As the country's getting more and more riled over over the current state of the economy AND with the presidential election looming ever so close, the blame game, the "solutions," the circus, or whatever you'd like to describe the state of U.S. politics is in full gear.
One huge source of debate is the Taxes... Both sides of the political spectrum surprisingly agree on one thing, this huge deficit has got to go. Even that was hard to come to terms since cutting the deficit would mean Democrats' large spending measures would have to be cut. With the recent crisis with the debt ceiling, however, it seems that the Democrats have finally conceded that they can't just keep borrowing and spending. Now that the Democrats have conceded, the table's been turned to the Republicans. Republicans are faced with the reality of having to promote cutting benefits from everyday people with cuts in student loans, medical benefits, and even benefits for veterans, or raise taxes on the rich.
In my opinion, although I know Republicans are basically talking heads for the rich anyways most of the time, they have to concede on raising taxes or face the consequences of alienating the rest of the public. As the article shows, there is really no legitimate excuse for not raising taxes. Yes, tax cuts to the firms lead to higher investment, which leads to higher productivity of the country. However, it's a hard argument to tell the public that Paul Allen getting to keep his yacht will somehow help the American economy in the long run.
Republicans are at a very good position. Obviously, Obama has failed to deliver in most of his promises, and the economy has not gotten any better. The economy has to recover sometime soon and if the Republicans can take control, they'll reap the benefits of a surging economy. I think the Republicans have to concede on this issue of taxation because really, it's the sensible thing to do. (Something they have increasingly alienated themselves from) It's not like Republicans have to concede the ideology that tax breaks lead to increased productivity. Cut spending (needless spending), and increase tax revenue and deficit goes down. Easy. Simple. But probably not gonna happen.
This is a really interesting article and you make several solid points. However I have always been of the opinion that it's a mistake to demonize those you disagree with, "I know Republicans are basically talking heads for the rich anyways most of the time." This statement is both unprovable (Rich people are major donors of BOTH parties) and ignores the legion of people who legitimately feel this way. While I agree that we need a more progressive tax structure that point is strong enough to stand on it's own and doesn't need the Republican bashing.
ReplyDeleteYou should know that I'm actually a Republican.. as to the reason why my article is leaning toward Republicans.. I'm just frustrated because so many of them continually come out on TV and say thing that completely ruin the image of Republicans. I have a hard time associating with them now.. Some things they say.. the only explainable reason is sometimes because they got paid to say it.. I talk to a lot of Liberals and Independents and they view the Republicans as rich, stupid, and greedy.. and these politicians are not doing much to change that view.. Democrats get paid to say things also just as much, or in Hillary's case, get paid to shut up about health care.. Really hoping for a sensible Republican candidate to do well.
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