"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there — good for you! But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory, and hire someone to protect against this, because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea — God bless. Keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along." Elizabeth Warren Quote
The rest of us paid for?! The rest of us includes the job creators and the very people that start businesses and build factories, this includes the mom and pop businesses who are doing their best to play by the rules. They all paid taxes as well! Their work never ends, long hours into the night, worrying how they will pay for payroll. If they are successful, they deserve to be held up as examples for us all. The more they are successful, the more jobs they create, the more they are able to raise the wages of their employees. In turn, this all creates more tax revenue. It is a disgrace that a U.S. Senator is using this flawed argument to stir up class envy, to stir up people against one another. A disgrace she is using this as justification for the central planners to come and confiscate more and more from the job creators, thus killing more and more jobs, resulting in less tax revenue. Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg! Sorry, this is just nonsense.
Now if she were talking about charity that would be great. I happen to know she is not. Money helps more when given to charity then punitive taxes to government. They are poor stewards of the people’s money after all, with all the waste, fraud, corruption, debt and economic ignorance. And we are supposed to thank the small-minded politician for letting us keep some of our hard earned money?
Government cannot replace charity. The more government takes, the slower the economy gets, the less money people are able to donate to charity, with less tax revenue generated. The more money the people have, the more the economy grows, the more money people are able to donate to charity, with more tax revenue to government.
"Would that an overbearing tax burden was our only misfortune. Underneath what on the surface may seem like sarcasm is dismay and genuine sadness for those who are about to lose the opportunities they once had to become the tax overburdened elect. Indeed, the reality that those already struggling for the advancement of their employees be overtaxed to the point where they and their employees lose that opportunity as well." Kristokoff circa 2012
In response to this quote from Senator Warren that I saw on Facebook the other day.
So insulting…that a president would demean success…the very people that pay taxes to keep his corrupt, government waste machine running. The government would not exist without them. Government services would not exist without taxpayers. Infrastructure would not exist without taxpayers. Taxpayers pay for and build infrastructure. A lot of it contracted out to private sector business.
Obviously we all have help, we are all in this together, but he has no idea how much work and long hours it can take to develop an idea, and start and build a business. Many dreamers fail a few times before they succeed. Others work a full time job and then work after hours to plan and build their idea. Once you have your business running it often takes long hours, including weekends, to keep it going. Often there are no vacations for you or your family. Sometimes after a small business has several employees, the owner may make less and be paid last. If there is not enough for payroll that week, they may have to put their paycheck aside until there is enough in the bank to cover it. It can be a real struggle to build a successful business. These days it is often not worth it. In fact, because of Obama's economic policies, more small businesses are going out of business than are being created. There will never be a recovery as long as this continues. Small businesses create the jobs that fuel a recovery and Obama's economic policies decimate small businesses.
Everyone who pays taxes is already paying for government services. They are also paying to fund the corrupt government waste machine. They pay for the good and the bad. They don’t owe anything more back to government. They’ve paid taxes and fees all their working lives. They will continue to pay taxes and fees until they die. Even after they die the government takes a sizable chunk of whatever they have. In 2013 the ‘death tax’ will jump to fifty percent. These days one has to overcome the hardships placed on them by government to become successful. Government has its hands out and takes at every level. Excessive regulations are hidden taxes, unnecessarily increasing the cost of doing business. Not only did the entrepreneur build their business, create jobs, wealth and prosperity for themselves and others, but they also pay for the roads, bridges, school teachers, fire fighters and everything else. This should be encouraged and celebrated not denigrated and punished.
Most people want to give back, so they fund charities and help in other ways including funding venture groups that help others start-up their businesses or venture capital firms that help failing businesses. It would be poor judgment, and a waste of your money to pay more to a government that would waste it. If you want to help others, give money or time to charity not government. Maybe start a charity or a foundation of your own. The free-market people of the United States of America spend their money a thousand times better and more efficiently than corrupt and incompetent politicians. Until they cut corruption, spending and balance the budget they don't deserve our money. Everyone must pay the least amount possible and whatever you do, never vote for a politician who would raise taxes on anyone. We must hold them accountable. One great benefit of cutting government spending and keeping taxes low is that the economy will actually grow and recover. This will drastically lower the number of people who 'need' government handouts. Why give your hard earned money to a government that not only hurts you and others but makes it more difficult for everyone to succeed?
Does Obama despise business, success, the American dream? This would explain why his policies are not helping you grow your business. In fact his policies are punishing individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses. Individuals, entrepreneurs and businesses are the job creators. They create the wealth that keeps America growing.
To all the young people out there just starting out, anyone out there toiling away, you may have an idea, a dream and you are ready to take the next step and turn it into a service, a business. Obama and this administration do not have your back! In fact, they are out there denigrating you, criticizing success. They are trying to make you a victim, held down, content to live off of whatever they think you deserve. Are they trying to make it a stigma to be a prosperous citizen, to turn the rest of America against you? Is it now heroic to be a victim, heroic to NOT be a contributing member of society? Is this the America we have become?
