The Federal Deficit and Amtrak

[HotlantaAl]

Stop being silly. We are talking of the annual deficit, and you keep setting up the strawman of total debt and keep knocking it down. No one has said that the entire debt can be wiped out by just taxing the billionaires. Of course other cuts will be needed and other taxes will also need to be raised to get the whole mess under control.

Who is being silly? I am just point out that the biggest driver to the problem is the total debt. That is where the cost issue is. Remember, the title to this disscussion is the Federal Deficit and Amtrak.

 

[Bob Dylan]

Nowhere in that article did it say that anyone was suggesting the entire deficit be eliminated by taxing the wealthy.

That's kind of the point. The Democratic Senators are saying they are serious about reducing the deficit by taxing the millionaires:

"It goes to the heart of whether we are serious about reducing the deficit, as opposed to just shrinking government," a Democratic Senate aide told The Hill.

My point is, the math doesn't add up. Plus, pulling that kind of capital out of the private sector is going to produce huge numbers in unemployment. Remember, there is only so much capital availble.

This is not true, the Corporations and Billionaires of the world are awash in CASH, if this "capital" was invested into jobs (with appropriate tax credits), a large part of the problem would be on the way to being settled, ie Unemployment! Ive never been rich,(middle class) but if Id been so lucky,I would to have Loved to pay Millions of Dollars in Taxes because that means Id still have Millions of Dollars left! What's up with the Rich begrudging paying their fair share and resenting those that are unemployed,poor, ill etc. through no fault of their own! You either believe we are our brothers and sisters keeper, or we believe in everyone for themselves!

Ill say again, when President Clinton left office the tax rate was marginally higher, everyone was better off economically, and we had a Budget Surplus!! You could look it up!!

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Ill say again, when President Clinton left office the tax rate was marginally higher, everyone was better off economically, and we had a Budget Surplus!! You could look it up!!

I'm not sure there is a tax rate high enough to pay for all the self-initiated wars we've been starting during the Bush/Obama era.

 

[HotlantaAl]

This is not true, the Corporations and Billionaires of the world are awash in CASH, if this "capital" was invested into jobs (with appropriate tax credits), a large part of the problem would be on the way to being settled, ie Unemployment! Ive never been rich,(middle class) but if Id been so lucky,I would to have Loved to pay Millions of Dollars in Taxes because that means Id still have Millions of Dollars left! What's up with the Rich begrudging paying their fair share and resenting those that are unemployed,poor, ill etc. through no fault of their own! You either believe we are our brothers and sisters keeper, or we believe in everyone for themselves!

Ill say again, when President Clinton left office the tax rate was marginally higher, everyone was better off economically, and we had a Budget Surplus!! You could look it up!!

I think the key word here is world. US Tax law doesn't tax world corporations. That is most of the problem, all that cash is now overseas and outside of US jurisdiction.

 

[HotlantaAl]

I'm not sure there is a tax rate high enough to pay for all the self-initiated wars we've been starting during the Bush/Obama era.

Agreed, these are very costly and I would support scaling these back. Again, I just look at the numbers and I agree with this statement.