FROM 2012 INTO 2013 POLITICS THREAD

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

But if you cut taxes on the middle class and then eliminate deductions, will it be a net deduction?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

And what did things cost back then?

And what was the average lifespan in other countries?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

As happens when you raise taxes.

www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-16/why-reagan-raised-taxes-and-we-should-too-echoes.html

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

I have no idea.

You're the one recommending a return to the pre-tax 19th century America.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Which ones? Romney hasn't identified a single one. Ryan was asked to identify a single one and said we aren't smart enough to understand it. So, which loopholes are being closed?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Rock, meet hard place.

Like anyone else, I'd love to have less money deducted out of my paycheck -- and certainly don't want any more taken out. This is why tax hikes are political poison.

So, the alternative is cuts to spending. Bash PBS and NPR all you want, that's only a couple grains of sand in the huge desert of deficit spending. The only way to really reduce the red ink is cutting big-ticket budget items ... the military, Social Security, Medicare, etc. Neither party has the balls to cut these.

You didn't need to watch the debate to know that neither candidate brought up this impasse.

I can't think of a presidential campaign that's inspired me less than this one.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Ahh, the good ole days of the 19th Century, back when we were a slave nation that stood well behind European countries like Great Britain and France (not to mention the Turkish Ottoman empire) in world influence and power.

Sorry, OT, but things for the U.S. were not better before the income tax, but the certainly did get better soon afterwards.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

One person's loophole is another person's deduction. Also, a lot of tax laws are written precisely so certain people will get certain "loopholes" that none of us (without high-paid accountants) could ever spot, nor that we could use because we don't have the money running around to tax advantage. Like Mitt Romney's $70,000-deducted horse.

Anyway, I'm not sure how can you yell "I'm cutting taxes for everyone!" while simultaneously saying "I'm closing loopholes and deductions!" It's possible that even if your rate goes down, if you don't have the deductions you used to, you'll still be paying more, by percentage. Which is a tax hike.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Except that rates were much lower when Reagan's two terms ended than when he started. By a shit-ton.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

All I said was this country did just fine for 137 years with no federal income tax. You raised points trying to rebutt. And now you admit you have no idea what you were talking about. Anyone surprised?

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

And that's exactly what the Romney plan does, according to all objective analysis. "Mathematically impossible" is how the Tax Policy Center described his idea that middle-class people's actual tax bills would go down.

 

Re: THE 2012 POLITICS THREAD

Good Lord. I'm seeing an awful lot of football spiking on the part of Republicans based on one debate and one bit of good news in an unrelenting month of bad news. Romney is an alpha male? C'mon. That's a tad bit of an overreaction.

Too early for touchdown dances. Romney merely recovered an onside kick to give himself a chance.

As for Obama? He'd be wise if he learned not to go into prevent defense again.