Happy Atheist Forum

While I believe the deficit is the big issue, raising taxes on anyone may hurt the recovery, which in result, will raise the deficit anyway.

Bush's tax cuts only benefitted rich people.

Yeah, let that crap expire. Who can afford tax cuts.

Yeah, let that crap expire. Who can afford tax cuts.

Quote from: "Ultima22689"Yeah, let that crap expire. Who can afford tax cuts.

Yeah, you can say that again!
 

Ok, lemme get this straight.

The poor and middle class are suffering.  They need more money to survive.

How can we solve this problem?

Simple!  Give tax breaks to the rich.  That way they'll have more money to create jobs so the poor can work to earn the money.

Uh huh...

What would possibly motivate someone with more than enough money to invest it to benefit the poor?

Why aren't we just giving the money to the poor?

I think that the tax cuts should be investigated and altered to directly help those who are in the most need...which is probably the middle class since those who lost their jobs from that bracket have the hardest time finding a job that can pay their bills (can't just take a job at wendy's and still keep the house).

Quote from: "Whitney"I think that the tax cuts should be investigated and altered to directly help those who are in the most need...which is probably the middle class since those who lost their jobs from that bracket have the hardest time finding a job that can pay their bills (can't just take a job at wendy's and still keep the house).

Is this American irony or somethen?

Quote from: "PoopShoot"Bush's tax cuts only benefitted rich people.

Is this entirely true?  I thought the tax cuts benefited everybody.

  I am in favor of taxing the rich more heavily though.  The rich got rich on largely on the backs of the middle and working class Times are hard, they gotta give a little more to keep the wheels from falling off.

We can't afford them. I don't see it as being any more complicated than that.

The federal debt will kill this country if not controlled.  Rich people can afford to pay a larger proportion of their income that poor folk can.  It's hard to see what their objection is to helping out the country that gave them so much opportunity, unless it be greed and ingratitude.

Even with rich people ing the only ones not getting the tax cuts it still does make a big difference on the deficit. These tax cuts were made to be temporary and made to expire now. Let it happen.

Quote from: "humblesmurph"Is this entirely true?  I thought the tax cuts benefited everybody.

No.  The middle and lower tax brackets got breaks in the form of a half dozen in the right hand in exchange for giving up six from the left hand.

It probably won't happen in my life time, but I'd like to see a true flat tax system in the US.

... and I mean FLAT.

You earn a dollar, you pay the gov ten cents.

Period.

No breaks.

No exemptions.

No cuts.

I dreamed a dream...

Flat tax systems don't really work. Progressive taxation is necessary even to afford the most basic government services. Not only that, but the separation between the rich and the poor would jump considerably.

The rich people in the country are those who have benefited the most from the country. If you want to look at it completely separately from the question of viability, it's only fair that the rich should pay more.

It's clear that it is me against 10 other people; with those odds, I won't go any further in arguing for the tax cuts.  Atheists mostly lean to the left, and the ones who lean to the right are usually the extreme people who don't want any income tax at all.

But the flat tax would even more beneficial to the wealthy than the current tax system with the Bush tax cuts and it would result in double the deficits.

I'm admittedly not a terribly well educated on this subject, but I've been reading a good deal about this and it would seem that the Bush tax cuts are a really bad idea for everyone except the rich.  Hasn't the whole trickle down theory been proven by now to be a load of bull pucky?  Or is there something beneficial about these tax cuts that has to do with something other than the silly assumption that if rich people save money, they will surely use that money to help stimulate the economy?

Quote from: "jduster"It's clear that it is me against 10 other people; with those odds, I won't go any further in arguing for the tax cuts.  Atheists mostly lean to the left, and the ones who lean to the right are usually the extreme people who don't want any income tax at all.

But the flat tax would even more beneficial to the wealthy than the current tax system with the Bush tax cuts and it would result in double the deficits.

I'm socially liberal and fiscally conservative.  I say kill the cuts, or watch the country be dragged down by interest payments.

I know i hate how rich people say that if they pay more they are being "Punished" for being rich.

after a few years of hearing that, I have to assume that these people have created a little club of people that collect money,

ya know like it's baseball cards or something.  because they have all the cool stuff they can buy, they have the health, they own their homes and their kids are taken care of.

so all of these other millions of dollars that will just sit around for the grand kids to fight over when they die, could just be used to make the country better before their grandchildren exist....

I'm digressing.

.....but they won't, because they don't want anybody touching their precious collection of money that aren't going to do anything with.

they might as well go to the grocery store, buy all the food, and set it on fire.

Quote from: "Will"Flat tax systems don't really work. Progressive taxation is necessary even to afford the most basic government services. Not only that, but the separation between the rich and the poor would jump considerably.

The rich people in the country are those who have benefited the most from the country. If you want to look at it completely separately from the question of viability, it's only fair that the rich should pay more.

Guess I can't win!

I'd heard on NPR that the tax rate in the past for the rich was as high as 90%.
Don't think that would fly today.

So, maybe the question is: How can we keep the foxes from guarding the hen house?

Maybe we should have government funded lobbyists for the poor!

It wasn't 90% of total income, it was 90% marginal tax rate.

Quote from: "Will"It wasn't 90% of total income, it was 90% marginal tax rate.

Rich people manage their affairs to minimise taxable income.
They often pay less tax than middle class people.

Quote from: "Slate"Dems Won't Vote on Tax Cuts Before Midterms
Liberal pundits are horrified that Democrats have abandoned an opportunity to force Republicans to make an unpopular vote right before the election.

What are the Dems smoking? I guess they opened up the can of promised WhoopAssâ,,¢ but left it out too long. It's lost all the fizz.

Ugh, okay, it's getting really hard to not see how smexy England  or Canada looks right now. The stupid is strong in this country.

Quote from: "Sophus"

Quote from: "Slate"Dems Won't Vote on Tax Cuts Before Midterms
Liberal pundits are horrified that Democrats have abandoned an opportunity to force Republicans to make an unpopular vote right before the election.

What are the Dems smoking? I guess they opened up the can of promised WhoopAssâ,,¢ but left it out too long. It's lost all the fizz.

They're smoking fear, and the stench sucks.  Where's the leaders when you need them?  This isn't even a gamble.