Do you believe that we should raise taxes, increase the spending or cut to avoid

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  1. LAURENS WRIGHT profile image66
    LAURENS WRIGHTposted 11 years ago

    Do you believe that we should raise taxes, increase the spending or cut to avoid the Fiscal Cliff?

    Certain laws will go into effect at the first of the year that will hamper the economy and stiffle businesses.  What do you think, as a country, should the US do?  The US is about 16 trillion or more in debt and this is growing, businesses are cutting more jobs and more of the Baby Boomers are retiring.  Health Care expenses are mounting, the US's credit rating is decreasing while imports, trucking, food and gas are skyrocketing.  So, what would you do to solve the debt and financial crises  ??

  2. Freeway Flyer profile image83
    Freeway Flyerposted 11 years ago

    It needs to be a mixture of increased tax revenues and spending cuts. And for spending cuts to be meaningful, they will have to involve reform to the big entitlement programs.

    I challenge anyone who thinks that the deficit can be brought under control purely through either tax hikes or spending cuts to lay out specifically how this can be done. So far, I have not heard any viable plan that does not involve a mixed approach.

  3. profile image0
    CJ Sledgehammerposted 11 years ago

    Well, for one, raising taxes is not a viable solution to a populace that is already feeling pinched. Raise the taxes on the filthy rich, for sure, but leave everyone else alone.

    I would also end the fruitless police action in the Middle East, cut out virtually all foreign aid, and cut out the fat in our military spending. We cannot afford to be the world's police force any longer. The U.S. maintains over 750 military bases throughout the world at an enormous cost to U.S. taxpayers.

    I would also make serious cuts to the Department of education...one of our deepest spending pits. Then I would hunt down the Rockefellers and take 90% of their family fortune...leaving them with just 1.2 Trillion dollars amongst them. No one is entitled to that much money and no one needs that much money...it just leads to corruption.

  4. LandmarkWealth profile image67
    LandmarkWealthposted 11 years ago

    The tax increases are little more than a political side show.  The Gov't cannot and has not collected more than 15-20% of GDP regardless of where the historical tax rates are set. Revenue only increases in actual dollars as a result of GDP expansion.  But the share of GDP is always around 15-20% usually averaging 17-18%.  Both Britian and France just recently instituted substaintially higher taxes on upper income earners.  Not suprisngly they generated less income from them, not more.  As the UK Telegraph reported yesterday...2/3rd's of Britains Million plus per year earners left the country and it cost the gov't more revenue. 

    The gov't collect more than enough in revenue already.  The problem is that we have out of control entitlement spending.  Those who think raising taxes on anyone is going to solve the problem have not dived deep into the numbers.  There aren't enough "Rich People" to begin to solve even a fraction of our spending problems.  16 trillion is only what we currently owe as a Federal Gov't.  But the future unfunded liabilites of the entitlement programs are over 100 Trillion.   The programs need to be completely restructured in ways that the public simply doesn't want to accept.  Politiicans do not run campaigns or get relected when they tell the public they have to take away services that can no longer be paid for.   So instead the likelihood is another short term fix to pass the problem off to the next generation.   Ironically, the cost of many of these entitlements and increases in the size of Gov't are the reason the purchasing power of the currency is declining and driving up the cost of commodities like food.  In reality the more benefits the gov't provides to the average american, the more they take away from them in their purchasing power.  That is the real economic injustice.  Politicians promise more to the masses, and with each new entitlement they will sink further into poverty.

    Americans have lost site of the fact that when one person makes money, it doesn't mean that another has to lose money.  The solution is to return to a society that is based on increased productivity & self sufficiency.  Stop worrying about what other people have or make and worry about taking care of ourselves. Otherwise you are doomed to failure while you wait for some elected official to confiscate someone else's assets, filter it through a corrupted system and disperse it to the masses in a way that keeps them poor and dependent.

  5. duffsmom profile image60
    duffsmomposted 11 years ago

    As Freeway Flyer says, it will have to be a mixture to make it work - we are so far in debt.  But first of all I would like to see a review of all of the House and Senate pay checks. They do not need to make so much money and that would be a huge start in helping our budget and gaining the support of the American people.

 
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