so you're saying that after reducing tax rates, neither bush or reagan had a revenue increase? laffer curve means nothing?
the Laffer curve is simply another economic theory whose real-life implications are highly suspect compared to its claims.
http://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2008/01/the-new-laffer.html
Sounds to me like political posturing and reindeer games are happening on both sides of the aisle.
I can't argue with that.
but it's not like Obama hasn't tried to work with the GOP on this.
first it was Cantor who stormed out of bipartisan talks, then it was Boehner. this was after the President invited him to play golf lol...
seriously though, when the Democrats are compromising on points that even their own party is generally against, there's no reason why Republicans can't do the same even if for a temporary solution.
Because you simply cannot tax your way out of a recession or depression. We don't have a revenue problem, what with bringing in over $200B each month.
I never said we should
only tax our way out. I said the problem is two-fold: spending and revenue.
yes we have a spending problem; the defense budget is needlessly astronomical, entitlement programs are going insolvent, both parties talk about cutting pork but neither party actually has.
but yes, we also have a revenue problem.
the corporate tax rate is supposed to be 35%, but the largest and most profitable corporations in this country haven't paid that in decades. there are so many loop holes in the corporate tax code and ridiculous incentives and tax breaks that the wealthiest businesses often end up paying
nothing back to this country. more often than not, they actually get money BACK or pay more taxes to foreign governments than to their own. this, of course, is thanks to GOP fiscal policy that focuses on deregulation and incentives for outsourcing.
But hey, if it makes you feel better by raising taxes on any current taxpayers, then fine. Go right ahead and do it.
did I say we should raise taxes on "any" taxpayers?
no, I didn't say that.
For one thing, we didn't have a crumbled economy and, the global economy was much stronger then as well.
cop out.
again, it was Republican policy that allowed for the current state of the economy both at home and abroad. the housing market didn't collapse because there was
too much oversight in regards to loan financing. Wall Street hedge funds weren't allowed to run amok because there was
too much transparency when it came to credit default swaps.
you see where I'm going...
Raising the debt limit this time as compared to all the other times is like you or me borrowing money. We may be able to borrow and pay back our loans and pay bills, but this time we may have the uncertainty of stable employment. Would you buy a new car on a loan if you heard that your employer might be laying people off soon?
oh please.
Republicans had no problem voting for Bush's unfunded wars and tax cuts when they had the chance to raise concern. they borrowed for those expenditures like it was 1948 with no qualms about what might happen when the bill came due or how this would effect our relationship with China who was to hold the debt itself. and now they cry when China artificially manipulates the value of their currency like our incompetence had nothing to do with it.
Oh, so now Obama IS the United States?
the current President is ALWAYS the United States.
I like how Obama says rich people need to pay more taxes. Lots of "rich people" pay more than 50% of their income in taxes. I sure wish they were helping out this country more!
I'd like to see you cite that claim.
because I can cite claims that make yours look rather irrelevant.
According to the IRS, the "income split point" for somebody to be included in the top 1% of all taxpayers (by income) was $380,354 in 2008 (the last year where data is available).
So, if you reported Positive Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $380,354 or over, then you were in the top 1% of all taxpayers in the United States in 2008.
According to the IRS, this group of taxpayers (1,399,606 total) paid 38.02% of all federal individual income tax collected in 2008.
The top 5% of all taxpayers (income split on this group was at $159,619 in 2008) paid 58.72% of all federal individual income taxes in 2008.
Let's continue to break this down:
Top 10% (Income Split Point $113,799) Paid 69.94% of Federal Individual Income Taxes
Top 25% (Income Split Point $67,280) Paid 86.34% of Federal Individual Income Taxes
Top 50% (Income Split Point $33,048) Paid 97.30% of Federal Individual Income Taxes
Bottom 50% (Anyone Making Less Than $33,048) Paid 2.7% of Federal Individual Income Taxes
--
A few other interesting nuggets of information for you:
-top 1% of earners in 2008 brought home 20% of adjusted gross income but paid 38.02% of all federal individual income taxes
-top 1% of earners paid 40.4% of federal individual income taxes in 2007
-the top 0.1% of earners in 2008 (140,000 tax returns) paid 18.5% of federal individual income taxes
-the average income of this group in 2008 was approximately $6 million
that's courtesy of the IRS and Taxfoundation.org