Budget talks: This is getting nasty

This did not happen after the Reagan tax increases of 1982 and the Clinton tax increases 10 years later.

Right now, I don't think tax increases are on the table anyway, just cuts of loopholes.

 

You must have the world's worst accountant.

I paid about 8 percent. And it can't all be because I shoveled $11,000 into my 401(k).

 

QED.

How much of that "15%" do you suppose Buffett pays?

 

I thought this was a good read.

http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/library/staff-paper/debt-limit-analysis

And I liked the links to the sites where you can try to figure out what debt to pay and what to ignore.

 

Leveraged buyouts = cancer.

 

Lot of private equity is now flowing into farmland. Fund managers have driven the price of acreage up 100 percent in some states.

 

You can't raise capital gains taxes across the board and encourage saving at the same time. Raise 'em all you want after the first $20,000 or $25,000 is exempt. That encourages the middle class and it takes more out of the pockets of the scam artists running Wall Street.

I can't imagine how many billions we're losing out on every day because of idiotic tax loopholes given to big business.

 

Tax loopholes are a direct result of the size and scope of government.

 

And there is nothing illegal about them. Investment decisions are made based on the laws at hand. If they change, different decisions will be made.

 

I asked this the other day and didn't get any biters.

Anyone have savings bonds they're planning on cashing in before any collapse or no budget deal?

 

You say "everything must be on the table." Is Obamacare on the table? Should it be?