...the federal government did everything it could to prevent the Golden Gate from being built. ...the personal wealth of A.P. Giannini — came to the rescue. Must Read!
The more profitable a business, the more taxes it pays. When people get paid more and find jobs; they pay more taxes or start paying taxes. Government will then get more tax revenue. When businesses close and when people lose their jobs, their tax contribution stops. When people get paid less, they pay less in taxes. The government’s tax revenue will be lower.
A profitable business is self-sustaining and creates jobs and prosperity for many people and doesn’t need the government to wastefully spend tax dollars on it and on welfare.
The same goes for industries like the auto and health industries. There is no need for government to waste trillions of taxpayer money on health care. It can be done through a self-sustaining profitable private sector that supplies a very valuable service and provides incredible opportunity and prosperity for millions.
You would think Mr. Obama and Congress would want more tax revenue. You would think they would want more businesses and more successful ones that create jobs that help people make more income. So why does this Administration and Congress want to take away profits and kill jobs which will shrink the tax base and lower tax revenue? Why are all their policies slowing the economy and hurting businesses and jobs? Is it all about freedom and control?
You pay more taxes; you have less individual freedom to provide for yourself and your family. You then depend more and more on the government to provide for you. You are also giving more and more control over to the government.
Most of the money they take from you they squander and give to others. Those in power are buying their votes. They don’t realize it yet, but in exchange, they’ve given up their freedom for government control. Slowly as taxes go up, the government takes more control. Higher taxes equal less freedom and more government control. Lower taxes mean more freedom and opportunities for all.
Government is punishing the achievers and job creators, and rewarding the unproductive. It is human nature for the productive and job creators to therefore be less productive. That means there is less to go around and everyone has less, including government. They tax more and get less. There are fewer goods and food with less money to buy goods and food. You have more poor and starvation. Everyone is slowly becoming equally poor except the elite and those they pay off to support their power.
Of course, without a productive tax base, this is not sustainable and it crumbles. It can only limp along if a corrupt outside source, like the United Nations, IMF, World Bank or a nation props it up. This can be seen throughout history. The USSR, Cuba, Venezuela and others.
This can be a long process as well, like many countries in Europe. Socialist type policies slowly drag them down, an election happens, then they go the other way for awhile, sort of an ebb and flow. Suddenly a deep recession or worse happens, and there is a sizable shift to the “right,” towards fiscal responsibility. They have to or they won’t survive. They never learn though. They will eventually forget, ignore history and turn back.
This is why the situation in the U.S. is so absurd. While many in Europe have moved to the "right" to survive, those in power in the U.S. have moved to the "left," at the worst possible time. Is it that they would rather hurt this country than to look past their ideology and quest for power and save this country? That is their weakness and freedoms’ tragic advantage. It will make the results of their destructive policies happen much faster and also be more easily seen. People will wake up quicker and in greater numbers.
More individual freedom equals more prosperity. Less individual freedom means less prosperity. That is why the United States in only a little over 200 years has become the most prosperous and powerful nation on earth, while it has taken other nations hundreds of years longer to get where they are. Our freedom and values keep us from conquering the world and instead we help and defend the world, bringing hope and freedom to all.
Sadly, the power hungry and those who’ve forgotten or ignore history have taken over. They are now misleading many. Those of us who have not forgotten are spreading the truth of freedom, and now many wake to join the fight to save our republic, our freedom and prosperity. Slowly more and more eyes are being opened and they are now seeing the results of the destructive policies of those in power.
A government that takes away liberty and free will is a government that is not owned by the people. It is a government that goes against our founding documents. It goes against what our founders and patriots fought for, to win their independence. All men are created equal with inalienable rights, rights that are grounded in natural law not bestowed on us by government. That is why we continue to fight for freedom and liberty for all. To fight for the freedom and opportunity for everyone to become all they can be.
Truth, liberty, freedom, prosperity and the pursuit of happiness were given to us. We must guard and protect them, even fight for them, as many have throughout the years. We must not throw it all away or they will have died in vain. God bless the United States of America.
The stimulus has failed in many ways. It does not stimulate. History tells us it will actually prolong the recession. It is not pro-growth policy but rather job kill policy. It is irresponsible, massive deficit spending and generational theft. It takes revenue away from the private sector and uses it to prop up public sector waste, failure and irresponsible spending.
The fact that only 10% has trickled out and the rest was designed to be spent in 2010 and beyond is a failure in and of itself. It is also a failure of those who wrote the bill.
Because it is government spending, the process of getting the money out is slow and it is subject to fraud and waste with no accountability, which we have already seen. Most of it is wasteful government deficit spending that ramps up in 2010 and will do more harm than good anyway. Even Keynesian's dropped their support for the bill before it was enacted. Most believe spending should be upfront and on infrastructure make-work projects, which are temporary. A Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report on the stimulus bill said that "in the longer run, the legislation would result in a slight decrease in gross domestic product compared with CBO's baseline economic forecast." Government spending does not grow the economy.
