....it's not fair that you earn more than me. Give me more of your money." Is that right?

Who is asking you to lick their boots? Not me....but I don't think taking from one group and redistributing it to the other is the right answer. Create more equal educational opportunities for people? yes! Healthcare? yes!

But...we need to start thinking about personal responsibility too. I totally agree that the fat cats need to be looked at for how they are breaking the law and manipulating the system. I believe strongly in the idea of a living wage for people and universal health coverage. I don't believe in taking money from some to give to others though. Why work hard then? Lets all just suck off the system.

...those are the exact arguments conservatives use for keeping taxes low on the wealthy. I mean, are you suggesting that almost 30 years of trickle-down economics has been good for the country?

Your point is "This is my money, I worked hard for it, I earned it. Why should I pay higher taxes?" How about because you owe something to the country whose system allowed you to make all that money?

"But if the rich get taxed, why will anybody have any incentive to work hard?" Seriously? Again, I hate to keep pointing this out, but this is the stuff I hear from my right-wing still-defends-Bush brother-in-law.

Let's look at Japan, shall we? Their income tax system works like this:

• less than 1.95 million Yen = 5% of taxable income
  
• 1.95 to 3.3 million Yen = 10% of taxable income exceeding 1.95 million Yen plus 97,500 Yen
  
• 3.3 to 6.95 million Yen = 20% of taxable income exceeding 3.3 million Yen plus 232,500 Yen
  
• 6.95 to 9 million Yen = 23% of taxable income exceeding 6.95 million Yen plus 962,500 Yen
  
• 9 to 18 million Yen = 33% of taxable income exceeding 9 million Yen plus 1,434,000 Yen
  
• more than 18 million Yen = 40% of taxable income exceeding 18 million Yen plus 4,404,000 Yen

(Source: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2206.html)

Now, the thing to notice is that the more money a person makes in Japan, the higher their tax rate is. Today 1 dollar is worth a little more than 100 Yen. The top bracket is paying mre than 24% on the first 18,000,000 Yen (US$179,131.86 at today's exchange rate) and then 40% on everything over that.

By your logic, nobody in Japan should be trying to succeed, because they have no incentive. I mean why bother trying hard when it just means you'll pay more taxes?

Because it also means you'll get more money. Yes, the government gets more, but you get more too.

Now lets look historically at the top brackets in the United states (http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php).

Throughout the 1950's, the top rate was 91% on incomes over $400,000. 91%. That's an awful lot, but of course $400K was a lot more money in the 50's. Anyway, did the economy stagnate during the 1950's? Was there no incentive to work hard? Because the way I understand it, the 1950's were the time in our country when we had the most prosperous middle-class we've ever had. A man could work as a baker and afford to buy a home (which he was actually paying for instead of just paying interest on), a car, and his wife could probably stay home and take care of the kids.

But oooh! We don't want any scary evil taxes! Why would anybody bother to work hard?

In 1964, the top rate was cut to 77%, then to 70% in 1971. Did things get better or worse? Better for the rich? Worse for the middle class?

In 1982 they were cut back to 50% Did things get better or worse? Better for the rich? Worse for the middle class?

By 1988 the top rate was cut to 28% (that's right, from 70% to 28% under Reagan). Did things get better or worse? Better for the rich? Worse for the middle class?

Clinton raised the top rates to 39%. Things got a little better for the middle class. Are you seeing the pattern here?

The bottom line (and the point I was trying to make, albeit humorously) is that tax cuts are not a panacea for our problems, although the right likes to pretend that they are. In fact, if one looks at history (and oh, I dunno, the rest of the world) it becomes pretty apparent that countries prosper at higher rates of taxation on the wealthy, and that the taxes are not a deterrent to hard work, success, or even building family wealth.

I struggled, sacrificed and will be paying off my loans probably until the day I die. How much more are you willing to pay in taxes of your income to pay back society?

Tax cuts are not a panacea...I'm not necessarily for them...but here is where I part with my own party. Every individual, regardless of income should have to pay taxes. Everyone. You earn $6/hr? You don't get every dollar you paid in taxes back at the end of the year. Hey...I'm all for boosting that $6/hr to $10/hr and making it a living wage....but pitch the fuck in!

I'm sorry. Every American has a responsibility to this country...all of us. I see no reason why my good friend and her husband...both teachers earning $50k/year (for a totaly of 100k) should get every dollar back at the end of the year for their deductions...but because we earn just enough...we get none of it back. Sure, we earn a little more, but at the end of the day, they TAKE home a little more...

No way...no how...no more taxes. Cut spending period.

Seriously, I think at least half the people in my family would jump ships and vote for democrats if both parties changed their positions on only taxes, despite how much they seem to agree with republicans in most other areas. Taxes is the number one issue to them, and it drives me crazy. They also hate government regulation

I mean seriously, recently one of my family members claimed that studies now show that the great depression wouldn't have been as bad as it actually was if the government had just sat back and done nothing.

When I heard that I was like "umm... isn't that exactly what Hoover did for several years that didn't work".

They need to own their failure. A failure just as great as the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Republicanisim=EPIC FAIL

One day sane conservatives will return and add greatly to the dialog but these brand of garbage has to die.