WELL GUYS

[WebSpinner]

looks like we are going to continue to kick the can down the road. the rich get taxed more and the result is that the govt will collect approximately $62 billion more to try and offset our $1 TRILLION + of overspending each year. this is such a joke, we have no leaders who are willing to tell the american people the predicament we are in and that all of us will have to sacrifice, rich, poor, middle class, old, young, everyone. where are the leaders?

 

[SpiderFan]

As I said during the election, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. You put Obama and his cronies back in office and this is what you get--4 more years of barely out of a depression. And for those liberals don't paint me as a conservative, I'm right in the middle--I believe in a woman's choice on abortion and gays can get married if they want no skin off my nose. But their government/welfare/economic/healthcare policies are crippling this country.

 

[urfan1]

Part of the problem, where is the middle to go -- to the liberal left or the conservative right?

 

[Ulla1]

Guys, I am right in the middle also. It really is true that one should not expect anything different in the second term. We are headed toward an unfavorable situation.

 

[spider fan]

If the tax rate is 100% there is no incentive for anyone to work or for job creation. Maximum tax rate for the government - meaning federal, state, and local combined - to receive maximum tax revenues is in the 40 to 42% tax range. Our country is now past that and of course state income tax rates vary but we have reached the law of diminishing returns - Higher tax rates resulting in less government revenue and job creation. Some governors are now proposing abolishing their state income tax to stimulate growth in their states.

 

[BeavCowboy]

Yes, you are right. Let's start to reduce Federal spending by halving the defense budget, so we are only 10 times as strong as our strongest enemy instead of 20 times as strong.

No serious discussion about reducing debt can be held without seriously cutting the defense budget (which has grown astronomically since Reagan), and outrageous military pensions and benefits.

 

[spider fan]

Beav - visit a brain trauma unit or home for veterans and witness first hand the price paid for military service. Visit a veterans' cemetery and read the dates that measure life span on the tombstones. Speak to a group of young spouses of deceased military members and tell them your thoughts. Next time a young service member in your area comes home from Afghanistan in a body bag attend the funeral to show your support. The federal budget does need to be cut but dissing veterans and active duty military is not the place to start.

 

[BeavCowboy]

No one is disrespecting veterans, especially wounded ones, those presently in the military, or the families of those who were KIA. My father is a veteran.

But sorry, not everyone who served was in a combat zone, was killed or wounded, suffers from PTSD, etc. And many military pensions are bloated. Defense spending must be curtailed. And the sooner there are no US military personnel whatsoever fighting an unwinnable war in Afghanistan, the better.

 

[WebSpinner]

Beav, we do need to cut defense and everything else. we have closed numerous bases, cut personnel since the fall of the berlin wall but just like in medicine with all of the expensive new high tech equip, the military now has all of this expensive high tech stuff as well. we do not need finger-pointing just a leader who will say everything is going to be cut and not 10 years from now but NOW and just do it. everyone will feel pain but it has to be done. the bottom line is that it is OUR money not the government's money and there has to be a line drawn at some point. again, will say that think all of those who voted for the direction we are going should send in their money, voluntarily, they want this, the rest of us should just say NO. sounds funny but we are quickly heading to a cliff we cannot handle and things are going to get very, very ugly unless someone steps out of the pack, tells the truth and gets us going in the right direction again. we cannot defend every country, we cannot take care of all of the people with problems, we cannot make everything good for everyone, just cannot afford it so we had better do the things we can afford to do and do it more efficiently which is crazy, the government doing something efficiently.

 

[URPike]

the defense budget should certainly be up for review but we need to curb ALL spending. The piece of the pie devoted to welfare programs is expanding at a ridiculous rate. It is expected to grow by 80% over the next 10 years. This country, and this administration especially, needs to get out of the hand-out business. Do you all know that the government is advertising welfare benefit programs in an effort to increase the number of people applying? Does that strike anyone else as fundamentally wrong? The emphasis needs to be on getting people off the government payroll and on their own two feet, not on growing the rosters and eliminating the "stigma." The stigma is called the American Way and involves citizens taking pride in their accomplishments and responsibility for themselves.