The tax credits are too small and the dispersal method makes them unnoticeable. The tax credits also increase your tax liability. They are also temporary and people know this. Real tax cuts would stimulate without being filtered through the bureaucratic waste machine. More bang for the buck. A $400 tax credit cost the taxpayer close to $800 in taxes. It basically amounts to the federal government taking close to $800 from the taxpayer and giving them back $400 which they then tax.
It will increase the deficit by a trillion or more by the time it is all done. Borrowing or raising taxes to pay for the stimulus has a negative job-killing impact on the economy as well, not to mention the inflationary impact of weakening the dollar by printing to pay for spending.
The economy will eventually start to recover despite the prolonging effect of the stimulus. But with the trillion dollar budget plan, the trillions this administration is adding in spending, debt and to the deficit, and if cap & tax, ObamaCare and other destructive bills, many which have built-in trade protectionism, are passed the economy will get worse. Indeed, a malaise that will last for decades. These bills will hurt many people and small businesses which will cause many to make less and lose jobs. They will also cause jobs to be shifted overseas.
The uncertainty caused by the unpredictability of this administration and congress i.e. “how bad will future taxes be and what other harmful bills and regulations will be enacted?” is causing businesses and consumers to not create jobs or spend. This administration’s and congress’ policies will do more harm to the economy than even the recession.
This didn't have to be. America will learn once again what history could have taught them, insane tax rates and spending will slow the economy and kill jobs. The progressive policies of CA, NY, NJ and many others are examples of how to destroy an economy. These examples can teach us what not to do. If everyone would study history with a basic understanding of economics this could be avoided.
The rest of the stimulus should be scrapped and real pro-growth policies like marginal tax-rate and spending cuts, and others should be implemented. Consistent, confidence inspiring policies will enable Americans to keep more income and businesses to create jobs, small business being the usual job creators that fuel the economy out of a recession.
Rather than tax income out of the economy, with the resulting bureaucratic waste, only to redistribute it back in mostly to non-productive public sector areas that do not grow the economy, why not leave it there in the first place? Real tax cuts. People would instantly have more income, business would have more to grow and create jobs. This would actually stimulate, cost less, and have quicker, more permanent results with smaller deficits and debt by trillions. There would be no need to spend money they don’t have on bailouts, cash for clunkers, more entitlements and extending unemployment and welfare. This would mean they don’t have to borrow and print trillions either. Combined with spending cuts, the economy would boom, bringing freedom & prosperity to all Americans.
Most of us know the economically illiterate in this Administration and Congress would never do this. There is only one other option, 2010 - 2012.
The best defense against being brainwashed by “brilliant” politicians is to learn from history. If a candidate’s views contradict these historical facts they should be rejected.
History proves that too many candidates promise tax cuts but raise them instead. We now have a candidate who is actually promising tax credits on some and higher taxes on others. If someone is promising to raise taxes on some that is even more of a reason to expect higher taxes for all. History would have to be ignored to believe higher taxes on those that create jobs would actually benefit those that have jobs and wish to someday create jobs.
Labels can be put on others, but the label is not important. It is what they do, have done and plan on doing in relation to historical data that determines if they are a bad choice to be the leader of the free world.
Those of you that study history realize the failed policies that are in use around the world by countries with weaker economies, poorer citizens, oppressive governments, less freedoms, less charitable giving by citizens are slowly creeping into our government. As these policies are implemented things get worse, we are slowly inheriting these attributes. Do the proponents of these policies seek to make our great country more like these other countries? Do they realize that they are weakening our country? Do they seek to make us less powerful? Do they realize that some countries support candidates because they will weaken our country? The leaders of some of these countries are beginning to realize why we are the great country we are and they are trying to change. Ironic that they choose our best attributes, while we may be choosing their worst.
Our founding fathers may be the first to ever learn from history and thus conceived the constitution, our form of government and economic structure. Our constitution and capitalism take human nature, self-interest and the human spirit and put it to work for the good of everyone. It and a free people are two of the reasons the United States has become one of the most successful and powerful countries today, the center of the financial world, the dollar being the standard of currency, the most charitable country, etc. History proves time and again and is still proving this everywhere you look.
We must be ever vigilant against the attacks of those that would destroy our nation from within, sometimes by seemingly harmless and incremental steps; by those that would use the fear and uncertainty brought on by financial crisis against us, to call for change, a change that will ultimately allow the few wealthy ruling elite to oppress us all. The great depression and its aftermath, which continues to this day, seem to be a history lesson few of us are willing to learn.
Obama’s economic tax plan and his promised massive spending increases combined with the additional bailout and other massive spending plans of Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Barney Frank and many other democrats in congress will actually do what H. Hoover and F.D. Roosevelt did to cause and prolong the great depression. It is unbelievable that these politicians are willing to ignore history and possibly destroy the lives of millions of Americans.
Open your eyes and minds America, before it is too late. Ask the oppressed around the world, they will tell you. The stories of those silenced and killed by tyranny, despotism and hatred. You are still a great nation, don’t throw it all away.
