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1. 

   DrCanuck said, 6 months ago

   I wonder how many people understand the concept of a tax “base.”
2. 

   Jim Guess said, 6 months ago

   Still amazingly funny that Bennett has no clue as to how to stop the fiscal fiasco we are in.
3. 

   masterskrain said, 6 months ago

   The basic idea to help end the current crisis is really simple…implementing it is the part that is so darn hard.
   Simply put; If you spend MORE then you take in, you WILL GO BROKE!
   Figuring out how to spend less, and take more in is the hard part, since EVERYONE has their pet projects and Sacred Cows that they don’t want touched!
   “Cut Entitlements…EXCEPT for mine, of course…”
   “Raise Taxes…EXCEPT for MY constituents, of course…”
   And so forth, and so on, Ad Infinitum, Ad Nauseum…
4. 

   Fuzzy Thinker (I) said, 6 months ago

   @masterskrain

   “…“Cut Entitlements…EXCEPT for mine, of course…”
   “Raise Taxes…EXCEPT for MY constituents, of course…”
   And so forth, and so on, Ad Infinitum, Ad Nauseum…” Well Said.
5. 

   lifebyc said, 6 months ago

   Clay, I love your work. We’ve got to cooperate. It’s got to involve everything – taxes and reduced spending. It’s the only way. If we ran our households the way we run our government, we’d be out on the street. Some say “but the cuts are on the backs of the poor!” True. There aren’t social assistance services for the rich – by definition they’re for the poor. We have to take care of our poor, but we can’t spend more money than we make. Brought to you respectfully from the extreme center…
6. 

   Fuzzy Thinker (I) said, 6 months ago

   Clay summarizes the perspective very well. Today, the Top 5% pay 60% of IRS collections. US is headed towards having them pay 80% of taxes collected and borrow the rest.
   .
   Take a page from the history of Unions muscling Business to the point factories are outsourced overseas and the Union’s children are jobless and Michigan has ghost towns.
   Push too hard, and the rich will move their tax shelters around and IRS collections will drop like a rock and the National Debt will sky-rocket. Around the corner will be the US $Dollar Devalued.
7. 

   lonecat said, 6 months ago

   Part of the solution is an economy that generates more cash flow and more revenue in the process. The point of stimulating the economy is precisely to get to the point where more revenue will come in automatically. Under certain circumstances, more spending will create more revenue. Circumstances change, and what works in one situation won’t work in another. When the economy is in reasonably good shape, then lowering taxes is often a good idea. When the economy is in bad shape, it’s often a good idea to go into debt in order to get things moving. There is no single policy that works all the time. Budgets should be balanced, but not necessarily year by year.
8. 

   Tigger said, 6 months ago

   @masterskrain

   This is Obama to the letter
9. 

   Tigger said, 6 months ago

   @lonecat

   This has not worked at all
10. 

    Tigger said, 6 months ago

    Increasing the Capital Gains Tax will punish Middle Class Retirees who are drawing income from their pensions, 401K’s, and IRA’s, as all of this income is from capital gains on their investments.
11. 

    lonecat said, 6 months ago

    @Tigger

    Yes it has. Do you remember what everyone was saying about the state of the economy back before the election in 2008? Did their dire predictions come true? No? Why not? The least you can say is that the stimulus did not make the situation worse, and I think it’s reasonable to say that it helped. Perhaps a bigger stimulus would have helped more.
12. 

    Just Curious said, 6 months ago

    @lifebyc

    “There aren’t social assistance services for the rich – "
    []
    I guess that depends upon one’s definition of “social assistance services”! Does that include tax breaks for the oil companies? Does it include subsidies for big pharma? Does it include farm subsidies for those who do not grow certain crops?
    []
    I’m Just Curious – but it seems to me that a lot of public monies are channeled to those who are rich and really don’t need it.
    []
    ??
13. 

    Jeddidyah said, 6 months ago

    The repubturds on their pedestal.
14. 

    Jeddidyah said, 6 months ago

    @Jim Guess

    It is called satire…sometimes wisdom. The solution you can’t see is implied.
15. 

    Just Curious said, 6 months ago

    @Fuzzy Thinker (I)

    “Take a page from the history of Unions muscling Business to the point factories are outsourced overseas and the Union’s children are jobless and Michigan has ghost towns.”
    []
    I don’t claim to know anything about anything, so let’s get that clear from the start. I am Just Curious!
    []
    So I wonder: Would a solution to the “outsourcing” of U.S. jobs be a surtax on those companies who move jobs overseas?
    []
    What I’m thinking is that, since companies are increasing profits by moving U.S. jobs to China or to Pakistan or to India (wherever) why shouldn’t the U.S. government enforce disincentives? A company that moves offshore should be hit with taxes hat discourage such moves.
    []
    In other words, tax the companies that want to move U.S. jobs overseas – in such an increment that would negate their “profit” by using off-shore labor!
    []
    Is this so difficult? (Sorry, but my mind is simplistic and I look for easy answers. That might not be possible, because the politicians wouldn’t get the pay-offs that they now get. I don’t know. It’s just a thought.)
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