Fix the filibuster NOW!

[LoungeMachine]

Maybe because the top 1% received the largest GIMME from the Bush Tax Cuts, which were a mistake, and now should have to give back more?

Maybe because the 2 wars that were off-budget, made many, many people incredible wealthy?

Maybe because most of the 1% have been living large off of incredible tax loopholes and giveaways, such as "carried interest" and capital gains that are too low?



And maybe because the Middle Class that built this country and defended this country deserves a fucking break?

[Nitro Express]

They are just going do a last minute scramble and kick the can down the road again. One reason this country sucks is you can't even come up with a five year business plan because the stupid government can't come up with a solid budget or tax plan. Since taxes are one of the biggest expenses it's nice to know what they are going to be. It will be the usual bickering and not much substance.

[BigBadBrian]

How 'bout this one? YOU HAVE NO CLUE...

A family of four is in poverty on $20K!

Yeah, at least I caught your attention with that figure. It was intentionally a little extreme.

My point is everyone should be paying income taxes. We can have a minimum cut-off...no problem there but most people can afford to pay income taxes. I know people making $60K that get a full refund. That is wrong.

BTW - you can get caught up in Elvis' and David Lee Natra's circle-jerk if you want, but I think you're better than that. Those two are not.

[ELVIS]

Notice how your mood calms down when you've been off the juice for a few days ??

Keep up the good work...

[kwame k]

I have no problem with paying more, I just think everyone should pay a little more. We're all in this together, and we should all work to get out of it together. We need to pay down our debt and reduce our deficits until things are balanced again. I'm for everyone's tax rates going up by some arbitrary number (3%?) and putting that additional revenue towards financial repair for the nation and at the same time reducing overall spending across the board, starting with the military budget.

Not suggesting that you are saying this, but I have a real problem with anyone saying they think other people should pay more to fix a problem we all share. Comes across as though people only care about the problem so long as they aren't a part of the solution.

We have a big financial problem in this country. Everyone needs to chip in and bail us out. Everyone. It's not sacrifice if we only expect one group to do it.

I'm starting to think it's not a bad idea.

Increase everyone's taxes to pay for our 2 wars, tell people they're doing it because we went to war and occupied/rebuilt 2 countries!

I bet the next time the Hawks start their saber rattling the American people would refuse to let them war.

Seriously though, it's a pretty simple answer here.......all they'd be doing is letting a Tax Break expire!!!!! Not raising taxes but putting them back to where they were

Close the corporate loopholes and the subsides to big oil........reduce our military spending by half! Get the fuck out of areas we don't belong, close useless military bases around the globe and start investing money back into this country.....our infrastructure! Simple!

[Nickdfresh]

Yeah, at least I caught your attention with that figure. It was intentionally a little extreme.

My point is everyone should be paying income taxes. We can have a minimum cut-off...no problem there but most people can afford to pay income taxes. I know people making $60K that get a full refund. That is wrong.

BTW - you can get caught up in Elvis' and David Lee Natra's circle-jerk if you want, but I think you're better than that. Those two are not.

Almost everyone is paying taxes, payroll taxes are still income taxes. And retirees and others with little income need to be putting their money back into the economy, not paying Federal Income taxes...

Tell me how people making $60K+ can get a full refund, cause I want to know!

[BigBadBrian]

reduce our military spending by half! !

Ridiculous!

[BigBadBrian]

I have no problem with paying more, I just think everyone should pay a little more.

That'll happen on 1 January if something between POTUS and Congress isn't worked out. I can't believe they're arguing over the $250,000 limit and raising taxes BS. The solution there is so simple (a solution that both sides should go for) it's ridiculous.

Barack, I'm waiting on your call.

[Satan]

Here's the flaw with the idea of raising everybody's taxes.....

The economic damage of the last 32 years was specifically CAUSED by the tax "cuts" for the rich tax dodgers which came from Reagan and Chimpy, as well as other bullshit economic policies like ending Glass Steagal, NAFTA, refusing to enforce laws that are still on the books such as the Sherman Act, etc.

It comes down to this: Before 1980, the so-called "job creators" either could invest the money they made back into their business, or they would have to pay taxes on it. It made no sense for them to cut corners and outsource to cheap labor in order to make excessive profits, because they would have to pay taxes on those profits, and what's the fun in that?

So instead, they expanded their businesses, hired more people at decent living wages, and the people making those wages had plenty of money to spend, which means they were buying more stuff, which in turn meant more stuff needed to be made, which then meant more people needed to be hired to make it.

Reality based, demand-side economics. It was so simple it could be explained in a fucking cartoon.....



Elfmer Fudd got it. Somehow 32 years of politicians can't??

So yes, it's the rich who need to pick up their burden. They're the ones who dropped it in the first place.

[Nitro Express]

I hate income taxes. Replace them with a national sales tax and then maybe exclude certain things like food. The rich will pay more because they buy more. You would get all the tax dodgers and everyone pays some tax. Everyone needs some skin in the game because it would force people to be more politically involved when government spending is concerned. You tend to watch the politicians more when it's your money they waste.

