Does anyone else out there think they should just raise taxes and be done with it? I’d rather that than send the country’s rating down the tubes.
only if they also cut
spending and make an effort to get the debt under control. Not just the deficit
from this budget, but the overall debt. Also, government having to actually
balance a budget would be nice.
Higher taxes seem inevitable.
We HAD a budget surplus in the late
90’s, but those were immediately turned into tax cuts and deficit spending in
the previous administration. Until the economy started to tank, we could have
been paying down the debt with that money.
Now the best we can hope for is that the people agreeing to deep cuts in
spending get some taxes rolled back to the 90’s level, rather than those who
just want cuts and nothing else. Paying down the debt isn’t even on the radar
for anyone in Washington.
I didn’t know there had been a surplus at all. Britain had one for a while and DID pay down the debt with it. I believe governments should not spend more than they earn, whoever is in charge. I don’t like either the more taxes option or the lower spending option if they do not go together.
I sometimes worry that the political
discourse is so degraded these days that no reasonable solution can ever be
reached or sustained. As soon as one politician says something that falls in
the middle of the road, they get attacked by their own base and the opposition.
I’m frustrated and depressed by the current state of affairs.
I wish there were a viable, powerful 3rd party that emphasized social justice,
equality for everyone, and fiscal responsibility (pay down debt, reduce
spending, THEN cut taxes). Alas, no such party exists.
Yeah, Clinton’s big thing was that there was a huge surplus during his tenure (was it the biggest? I don’t remember) and then Bush let it all go.
Also, I don’t LIKE the idea of
higher taxes, but if it’s a choice between that and another recession, I’ll
take the taxes. I live in this country, I drive on the roads, I love national
parks, I get paid from grants from the government. Why wouldn’t I want to help
my country?
Robert, I know what you mean about the political environment. It seems like no
one out there knows what ‘compromise’ means, or realizes how stupid they look
to the folks outside the Beltway.
I doubt it was the biggest (percentage-wise), but it was significant. I have no idea how long it would have lasted as the housing bubble began to deflate and the burst, but at least for a time we could have started to do the responsible thing.