On the face of it, I agree with the Republican mantra that you don't raise taxes on anybody during a recession.
Here's the problem: The practical reality is as follows:
1 - we're in a terrible mess (that the Republicans played a large part in bringing about, with plenty of help from Democrats)
2 - to get us through this, the Government is going to have to engage in a tremendous amount of spending.
3 - we're nearly to a point where we cannot borrow money. Even China just isn't wanting to buy our debt. The world has lost faith in us, our economy, and our markets because of many things, including the rampant fraud that was perpetrated as result of over-deregulation and a failure to enforce existing mandates for oversight.
So, SOMEBODY's got to pay this bill. Who has pockets that deep? The laid off construction workers who are now living in tents? The paycheck-to-paycheck programmer who will be moving his family in with his mother if he gets laid off? No, the only people right now with deep enough pockets to help out are the folks that BO is tapping to help carry the tax burden.
As a point of communictation, my hope is that BHO will clearly communicate this fact, and turn it into a patriotic duty for "successful earners" (a Kudlow-ism) to pay a larger share of taxes, and also to invest in start-ups and other business ventures in order to create jobs and bring us out of the this free-fall. This is a real test of his mettle; will BHO put aside his party's dispostion to consider the rich "the enemy", quit "bashing wall stree fat-cats", and engage with the segment of the population most empowered to help us through this adventure? This quesitonis made more interesting by the whole Nanci Pelosi dynamic.
I pray that the answer is "yes".
Here's the problem: The practical reality is as follows:
1 - we're in a terrible mess (that the Republicans played a large part in bringing about, with plenty of help from Democrats)
2 - to get us through this, the Government is going to have to engage in a tremendous amount of spending.
3 - we're nearly to a point where we cannot borrow money. Even China just isn't wanting to buy our debt. The world has lost faith in us, our economy, and our markets because of many things, including the rampant fraud that was perpetrated as result of over-deregulation and a failure to enforce existing mandates for oversight.
So, SOMEBODY's got to pay this bill. Who has pockets that deep? The laid off construction workers who are now living in tents? The paycheck-to-paycheck programmer who will be moving his family in with his mother if he gets laid off? No, the only people right now with deep enough pockets to help out are the folks that BO is tapping to help carry the tax burden.
As a point of communictation, my hope is that BHO will clearly communicate this fact, and turn it into a patriotic duty for "successful earners" (a Kudlow-ism) to pay a larger share of taxes, and also to invest in start-ups and other business ventures in order to create jobs and bring us out of the this free-fall. This is a real test of his mettle; will BHO put aside his party's dispostion to consider the rich "the enemy", quit "bashing wall stree fat-cats", and engage with the segment of the population most empowered to help us through this adventure? This quesitonis made more interesting by the whole Nanci Pelosi dynamic.
I pray that the answer is "yes".
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