http://video.foxnews.com/v/1047911122001/bachmann-stands-strong-against-raising-debt-ceiling/?playlist_id=86923 bill o is right, and bachmann is a nutso
I agree with others in here who have maintained that we need a (1.5%?, 2%%, or...) national sales tax to be directly applied to the nation debt. That, coupled with a decrease in government spending with periodic verification checkpoints of some kind.
I wonder what the difference would be in a sales tax vs a tax "hike" for those who make over 250K a year. As in, would you spend more in a "sales tax" then you would in the proposed tax increase.
The good news about a sales tax is that it's "directly" relative to the spending of those across the economic spectrum.
I think it's a more realistic tax. If I had more money coming into my bank account (due to a cut in state and federal income tax) I would more than likely spend more money in the region.
So the single mom cost to feed her kids goes up. Retired people living on social security would can barely pay for prescription medication would have to pay more for their medication. I like the idea of increasing income tax on those making over $250K over a national sales tax.
Nope. Rich conservatives control the country, and rich people have made it terminally ill with low taxes on them. They feel entitled to wealth and look down on the other 98% from whom they make their money. I share the Republicans sense of emergency, but unlike them, I blame them. I don't think we can come out of this. Most of the cuts would have to come from the top 2%, since they have 70% of the wealth. See, governments like yours (New Zealand) subsidize many services. The US doesn't. You can easily find fat to cut, but we can't. The US has chosen to put its money into military and espionage might, not into the needs of the people. The only things left to cut, the cuts Republicans want, will kill or shorten the lives of almost all of us. I realize that it's astounding to the rest of the world how stupidly the US economy is run. You have to stretch your imagination. We live like cavemen compared to your relative utopias. Greece is rioting over slightly cutting services that we can only dream of having. We aren't even close. But we sure have the leading military and spies.
That's a pleasant fiction. I'd be interested in your analysis of Chart II on this page (wish I could link the chart).