Bruce if Romney is the one they put up, then I would vote for him. If it is Newt, then I don't know what I'd do. For me a choice between Newt and Obama is like a choice between being shot or being hung. Either way it's going to hurt and be a disaster, but then again I always did want to be well hung.:icon_smile:
Hard to argue that we won't end up in default at some point. The 50% that don't pay taxes have no clue and don't care that this is not a good deal, and they will support anyone who promises that this continues. I am not sure what the military solution is, although I am absolutely sure that we should not paying more for defense than the next 20 nations combined. I think those of us that pay taxes deserve a cigarette on that one.
rdubnpk The local Republican Senators and Reps are already crying about the weakening of the military because of the proposed cuts. It has to be done because we can't afford to support it any longer. A large part of our local economy is military dependent so we are going to get hurt. One more slap in the economic face. But hell if we can do it with drones and seal teams...............
I am not sure how much we need to be spending for defense, but I am absolutely sure that it does not need to be more than the next 20 nations combined. Agreeing to any military cuts is not a popular political move, but it certainly is a reasonable choice. Adding some fiscal accountability to the military (as well as the other branches of govt) would be great also.
For FY2012 defense spending is only 15% of the budget, so even if you elimnated the military it wouldn't do squat for our problems. Medicare, welfare, and SS account for 45% of the budget, and that's where the cuts need to come from. Thats and the 50% of the population needs to start paying their "fair share".
You guys know your tax system a lot better than I do. When I hear a repeated claim that solicits a strong emotional response from voters I tend to question it. There are a lot of websites that provide this kind of explanation: The truth is that the talking point that half of all Americans pay no taxes is a misrepresentation. Here is the full quote from the Tax Policy Center, The fraction of tax units paying no income tax varies widely by filing status and type of unit. About 47 percent of single filers will owe no tax, compared with 38 percent of joint filers and 72 percent of heads of household. More than half of elderly tax units and tax units with children will pay no income tax this year. The 47% statistic is not all Americans pay no taxes, but single filers who will pay no federal income taxes. According to the Center On Budget and Policy Priorities the real reason why 47%-51% of Americans paid no federal income taxes in 2009 is, The 51 percent figure is an anomaly that reflects the unique circumstances of 2009, when the recession greatly swelled the number of Americans with low incomes and when temporary tax cuts created by the 2009 Recovery Act — including the “Making Work Pay” tax credit and an exclusion from tax of the first $2,400 in unemployment benefits — were in effect. Together, these developments removed millions of Americans from the federal income tax rolls. Both of these temporary tax measures have since expired. The combination of the recession and the Obama stimulus cut taxes to low and middle income Americans led to fewer Americans owing federal income tax in 2009. The Tax Policy Center has tried to correct Fox News and the right wing media’s misuse of their research. In April 2010, Howard Glickman of the TPC wrote, Let me explain—repeat actually—what this means: About half of taxpayers paid no federal income tax last year. It does not mean they paid no tax at all. Many shelled out Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. In fact, only 14 percent of Americans didn’t pay either income or payroll taxes. Some paid property taxes and, it is fair to say, just about all of them paid sales taxes of one kind or another. So to say they pay no taxes is flat wrong. However, this class warfare-like rhetoric plays to a perception that the income tax is a chump tax: Only hard-working folks like us pay it. The welfare queens don’t. The super-rich don’t. It is a powerful emotional argument. It is also flat wrong. The actual number of Americans who don’t pay any taxes isn’t half, but 14%. This group of non-taxpayers of any kind is largely composed of the elderly and disabled. The people who don’t pay taxes do so because they can’t work. The myth that the wealthy are carrying the tax burden for America is used to justify tax cuts for the rich. Conservatives use the inaccurate statistic hand in hand with their, “wealthy are the job creators argument.” One statistic that was intended to demonstrate the loss of income due to the recession, along with the impact of the Obama tax cuts has been distorted and misused to justify a policy of not asking the wealthiest Americans to pay their fair share. The truth is that 86% of Americans pay taxes. In one recession strapped year (2009), less than half of single filer taxpayers paid federal income taxes. Millions of Americans are not being told the truth that almost 90% of us pay taxes, and that much of the reason why there were fewer people paying federal income taxes in 2009 was that Barack Obama signed the largest tax cut in US history. Since the truth undercuts the conservative’s reverse Robin Hood steal from the poor to give to the rich policy, they are going to do their best to keep the facts buried under a mountain of misinformation. Anytime anyone tells you that half of Americans paid no taxes, do your country a favor and straighten them out. We have the facts. It’s time to tear down this talking point.