Our tax system is already redistributive and we do have a lot of problems. But that is not a good reason to vote for someone who will be even worse than the last president, someone who will make the tax system even more redistributive, a tax system that will encourage greed and selfishness rather than use that greed and selfishness to benefit others, a tax system that will move all the wealth to the government elite, giving the few the power to oppress all those who voted for change and those that didn’t.
It is not a good reason to vote for a party whose congressional leaders are even more selfish, corrupt and greedy than the republicans could ever dream to be. Most democrats in America today have no representation in government, at least not with the current leaders of the democrat party. Not all congressional democrats are this way but a large and growing number are. Corruption by anyone in government should not be tolerated. Major reform throughout all government is needed.
There is regulation in government, a whole lot of it. It is a myth that Bush and republicans want to do away with all regulation. They just want to take away or reform the regulation that is actually causing problems. Some of it is a major contributor to the housing/financial crisis. It is ironic that the democrats in congress are on record covering up the corruption and ignoring the oversight recommendations. The problem is not that there is no regulation or that there is not enough. The problem is that it is corrupt. Adding even more corrupt regulation to already corrupt regulation will make everything worse. The idea is to have regulation and oversight that works and doesn’t cause more problems than it solves.
Everyone knows there is incredible wasteful spending in Washington. They could run the government and all its programs with a little over half the amount of money they use now. If you cut out wasteful spending, end programs that are not needed, streamline other programs and cut out fraud and corruption you could save even more. There is no need to ever raise taxes on anyone. They should actually be lower.
The only reason our economy is able to withstand our massive and corrupt government is because of capitalism and freedom. Centrally planned programs have crept into government, taking away the built in accountability, encouraging corruption. The bigger the organization the more corrupt it is. The more money they take from citizens the more corrupt they become. The more redistributive our tax system gets, the higher our taxes get, the more nationalized type programs creep into government and the closer we get to a socialist type centrally planned system our economy will be less and less able to withstand the increased size and corruption of government. We will eventually be crushed by the top-heavy, corrupt and massive government.
How can you expect the corrupt to clean up corruption? Since no one seems to want to fix these things. The only thing left to do is make government smaller and lower taxes, to elect those that say they want to reform government, cut spending and taxes. We could stop electing known corrupt politicians as well. We need to reject those that want to increase spending and taxes of any kind.
Every time taxes are lowered the economy grows. When taxes are raised the economy slows. Economies are not static they are dynamic. Most of the tax plan graphs show static statistics, they are misleading. You have to look at a dynamic graph for the real truth. But you don’t need to look at graphs and charts. All you have to do is look at history. Global history proves this time and again.
The best way to lower a deficit and balance a budget is to cut spending and lower taxes to increase economic growth and create jobs. If this is done the government actually gets more tax revenue than if they raise taxes. Doesn’t it make you wonder why so many politicians’ first reaction is to raise taxes? That will only slow the economy and actual tax revenue will decrease. History proves this over and over.
Obama’s economic tax plan raises many other rates on earners including dividends, capital gains, corporate, etc. This has been proven to slow the economy and cause the middle-class to make less and lose jobs. The tax cut he is giving is not enough to offset the negative slowing effect of the higher taxes on earners. This slowing effect is even more pronounced if instituted during a recession. History proves this time and again.
The more government takes and decides who and how much to give, because of their greed there will be nothing to give those that need. And sadly those that currently give on their own will have nothing to give either. History proves this time and again.
Government is corrupt. If its size increases it will be more corrupt. If it has more power and money it will be even more corrupt. The more money they take the less we get in return, and the more oppressive the government will be. Government is full of elected and appointed democrats and republicans. Corruption is non-partisan. Government is the ultimate monopoly. Global history proves this time and again.
The gulf between the poor and rich will widen even more under Obama’s tax plan. Only a handful of people will be rich and the rest will be poor. In this system it only pays to be the person in power. The only way to narrow the gap is to lower taxes and shrink government. History proves this time and again.
Centrally planned economies/wealth redistribution does not work. The more aggressive the redistribution scheme the more freedoms are lost, the more oppressive the government and the more disparity between rich and poor. This is what happens everywhere redistribution is tried, in most European countries, the Soviet Union, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela and on and on. History proves this time and again.
Economics is a complex system, if we open and allow our minds to learn and study it we will understand the cause and effects and the unintended consequences that any seemingly small change will do. We may have to be willing to unlearn some of the misinformation we were taught in school as well. Some of the class warfare indoctrination will have to be excised. We are all equal after all, it does not matter what "class" society has put us in. We are all in this economy together.
It is widely known that you never raise taxes when the economy is in crisis. That will cause a recession to last for years, or even go into a depression. Economists also agree that raising taxes caused the great depression to last as long as it did. It also caused the long period of stagflation during the ‘70s. More and more economists from a wide political spectrum are starting to realize that Senator Barack Obama’s plan would raise taxes on the very people that will get this economy going. The very people Obama thinks he is helping will make less and lose jobs. They will be worse off. The unemployment rate will skyrocket. There would be no incentive for the economy to grow, for jobs to be created. Economists also say that Obama’s tax and spending plan as it is now could cost 1 to 2 trillion dollars and his higher taxes come far short of paying for it all. We are all in danger of oppressive tax hikes.
