Posted on 03/13/2012 6:37:09 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
” Confiscation of all private property and bank/investment accounts ought to solve all the federal government’s fiscal difficulties.”
No, actually I think we owe even more than that.........
We could try and term spending cuts as ‘increasing unspent revenues’. Which means that every dollar we cut is ‘increasing our revenue (unspent, of course)’.
You know, a lot of foreign central banks have their gold reserves on deposit in New York at the Fed. Maybe it has to be transferred to the Treasury in a crisis? Just saying.
You are right. The plan is simple: seize all financial assets of the people and make them all slaves of the government. Simple as that. We all become proles.* (*1984)
The worst problem is that women, blacks and Hispanics love the concept. What a wonderful world, the government does everything for you from making the world safe to feeding you. Utopia for the deaf, dumb and blind Obamabots.
It will not end well for FedGov. BLOAT.
“No. We’d be better off going bankrupt and dealing with the fallout. A VAT will strangle the country.”
That’s where we’re going, so you’ll get your wish. You’ll just regret wishing for it, and be ashamed that you left such a mess for your kids and grand kids.
They're going to have an even bigger mess if we keep having bailouts, instead of just taking the hit now.
“They’re going to have an even bigger mess if we keep having bailouts, instead of just taking the hit now.”
ABSOLUTELY. It’s already going to be a nightmare...if we keep juicing things, it only gets worse. These past 4 years GUARANTEE that our fall will be incredibly vicious.
So what to do? We can control the dive if we tax ourselves to meet our spending demands. This means HUGE tax increases on the middle and lower classes. Those people will pay it, mostly. For example, if the federal tax were increased by a factor of 10, to $2.00 per gallon, people WILL still drive, and drive a lot. Yes, there will be a drop off in driving, and shipping costs will go up - so the government will not get 10 times the revenue, but they will likely get something like 7 times the revenue (or $150B per year). Same with a VAT (except more like $400B). Same with expiration of Bush’s tax cuts (at least $200B per year). Yes, the economy will dive - but that will only indicate that we’re starting to (again) live reasonably close to our spending levels.
The other option is to overhaul Social Security and Medicare. Make them means-tested, and REQUIRE children that have enough money to help pay for their parents (who otherwise would not have money). Only after those sources are exhausted would the government step in and provide a subsistence level of living. Since that will never happen, this option is hopeless.
“I’m against the VAT because it will be the first step toward slavery;”
I’m not about to argue you on that. There has been STATE AFTER STATE that just said: “We need ONLY a small new (income) tax, and then everything will be fine”. Once the revenue stream is in place...you know the rest.
But I still have a HUGE problem with Americans thinking that they can live with such low taxes and such huge commitments. We MUST pay for what we DEMAND of our government...or else it will end only worse.
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