President Trump: The NEW one and only politics thread

These cops and vets are some of the biggest fucking snowflakes around.

 

I find it interesting that spending money for healthcare or social programs triggers calls for offsetting spending cuts, while the increased defense spending and tax cuts which also add to the deficit do not seem to require such a thing.

 

If the top 1% paid about 2.8% more in taxes, the bottom 50% would not have to pay any federal income tax.

 

My argument wasn't with the top-earners, but the argument that giving the top-earners a tax cut would benefit us all. I highly recommend Wealth and Democracy by Kevin Phillips. We have seen class warfare for generations, but since it's money flowing up instead of down, it is seen as being okay, or the natural result of capitalism. And truthfully, it's government that is doing this. Tax carve-outs, loopholes, extremely limited in scope deductions that benefit perhaps one taxpayer...While we are amazed about people donating millions of dollars to political campaigns, Phillips shows that they typically more than pay for themselves in resulting policy.

 

The tax cut argument is that it spurs the economy, which means more jobs, etc., which means more tax revenue . . . which reduces the deficit.

Haven't seen the equation yet that illustrates the exact tax course we should take to maximize revenue/spur economy.

 

The trouble with this argument is that it's not true, as has been proven time and time again.

 

Tax Cuts Don't Lead to Economic Growth, a New 65-Year Study Finds

No evidence Trump's tax cut could pay for itself

Part of the problem is that by deficit-financing a tax cut, the economy has to grow that much more just to pay for itself and recessions are cyclical. A tax cut at this time - when most economists agree that we're at or near the end of the longest period of economic growth since the Clinton and Kennedy/LBJ years, would make the bar even higher.

 

Oh, there's some marginal rate the reduction of which would lead to an economic expansion. The evidence suggests we've rarely, if ever, bumped up against it.