Balancing a budget is done on paper. It is a forecast, just like determining if you have a surplus or a deficit during the year. When politicians see a deficit, their first reaction is to raise taxes. The economy slows so there is less revenue from taxes, lower taxes and the economy grows, there is more tax revenue. There is no formula for putting these results into the budget or applying it to the deficit. If a budget falls short and they decide to raise taxes to get $750,000 to balance the budget, they don’t realize they won’t get $750,000. The economy will slow, so there will be less income to base the tax increase on. So the government will get less than $750,000. So the next fiscal year there will still be a deficit, probably worse than the year before. If they had lowered taxes, there might even be a surplus. That is if they didn’t spend too much
The left has done a good job at misleading America into believing that business is separate from workers. They work together. If you hurt one you hurt the other. If there is no business, who is going to hire the worker? Jobs can’t be created by over-taxing and hurting business and those that create jobs. Entrepreneurs and achievers create jobs and do the investments that are in 401ks. You can’t make the poor rich by making the rich poor. Both groups will be worse off. Those that have their taxes increased are hit twice. First, they make less when their taxes are raised. Second, they make less when the economy slows. Socialism and redistribution schemes just push everyone down to the “lower-class”. We would all be equal at zero or close to zero, except the ruling elite and the “super rich”, empowering them to oppress the “lower-class”.
Listen to “Joe the Plumber” the man Obama talked with. Obama’s plan does sound like socialism. It is redistribution of wealth and class warfare. We are all in this together. It appears that we are being taught to resent and even hate those that work hard to achieve what they have; rather we should see it as an example that "I too can succeed". We cannot drag some down to pull others up. We will end up dragging everyone down. It will ensure the "middle-class" and below have lower incomes, lose jobs and push many into poverty. They will lose the opportunities they had to better themselves. Why should the government decide what to do with your hard earned money? You worked for it, you deserve it. Does the American dream end at $250,000? Where’s the incentive for the plumber to realize his dream to buy and then grow his business and create more jobs, when he knows he is going to be punished for it. The more you succeed the more you are a target. The 33% tax rate will go up to 36% and it begins to hit this year at incomes of $164,550 for an individual and $200,300 for joint filers. If you're an individual with taxable income of $164,550, you will pay more taxes.
Many small businesses file taxes as individuals and 70% of the larger more productive ones, those that have more than 10 employees, make over $200,000. The tax credits that Obama has for some businesses that file in the $200,000 bracket are not enough to offset their tax increase. In one recent year small businesses created 100% of the new jobs while big business was cutting hundreds of thousands of jobs. A lot of the larger small businesses will cut workers pay, cut jobs or even go out of business under Obama’s plan. “Middle-class” workers work for someone. They will be hurt, not helped by Obama’s plan. Small business hiring will be a critical part of bringing our economy out of the crisis we are in today.
The other part of Obama’s tax plan, raising capital gains and dividends taxes will cause investors to invest overseas instead of in America. At a time when many have lost money in the stock market now is not the time to raise taxes and make them lose even more. This will also encourage people to take their money out of the stock market causing it to crash even more. Lower taxes will encourage investment in the stock market creating more tax revenue. Higher taxes will keep businesses from raising capital to grow and create jobs. If you raise corporate tax on business they will pass the cost on to the consumer. If they feel that is not possible, they may cut jobs or even move jobs out of the US to other countries. You are actually hurting the individual. This will also put more of the tax burden on those that make over $250,000.
When someone says the Bush tax cuts were only on the rich, they are misleading you. About 10 million people in the lower tax brackets don’t pay income taxes now. Even “middle-class” families received a tax cut. In 2010 these tax cuts will expire. Will that mean even higher taxes for everyone? The latest IRS statistics confirm that the “rich” already carry more of the tax burden than ever before.
Obama is cleverly misleading us when he says that 95% of Americans will get a tax cut. Obama’s plan is a complicated tax credit mess. Around 40% of Americans do not pay income taxes, so they would get what could be classified as "welfare". Our tax code is a mess because politicians like to use it as a way to get votes.
The $3000 tax credit to employers for up to two years for each worker they hire is a slap in the face. When the economy is slow and businesses have to cut back to stay afloat, they don’t have the money and there isn’t enough business to hire. $3000 is not enough to offset say a $40,000 a year salary. They would go out of business.
Raising the cap on the social security payroll tax would be one of the largest tax increases ever. Millions of “middle-class” workers would receive a direct tax increase, up to $2000 or $3000. The hardest hit would be small business owners and the self-employed. The self-employed would be hit twice as hard because they have to pay both sides of the payroll tax. The wealthy would receive more benefits as well. It would destroy economic growth and job creation. This could be one of the worse things that could ever be done, especially during a recession.
