I read again in today's Oregonian that the head of the Federal Reserve and other government big shots are all saying with our current National debt and how it's deepened greatly recently, and in conjunction with a rapidly aging population that we have essentially reached an unsustainable position and we are left with two options- make severe cuts in entitlement programs very soon or sharply raise taxes. To that extent, federal government economists are looking into how to implement a national sales tax. I remember the Clinton Administration looking into a sales tax as well and they were looking at 18-35%- but as I recall that was strictly to pay for a national health care program. I would support a small 3% sales tax if the money went 100% against the national debt. Aside from that, we need to make substantial changes in our entitlement programs (including the new health care entitlement program) as well as substantial reform in our current tax system before considering making sweeping tax increases. There's only so much people can take before they become overly dependent on the government.
That's because you're one of them damn Lib'rals. You can link to it through here: http://usconservatives.about.com/od/conservativepolitics101/a/Paul-Ryans-2011-Budget-Proposal.htm
The idea the retirement age should be 65 when we live almost a decade beyond that figure is absurd. The retirement age should be 72-75. Also, the initial idea for Social Security was to be insurance in case you didn't save as much has you had hoped. It wasn't to live on completely.
I support a national sales tax if it eliminates or flattens the income tax, but not to "fix the fuckups" of our government.
I prefer the term "damn libertine." Ah, I see...it's a flash animation that is, for some reason, not displaying. Paul Ryan seems like a smart guy, though...it would be nice if he were the face and tone of the Republican party rather than the Palin/Bachmann types.
Perfect answer. However, many will debate whether or not our entitlement programs in place and those that will be hitting us over the next few years are in any way government screw-ups.
I think for many, Paul Ryan is the face of the Republican Party. A party completely out of power doesn't have a "face", so the news commentators tend to identify the most outrageous elements and classify them as personifying the party.
Burn it all to the ground and start over. The Teapers are right, government sucks and they should stay away from our medicare. I don't like the idea of a national sales tax, we should cut military spending first.
I would not consider a National Sales Tax until we first had National Initiatives. National Initiatives, AKA National Ballot Measures, would be similar to those already in place at the state level and allow citizens to propose, alter, or nullify laws in conjunction with traditional legislative bodies.
I agree about the ballot initiatives. There are national elections every two years, at least. If the only agenda were for the people to approve deficit spending or increasing taxes, it'd be a huge win.