[envy_me]

You don't have sales tax??????

[Nitro Express]

I'm starting to think it's not a bad idea.

Increase everyone's taxes to pay for our 2 wars, tell people they're doing it because we went to war and occupied/rebuilt 2 countries!

I bet the next time the Hawks start their saber rattling the American people would refuse to let them war.

Seriously though, it's a pretty simple answer here.......all they'd be doing is letting a Tax Break expire!!!!! Not raising taxes but putting them back to where they were

Close the corporate loopholes and the subsides to big oil........reduce our military spending by half! Get the fuck out of areas we don't belong, close useless military bases around the globe and start investing money back into this country.....our infrastructure! Simple!

That's all made possible because Nixon took us off the gold standard in 1971. When your central bank can print the amount of money needed and then deffer the debt to future generations, the current cluster fuck is the result. When your currency is actually backed by commodities, you can't get into huge amounts of debt because you only have so much money in the treasury and you have to be careful how it's managed. I think the attitude of many is who cares, I won't be alive when it comes to roost. The rampant spending of the last two president have sped up the day of reckoning. This is a debtor nation and inflation is good for the government because it can make it's debt easier to pay off. It's lousy for citizens on fixed incomes and those who save their money in US Dollars. Basically I'm positioned to where inflation won't hurt me so much and I'm betting against the Federal Reserve and the US Government. It's all how you position yourself and those who hold US Dollars in long-term investments are going to get burned big time. Anyone even buying long-term US Treasury Bonds at this time is taking a risk. Not too long ago you could buy US Treasuries and not worry. This is how much things have changed in a decade.

They are going to kill the US Dollar. The next question is what replaces it? Is this done on purpose to usher in another currency like the Euro? or is it just plain incompetence? It does seem like a few oligarchs want consolidated currencies like the Euro and global taxes like the carbon tax. If you sit in their seat, these measures makes the world easier to control. They tried it in Europe but it didn't work because countries didn't follow the rules on spending. Politicians will use that money to buy votes and to keep themselves in power and it just gets expensive. Then you end up with one country Germany footing the bill. One German put it this way, why should Germans retire at age 80 so a Greek can retire at age 40?

So these unions just don't work without sound money management and that is what is missing. Right now there really isn't a good currency world wide. The dollar was always popular because it's the world's reserve currency and the US was politically stable, but now people are cautious on the US Dollar. It's a mess.

[Nitro Express]

You don't have sales tax??????

Not on the national scale. Taxes vary city to city and state to state. In Oregon they don't have any sales tax for the state. That's why people from Washington state go to Portland to do some shopping. Here in Wyoming we don't have a state income tax and that is why more Californians are making Wyoming their primary residence and still keep a home in California. It's to escape the ever increasing California state income taxes. About half my neighbors are from California. Taxes have a huge impact on why things are. If you go to Amsterdam you see those tall skinny houses. Why they were built that way is you got taxed on the buildings footprint so they just built up and that's why those structures look funny. Tax policy has a huge affect on society, how things are built and how people live.

If you live in New York City you have to pay city income tax, state income tax, and federal income tax. So here in the states, where you live determines what kind of taxes you are going to be paying.

[Nitro Express]

Flat taxes seem to work well with church's. You pay your 10% tithing and it goes into the budget. In the case of the Mormon Church everyone payed 10% but the local people still had to build their own local buildings and raise a local budget. Eventually there was enough money in Salt Lake City from investing the tithing the church could do away with local budgets and a centralized building department now builds and maintains the buildings. So if a church can do this with a flat tax why can't a government? It used to be you payed 10% tithing, the building fund, and the local ward budget. Now members just pay the 10% because the money was well invested in the past. It's basically a flat tax working.

[envy_me]

Not on the national scale. Taxes vary city to city and state to state. In Oregon they don't have any sales tax for the state. That's why people from Washington state go to Portland to do some shopping. Here in Wyoming we don't have a state income tax and that is why more Californians are making Wyoming their primary residence and still keep a home in California. It's to escape the ever increasing California state income taxes. About half my neighbors are from California. Taxes have a huge impact on why things are. If you go to Amsterdam you see those tall skinny houses. Why they were built that way is you got taxed on the buildings footprint so they just built up and that's why those structures look funny. Tax policy has a huge affect on society, how things are built and how people live.

If you live in New York City you have to pay city income tax, state income tax, and federal income tax. So here in the states, where you live determines what kind of taxes you are going to be paying.

So whole Oregon is just like a big Tax-Free shop :-)

We have tax on EVERYTHING. But people who live outside of EU can get a tax free form and get the tax back at the customs. But they only get about half back, the half is payed to the customs
I try to avoid and inform people about that, that is not my job to do. But if they ask, of course I'll give it to them. But us Europeans probably never get our tax money back if we shop outside of EU.
Chinese are obsessed. "Tah fee, tah fee, discount?". I also love when people from Norway get the wrong info and demand their tax free. Then you calmly have to explain that they are the exception. They don't get money back even if they are outside of the union