One more thing that would devastate small business and take away workers’ and employers’ freedom of choice is the Free Choice Employee Act. It would take away secret-ballot elections that protect workers from union and employer harassment and intimidation. It would allow unions to be invoked by a card-check majority, doing away with an election. It could force contract arbitration forcing employers into contracts that could cause them to go out of business. This legislation would allow corruption to enter the system by taking away the checks and balances that are built in. Democrats in congress are set to impose this on America. This is just more legislation from congress that makes it easier for corruption to enter our society.
At a time when our economy is expected to enter a recession that could last a while, when businesses are already laying off workers, Obama’s tax plan would take even more from them and slow the economy causing businesses to lay off even more workers and even causing many to close. How does it help the “middle-class” and below by causing them to make less, lose benefits and jobs? What good is a tax cut if you lose your job and there are no jobs to replace it with? His tax plans would cause a perpetual recession or depression. We need to do what history proves works every time that is lowering taxes to create economic growth and job creation.
Now Senator Obama, Senator Biden and the media are insulting and trying to discredit Joe Wurzelbacher, a “middle-class” voter. The very people they claim they want to help. Why? Is it because he asked a question that caused Obama to answer in a way that exposed his true view, “I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody,” a view many Americans don’t agree with? Is it because this one “middle-class” American managed to expose Barack Obama in a way the McCain campaign has not been able to? Is it because this “middle-class” American resonates with millions of Americans? How can they expect to win over the average American by insulting them? Is this how everyday Americans will be treated under an Obama administration?
There are several economic facts that are ignored and not even taught in many of our schools.
First, when taxes are raised the economy slows; when taxes are lowered the economy grows. When the economy grows the government’s tax revenue increases.
Second, as long as there are greedy and/or corrupt people, any centrally planned economy, whether it is socialism, nationalized redistributive programs, etc., will never work.
Our founding fathers were brilliant when they wrote our constitution. It and capitalism take human nature; greed, corruption and the human spirit and put it to work for the good of everyone. It and a free people are two of the reasons the United States has become one of the most successful and powerful countries today, the center of the financial world, the dollar being the standard of currency, the most charitable country, etc. Socialist type systems work against human nature, dampen the human spirit and encourage corruption, which makes their failure inevitable. It takes away the human desire to be a productive member of society. History shows that some of the first settlers that came over from Europe learned this lesson the hard way. Socialist type governments have to take away freedoms and oppress their citizens in order to prolong their demise. Basically, socialism and redistribution schemes push everyone down to the “lower class”. We would all be equal at zero or close to zero, except the ruling elite and the “super rich”, empowering them to oppress the “lower class”. This can be learned by studying history, our mistakes, governments, nations, states and communities around the world. Examples of oppressive and slowing socialist type economies are everywhere. The state of Vermont is an example right here in the United States. One example of an economy growing after lowering taxes would be Ireland. They recently lowered their corporate tax rate to 12.5% and businesses are growing and flowing there from all over. The US corporate tax rate is 35%, one of the highest. This is just one of many examples.
A lot of people in this country look to Europe as the example they want to emulate. But why would you want 50% and higher taxes, 17-20 % unemployment, redundant government bureaucratic waste, no common sense in government, governments that are literally almost bankrupt, governments that do all they can to keep businesses from surviving, lower charitable giving and loss of freedoms?
The bigger the organization the more corrupt it is. Governments, unions, school systems, nationalized programs, etc., are all perfect examples, our government, particularly the current democrat run congress, being the worst in history. Our judicial system is catching up with the corrupt congress. Many judges go against the will of the people by favoring the convicted offender instead of the victim or they make unconstitutional rulings. Since no one wants to do anything about it, the only thing left to do is keep government small. Everyone is eager to go after big business but they are willing to ignore the even more corrupt federal government and many state and local governments. They are the largest single factor in slowing our economy. The more they take, the less we get in return and the more corrupt they become. The government spends twice as much money to do the same thing that can be done in the private sector. Another way to put it, as soon as the government has your money half of it disappears. Everyone makes less and many lose jobs.
