Am I Really Going to Say This? Vito Made A Valid Point

In another thread, Matt said "Both sides have had cracks at fixing this country recently, and both have failed miserably. No one is winning." I have to admit that this is a valid point. What people keep missing in our government is that if you continually spend more than you make, you go bankrupt. The federal government only brings in about 2/3rds of what it is spending. Until we all accept that ALL programs will have to take a cut and ALL Americans independent of what your income is will have to pay more in taxes to bridge the remaining shortcomings, we cannot recover from this downward spiral. I say ALL Americans independent of your income because under the Constitution we are guaranteed fair and EQUAL treatment.

 

Uh oh, Mark, I may have to add you to my sig line. You know how long it to me to get PT to admit I made a valid point? I'm not sure I can pass on this opportunity.

 

Oh sure, rub a guy's nose in it!

 

I agree that it wasn't one party or another that screwed this up - it was both sides of the aisle. What I do not agree with is all of us having to pay more taxes to fix the problem. IMO that is NOT the answer.

I pay 45.5% of my gross income to taxes each year between Federal & State income tax, Property tax and sales tax. For every dollar I make, the government takes nearly 1/2 of it!!!! There's nothing left for the government to take!

The key here is cutbacks. Across the board cutbacks. Eliminate the waste and fraud, or as much of it as you can, and then start making cuts after that.

 

Please stop hijacking this thread. The subject is about me being right.

How do I report a post?

 

In my opinion, term limits resolve 90% of the problem. If our politicians werent using political office as a profession, they wouldnt be worried about whose back to scratch to get re-elected. They would do the work of their constituents and move on. We would get qualified people from the real working world to become involved and run the country like a business. With a budget that makes sense! Both sides of the isle are equally guilty in making politics a profession and it was never meant to be that way. Shame on us for allowing it to go on for so long. Without term limits, we are doomed to mediocrity.

 

I was in such shock that I was admitting that Matt actually had something to say, that I didn't clarify that. I think ALL Americans, independent of your income bracket, should be paying the same % of taxes. If everyone paid the same percentage as in a flat tax and there weren't all sorts of loopholes that helped some get out of paying taxes, it would increase our tax income for the government. This would also help in budget cuts as there would be no more filing income tax returns. IRS people could be put to work making sure companies were paying the right amount for all of their employees.

Smaller government without the fraud, waste and abuse with equal taxation can equal a prosperous country.

 

I could resolve the issue with a couple changes in policy. Stop providing foreign aid and keep our nose out of everyone elses business. Wars / Conflicts are expensive!

This spread sheet below will make you sick!
http://gbk.eads.usaidallnet.gov/about/program_summary.pdf

 

Justin has now been warned. Let me know if he continues to bother you.

Though, he might enjoy a timeout from the forums...

 

I have frequently said and have been publically chastised for saying that all politicians need to have service limits. Meaning that they don't serve so many years in this role and then so many in that role and so on. But I also say that every elected official should be limited in income to not exceed the mean income of their constituency. Finally, get rid of all those freaking perks. Everytime the POTUS, FL, VP or his family take a vacation and the taxpayers have to pay not only for all the people protecting them where ever they go, but also for the transportation, that is outrageous! Literally millions are wasted every year on the whims of politicians families.

 

Actually Heckler, foreign aid only makes up 1.5% of the budget. Yes, we need to quit paying Egypt and Syria money to keep them from attacking Israel, but this won't resolve the issue. Wars and conflicts are expensive, but in the case of Afghanistan, had we not responded, the attacks within America would have continued and grown in devastation.

 

Its nice to see someone takes this place seriously. Thanks, Fitz.

 

OK Matt, your 15 minutes of fame is up. Go back to your regularly scheduled activity.

 

Totally agreed. I'm not sure why or when the mentality came about that we had to be the rest of the worlds caretakers. If we can't afford to keep our own country running, then why on earth would we just throw good money out the window.

 

When they made up this thing called allies, and we flexed our muscle to show how helpful we are. Now they just expect it. I'm not saying its necessarily right, but there is no going back. You go back now and things could get ugly.

 

Al gore invented tax.

 

I am a simple man so I try to simplify everything and bring it down to one or two issues.

1) Our federal government is way too big, and people have come to expect it to take care of everything in their lives

2) The adults in this country are doing a pretty poor job of raising their kids (and when I say "their kids" I mean not only their biological children but the way they interact with all children).

 

Oh contraire, young grasshopper, it wasn't until Reagan than the rates dropped substantially.
http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=213
I do agree substantial cuts, reductions of services & entitlements (as unpopular as that would be) and/or streamlining of services and agencies would accelerate the reduction of the debt. Lest I be accused and warned like those before me, maybe we just say he was onto something instead of saying he was right*.

 

If you notice he said between Federal AND State he pays 45.5%.....not federal alone. I pretty sure he knows how much he pays in taxes.