RE: The Fiscal Cliff and punishing those who screw things up!

[Ed in Tampa]

Obama is getting exactly what he wants if we go over the fiscal cliff.
Taxes at rates set by Clinton. Spending at rates set by Clinton. While the debt will continue to climb and he can point to the others and say it is their fault. Even though it is exactly what Obama wanted.

Tell me why Obama wants to raise taxes and increase spending even far more than the increased taxes will raise?

One reason to cause the financial disaster that brings the public to their knees and begs for a Socialized Government. This is how every country that ever had socialized government got that government. The people screamed for it. Those that forget history are destined to repeat it.

[pennview]

Jayp413, you need to ask yourself how taxpayers repay the $16.3 trillion in debt this country has amassed, $6 trillion of it since Obama took office four years ago, and then perhaps you'll begin to understand how a Republican thinks. Then think about another $4 trillion likely to be added during the upcoming Obama administration. Your children and grandchildren will be the ones repaying that $20 trillion and the amount of interest on that debt will be staggering.

Then, you need to think about how the country continues to pay for Social Security and Medicare under current law. Do you know that for the past three years, the Social Security Administration has paid out more than it has taken in. That shortfall comes from the non-Social Security taxes collected by the Treasury Department (e.g., those people paying federal income taxes) and through borrowing. Jayp413, do you know that the Treasury is currently borrowing 40 percent of all the money Obama spends? Do you know that we owe China more money than any other country in the world.

Jayp413, do you know that the Federal Reserve's program of Quantitative Easing means the Fed simply print money to buy bonds, the result of which will lead to inflation and a dramatic increase in the cost of servicing the nation's $16 trillion debt.

Democrats in Washington simply don't care about the future of this country, nor do they care about the taxpayers who will be stuck holding the bag.

[pennview]

P.S., the current top federal income tax rate in this country is 35 percent. That seems like it should be enough to run the country responsibly. If the so-called "rich" don't pay at that rate, it's not because they're a cheat, it's because that's the way Congress wrote the tax law.

[pennview]

Ed, if Obama's spending was at Clinton's spending level, the country would be in great shape. It is funny that the Democrats want Clinton level tax rates, but don't say a thing about Clinton level spending. Me thinks that if they did, we'd have a balanced budget.

[dusty]

I find it all astonishing.

The politicians that come on TV these days all try to convince us that they support the "middle class" and yet I constantly hear "for those earning less than $250K" or "less than $400K" or "less than a $1,000,000". How about those of us surviving on less than say $50-60K).

Who is the middle class anyway?

Then, with the edge of the fiscal cliff in sight, would you believe that Congress has just recently voted to provide federal workers and all of Congress a pay raise.

What Hypocrites.

[Ed in Tampa]

Ed, if Obama's spending was at Clinton's spending level, the country would be in great shape. It is funny that the Democrats want Clinton level tax rates, but don't say a thing about Clinton level spending. Me thinks that if they did, we'd have a balanced budget.

I guess I should have said Clinton's spending at today's inflated costs plus a much inflated increase of millitary spending that Clinton's budget did not include. What they want is increase social program spending where porkbelly can really be hidden and everyone sort of nods and says yea the poor need a leg up.

[ryanbp01]

As frustrated as I am, I don't blame individual congressmen as much as I do the people that put them there. The American public is getting exactly what it asked for and has continued to vote for.

And that, my friends, is where the problem lies. As Pogo said, "We have met the enemy and he is us!" You will never see true change until those we have elected are voted out of office at the national level! And that goes double at the state level.

BPR

[major_bob]

Then, with the edge of the fiscal cliff in sight, would you believe that Congress has just recently voted to provide federal workers and all of Congress a pay raise.

What Hypocrites.

I don't know about Congressional salaries, but I do know that federal employee salaries will only increase between 1/2 and 1 % in March. This is after a 2 year freeze on any cost of living increases. With increases in taxes and health insurance a federal employee will still be making less than they were in 2010.

[fredsheldon]

Ed, if Obama's spending was at Clinton's spending level, the country would be in great shape. It is funny that the Democrats want Clinton level tax rates, but don't say a thing about Clinton level spending. Me thinks that if they did, we'd have a balanced budget.

I don't recall but did Carter have us in two unfunded wars and a prescription drug plan that wasn't paid for not to mention heading for the worst recession since the great one?:eek:

[forrestb]

I was disturbed upon seeing the movie Lincoln and would like to know more about the 'real' world then. Ed, it sounds like you have something in mind and I would like a starting point. Who knows what current 'historians' are correct about.
Thanks
Forrest - once from Tampa