The latest example is the Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac financial scandal. These were pseudo government entities that were rife with corruption. Basically congress caused this melt-down and then has the audacity to blame it on the free market. During the ‘90s the government encouraged mortgage lending to people who could not afford it, under the guise of affordable housing for all. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bought all these bad loans, loans that would never be paid back, from banks and mortgage companies. This is one of many examples of what happens when government gets involved instead of letting the free market regulate itself. In reality, there are laws and regulations already on the books that if enforced would provide sufficient regulation. If the government was not involved these bad loans would never have been made. There was no accountability because the federal government was backing and encouraging these bad loans. The fall-out was inevitable. Many republicans in congress including John McCain warned many times of this outcome. They and the president tried several times to pass legislation to change oversight, but it was always blocked and filibustered by Chris Dodd, who is the head of the congressional finance oversight committee, Barney Frank and many other democrats. If you follow the money you will find that many democrats and liberal organizations received the bulk of the many generous contributions doled out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies were turned into political fund-raising machines for politicians. Chris Dodd is at the top of the list receiving the most contributions; Barack Obama received the second highest amount for his political campaign. Frank Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae and a Clinton appointee, stepped down because of an ethical accounting scandal. He left after running the company into the ground while taking multi-millions of dollars from the company. Now he and another Fannie Mae executive, Jim Johnson, have advised Senator Obama on economic matters in his campaign for the presidency. This is probably the largest government scandal in history yet no one is demanding an investigation. While Obama and fellow democrats are blaming the free market and republicans for this scandal, democrats in congress are not crying for an investigation the way they usually do. A lot of democrats, some republicans and many companies would be implicated if they did. The very people these bad loans were supposed to help are even worse off now. Many have lost everything. This is the classic example of big government helping its citizens. While it was necessary for the federal government to step in and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to avoid a run on the banks and a major collapse, the very people who caused this problem are now directly in control. Even after all this, many of the corrupt executives of these companies are still receiving multi-million dollar severance packages. This will happen again unless they split up the companies and completely privatize them. Why is it that we need oversight committees to oversee the congressional oversight committees that oversee these government programs? The American people should demand that these members of congress resign and that an investigation be done. If they don’t resign they should be voted out of office. This is major news; the media should be demanding this as well. These scandals and crisis will happen more and more as socialism and its nationalized programs creep into government. The collapse of the Social Security and Medicare systems is inevitable as well, unless we fix or end them. It’s just a matter of when. How can we expect government to “fix” health care when they refuse to fix or end social security, especially in light of the recent financial scandal. If they nationalize health care, they would just be creating another time bomb for future generations. England is now trying to privatize their nationalized health care system after years of failure.
These are complex systems so solutions have to be well thought out. There are so many things that affect each other. It’s just too easy and common for a solution to have unintended consequences. Linear thinking is all too common in every single aspect of society, which would explain why so many “solutions” today have the opposite effect and actually make things worse. Instead of learning from these mistakes we blame everything and everyone else but the “solution”. The same “solutions” are tried over and over and because people are being misled by the proponents of the “solution”, things continually get worse.
Politicians, the media and professors today make big government and nationalized redistributive type programs that spread the wealth around sound good, this is even taught in our schools and universities, but they have the opposite effect than what is intended. They hurt those they profess to help. Socialism and nationalized programs like welfare, health care and social security bring out the worst in society. High taxes, high unemployment, people make less, the economy slows into a recession with generations of people saddled with hopelessness. In extreme cases there is only a rich, ruling elite and their corrupt friends in various industries. Everyone else has nothing.
These centrally planned economies seem to make sense in theory, but in practice they do not work. They have been and are tried over and over again and they do not work. Global evidence proves this. How many times will we ignore history and destroy peoples’ lives.
Our constitution with its bill of rights ensures our individual liberty, freedom and prosperity while protecting us from the corrupting effects of government. These socialist type programs circumvent these protections giving government too much oppressive power. Individuals crushed by the weight of government. Our government is already too big and corrupt now. Do we really want to give them even more power while at the same time removing the mechanism that protects our individual freedoms? There are those that believe the constitution is a fluid document open to interpretation. There are those in congress that seek to add a second bill of rights. There are those that wish to use judges and the Supreme Court to circumvent our constitution. We must recognize those that wish to do this and stand up to them. Education and the privilege to vote is the best way to keep them from taking away our freedoms and destroying our great country.
People from around the world still see the United States as a beacon of hope and many still believe that if they could just make it here they will succeed despite the negative propaganda from politicians and hollywood. In fact, many from other countries come here with nothing at all, some who are forced to flee their own countries. They know there are no limits to their success. This hope and opportunity for all is in danger.
If we keep government small, cut spending and cut taxes then the economy will boom, everyone will make more, more people will have jobs and unemployment will be even lower than it is now. Then we will be able to help those that really need help. Citizens will be free to give even more money to charities than they do now. When citizens have liberty and freedom of every kind including economic and the human spirit is allowed to soar, people can achieve extraordinary things which translates into a strong, robust economy.
Government is not there to give us a handout it is there to ensure that each and every citizen is free and has every opportunity to be all they can be.
What happens if the “rich” are taxed 50% or more and their charitable loopholes are eliminated? The $95.5 billion or 79% of US foreign aid US citizens give to charities around the world would be a lot less. The world would be a very different place after that. That amount does not include domestic charities. So the total amount is even higher. The US is by far the most generous country in private donations given. That is just one of the many things to consider when taxing the American dream.
That $95.5 billion also includes corporations and foundations. So the same loss of giving applies if you eliminate some corporate loopholes as well. If you raise taxes and think you can compensate with government aid. Think again. The government spends twice as much money to do the same thing that can be done in the private sector. Another way to put it, as soon as the government has your money half of it disappears. It is more efficient to give incentives for private giving than to let the government do it. This is by the way one of several reasons not to tax oil companies profit “windfalls”, but rather give them an incentive to invest some of their profit directly in renewable energy. This is also one of many reasons to stay away from nationalized programs or any centrally planned program.