 

[paward]

Please provide the link where this administration, President Obama or any of his "cronies" are advertising to expand applying for welfare? I would like to see it.

 

[MolivaManiac]

For starters, google 'Unemployment Benefits Extension'. Way too many links to pick out a single favorite.

And if you think unemployment payments create jobs, like Nancy Pelosi purports, I have beach front property to sell you.

 

[WebSpinner]

PA, i just googled FOOD STAMP ADVERTISING and got the attached. did not go to any other programs to see if they are spending millions to advertise their programs as well. all of us want to help those in need but agree, we do not need to create more of them, our goal should be to eliminate them, not the people but the programs. we are going the wrong way when we have individuals and families who live off of others for their entire lives, that is just not acceptable.

FOOD STAMP ADS

 

[URPike]

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/food-stamp-growth-75x-greater-job-creation_660073.html

 

[paward]

Thanks for the replies. As I read it advertising for food stamps begin in 2004. It's original purpose was to make those in need become aware of it. Unemployment site does have a lot about etensions. One could put this site information under the advertisement umbrella. Sorry I could not pull up the later post.

I am a independent African American. I have voted GOP as much as Dem in my life. Contrary to common wisdom, I supported McCain in 2004. His story was incredible and his maverick spirit aligned with mine. In 2008 the party and his changes lost me. I went Democratc that year. Hillary was my first choice. I did learn to support President Obama as it was evident he was the party's choice. He has made some great, good and bad decisions IMHO. I do not think his focus is to destroy America with entitlements. I have never felt the need to defend him. I refuse to believe he wants his legacy to be the president who tanked us by giving freebies.

PS I finally got to the last link. Maybe I was on the wrong site. It was a blog with a ton of people posting opinions.


This post was edited on 1/21 9:45 PM by paward

 

[WebSpinner]

PA, this is not a one party or one man problem. it seems that most people who go to washington want government to be big, do more things and grow. we have now come to a time where we have to realize it has gotten way out of hand and needs to be fine-tuned so that we do not collapse financially. personally, would rather not send another dime to washington for them to waste in some program, does not matter what kind of program, take your pick. if our leaders cannot see that spending over a TRILLION dollars more than we are receiving in revenue annually is not a disaster, then we will get what we deserve. if and when it collapses and it may not, it might, then all of us will be forced to do it the right way and it seems it would be easier for our elected officials to take care of this as they should rather than having our bloated government just blow up and do it for them.

 

[URPike]

PA - I think what is so frustrating for me is to see our government spending so much more money than it is taking in and seemingly trying to spend more. Then, on the other side, almost 50% of the population doesn't pay any taxes at all. You can't raise taxes on the remaining 50% enough to make up the difference - the math simply doesn't work. All this does is pit half of the country against the other, which is just an awful result of any policy. Maybe the economy improves, tax rolls swell, and a rising tide lifts all boats. That would be great. It is just amazing to watch a country run in a manner in which any responsible person or family would never even consider running their own personal household. Maybe our strategy is to just default on the Chinese and tell them tough luck - you shouldn't have lent us so much money.

 

[WebSpinner]

AND, keep in mind, that every level of government has their hand in our pockets as well and they are spending way more money than they have. many state and local governments are on the precipice of financial disaster. just seems we have a lot of smart people in this country and to let these entities which work for us, are funded by us, to just be run in such a terrible way, is a crime.

 

[Rivercup]

And more taxes is a problem, not an answer. Just look at Maryland and the flight of high earners out of state to avoid the "millionaire tax" that MD implemented several years ago. The result? Lower tax revenues, not higher. Now California chose the same route. While Phil Mickelson apologized for his rant last week, the facts are the same. High earners are leaving the California and moving to adjacent states with low or no state income tax. It is not rocket science, people. You cannot tax your way out of a bad economy. You have to reduce spending. There can be no more "sacred cows."

http://www.policymic.com/articles/23933/tiger-woods-cites-high-taxes-for-leaving-california-backing-phil-mickelson-s-comments

http://www.freedomworks.org/blog/ameliahamilton/around-the-world-citizens-flee-high-tax-rates