Raise taxes, cut spending to balance U.S. budget: Hoyer

Yahoo ^

[Sub-Driver]

Raise taxes, cut spending to balance U.S. budget: Hoyer By Andy Sullivan Andy Sullivan 23 mins ago

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Tax increases and spending cuts will both be needed to spread the burden of bringing down U.S. budget deficits to a sustainable level, House of Representatives Democratic leader Steny Hoyer said Monday.

Hoyer's remarks frame a debate that is likely to pick up urgency as a bipartisan panel created by President Barack Obama considers ways to balance the budget.

"It seems to me that the only solution that can win the support of both parties is a balanced approach: one that cuts some spending and raises some revenue while avoiding extremes in either direction," Hoyer said in remarks prepared for delivery later in the day.

"A balanced approach would spread the effects of change across American society," Hoyer said.

[Sub-Driver]

Can it Steny...

[Tublecane]

I liken the second part. Don’t think the first part’ll work.

[ClearCase_guy]

Step 1: Talk about raising taxes and cutting spending.
Step 2: Raise taxes.
Step 3: Talk about cutting spending.

For the Democrats, there is no Step 4

[Army Air Corps]

Translation: we’ll raise taxes and think about cutting the budget (only Defense and National Security will be cut).

[DonaldC]

I don’t think we can fix this mess without more taxes, but a balanced budget and cuts beyond that need to come first.

[Sans-Culotte]

Reagan had it right: cut off their allowance and force them to cut spending.

[arista]

Democrat Spending Cuts:

1. Plan to increase spending by 25%
2. Increase spending by 15% instead
3. Talk about how spending has been “cut to the bone”

[earlJam]

Step 4: Go to Step 1 and repeat.

[DManA]

You mean raise taxes beyond what you intend by letting the Bush tax cuts to lapse? At this point raising taxes will result in less revenue to the treasury.

[Noob1999]

So Steny Hoyer has officially been chosen as the tax fall guy.

That gives Zer0 and the Princess a pass, and Hoyer will take the heat.

Hoyer will be told to promote a huge tax increase, so Zer0 can come in and scale it back to “only” a large tax increase, thus, Zer0 will once again be able to be the saviour of mankind

[nathanbedford]

In eight months time the political landscape of America will be radically altered. Likely Hoyer will no longer be in the majority, although he might be the leader of his minority party. If the Republicans can take one or even two houses of Congress the entire landscape changes and Obama's ability to impose taxes without real spending cuts such as he enjoyed for almost the first full year of his presidency will evaporate. It is a miracle really that Obama was so inept that he could not do more substantial harm than porkulus.

If the Republicans can take the house, there will be no new taxes imposed by Congress. But with the president in the White House there will be no tax cuts either. However, since the Bush cuts are set to expire without congressional action, tax increases are virtually inevitable and any attempt to roll them back will be met by a veto and obstruction in the Senate if only by way of a Democrat filibuster. At that point, reconciliation will be a gun pointed in the opposite direction because finance bills are and always have been a legitimate subject for reconciliation.

So the Republicans even if they take the house will be impotent to undo the expiration of the Bush tax cuts. However, if the economy further deteriorates and millions of Americans remain jobless towards the end of 2010, Obama will be so discredited that more and more Democrats will be looking to find accommodation with the Republicans. If the economy gets bad enough tax cuts might even be passed over Obama's veto.

[SmokingJoe]

“It seems to me that the only solution that can win the support of both parties is a balanced approach: one that cuts some spending and raises some revenue while avoiding extremes in either direction,”

Read my lips: SLASH SPENDING. NO NEW TAXES.
I am yet to see any Democrats actually cut soending anywhere. They set up commissions to "study" cuts in spending, but that's about it.

[PSYCHO-FREEP]

Point #1; Bush Operating budget 2001-2008, 1.2 Trillion per year, 450 Billion $ average Deficit.

Point #2; MaObama operating budget for 2009, 4.2 Trillion,
1.8 Trillion $ deficit. Total annual spending = 12.6 Trillion. (Deficit alone exceeds Bush's entire annual operating budget.)

Point #3; Increase spending and operating budget by 2.2 Trillion more for 2010 to 14.8 Trillion.

Outcome? Blame Bush for all excessive spending beyond 2008. Public still ignorant to how much money 14.8 Trillion actually is. Still Blame Bush as the cause for all the spending.

[SonOfDarkSkies]

The best way to increase tax revenues is to reduce tax rates.

A strong economy generates much more tax revenues than an anemic one!

Congressmen and senators are, for the most part, quite linear in their thinking. Their counterparts in the corporate world are the accountants who believe they can improved the bottom line by reducing those high sales commissions and reducing product quality.

[wac3rd]

F you, you loser taypayer-funded pensioned maggot. Did I mention your absolute incompetence?

[grumpygresh]

Any Republican that would fall for this is a ....

[henkster]

Exactly. Democrats will never cut spending, only increase it. But they will raise taxes.

[chris_bdba]

Has a democrat actually had an original idea in the past 70 years?

[chris_bdba]

IMHO it is going to take radical slashes to fix all that is wrong. Some depts of government need to be ended and others cut by 50%. I do hope we can atleast take the house and bring up number up to atleast 47-48 in the Senate.

[US Navy Vet]

Yep it’s an election year.