If a politician talks about raising taxes, even if they say it is only on the “rich”. You better be prepared for tax hikes for everyone. Another thing to remember, many Americans are living beyond their means, they have too much debt. So if taxes are raised on the rich and it starts at the $100 to $250K income level, you may be hurting those with a high debt-to-income ratio.
A fair tax is good, as well as eliminating many loopholes for individual and business. Just be thoughtful when doing it or there will be unintended negative consequences. If taxes are raised the economy slows, if taxes are lowered the economy grows. When the economy grows the government’s tax revenue increases, which can help lower the deficit. If we keep government small, cut spending and cut taxes then the economy will boom, everyone will make more, more people will have jobs and unemployment will be even lower than it is now. Then we will be able to help those that really need help. Citizens will be free to give even more money to charities than they do now. When citizens have liberty and freedom of every kind including economic and the human spirit is allowed to soar, people can achieve extraordinary things which translates into a strong, robust economy. Government is not there to give us a handout it is there to ensure that each and every citizen is free and has every opportunity to be all they can be.
It is rather remarkable that the US economy came out of the recession after the last administration and has been growing unexpectedly for the past 8 years, despite high gas prices, the weak dollar, the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Iraq war, the worst congress ever, the housing market bubble bursting bringing to light the housing and financial scandals and the media and politicians reporting mostly negative information about the economy. Only reporting negative economic information affects consumer confidence, which is an important factor that affects our economic growth. It is also dishonest to imply that the country is in a recession. A recession is negative growth for two full quarters. The growing economy can be attributed to President Bush’s tax cuts over the last eight years. There is actually quite a bit of positive stats and info that can give hope to those in states and areas that are hard hit and/or in a recession. The positive should not be ignored. It is necessary to take into account the negative and positive in order to see our countries' true economic health. Growth was back up last quarter after slowing a bit. The median household income rose recently. Consumer confidence has been unexpectedly up and it has been up so far this month. Unemployment rates have been close to their lowest levels, they have gone up a bit recently. There is more positive and negative data as well. If Bush and congress would have cut spending instead of increasing it, the deficit would be lower and we would be in better shape. Of course, lower taxes would help even more. The latest IRS Stats came out in August. They show there is already significant tax redistribution. Some say the top 10% pay more of the tax burden than ever before and the top 40% carry most of the tax burden.
The groundwork was actually laid for the housing market scandal during the late ‘90s when the government encouraged mortgage lending to people who could not afford it, under the guise of affordable housing for all. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were pseudo government entities that were rife with corruption. Basically congress caused this melt-down and then has the audacity to blame it on the free market. This is one of many examples of what happens when government gets involved instead of letting the free market regulate itself. In reality, there are laws and regulations already on the books that if enforced would provide sufficient regulation. If the government was not involved these bad loans would never have been made. There was no accountability because the federal government was backing and encouraging these bad loans, loans that would never be paid back. The fall-out was inevitable. Many republicans in congress including John McCain warned of this outcome. They and the president tried several times to pass legislation to reform oversight, but it was always blocked and filibustered by Chris Dodd, who is the head of the congressional finance oversight committee, Barney Frank and many other democrats. If you follow the money you will find that many democrats and liberal organizations received the bulk of the many generous contributions doled out by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. These companies were turned into political fundraising machines for politicians. Chris Dodd is at the top of the list receiving the most contributions; Barack Obama received the second highest amount for his political campaign. Frank Raines, the CEO of Fannie Mae and a Clinton appointee, stepped down because of an ethical accounting scandal. He left after running the company into the ground while taking multi-millions of dollars from the company. This is probably the largest government scandal in history yet no one is demanding an investigation. While Obama and fellow democrats are blaming the free market and republicans for this scandal, democrats in congress are not crying for an investigation the way they usually do. A lot of democrats, republicans and many companies would be implicated if they did. The very people these bad loans were supposed to help are even worse off now. This is the classic example of big government helping its citizens. While it was necessary for the federal government to step in and take over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in order to avoid a run on the banks and a major collapse, the very people who caused this problem are now directly in control. Even after all this, many of the corrupt executives of these companies are still receiving multi-million dollar severance packages. This will happen again unless they split up the companies and completely privatize them. Why is it that we need oversight committees to oversee the congressional oversight committees that oversee these government programs? The American people should demand that these members of congress resign and that an investigation be done. If they don’t resign they should be voted out of office. This is major news; the media should be demanding this as well. These scandals and crisis will happen more and more as socialism and its nationalized programs creep into government. The collapse of the Social Security and Medicare systems is inevitable as well, unless we fix them. It’s just a matter of when. How can we expect government to “fix” healthcare when they refuse to fix social security, especially in light of the recent financial scandal. If they nationalize healthcare, they would just be creating another time bomb for future generations. The only way to minimize the threat of corrupt government is to keep it as small as possible. It is time for us to wakeup and learn from history and our mistakes.
