Quote:
Originally Posted by WTF
Depends on how much you like a 21 Trillion dollar debt.
We used to have high taxes to pay down the debt so we would not be susceptible to financial attack and to make war a last resort that not only could be exploited by the wealthy on this country.
You really should read up on this country's tax history.
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I'm not sure who wrote the history books you're reading, but they're full of it. You appear to wrongly believe higher taxes was what took power away from the monopoly capitalists of late 19th/early 20th centuries, when it was legislation directed at monopolies. You apparently believe higher marginal tax rates on high earners are sufficient to pay off the national debt (not true), and you don't fully consider the effect of changes in behavior and the decrease in the amount of capital available to invest in business when rates are raised. Take 70% of the income from a business or an investor and give it to the government, and in the long run the government is going to get less income from taxes than if the rate were lower, despite what Saez and Diamond and all the other replacements for Marxists say.
I think your "historians" must look at historical marginal tax rates and think they're the primary variable affecting GDP growth and the national debt. This is so far off.
What it boils down to is how big you want government to be. You want it to be bigger and I want it to be smaller, at least at the federal level.
You said something earlier about sales taxes. I don't have any problem paying the sales tax. The state of Texas and my local government spend money efficiently and provide services people use. The federal government on the other hand, I don't see them doing jack shit except taking our money. That's an exaggeration, but Washington is flushing our hard earned money down the drain.
That said, we agree, deficits must come down. This is essential, as if we continue on the the path we're on, we're going bankrupt.
