Boehner to hold 4 p.m. sequester press conference

MarketWatch ^ | 2/25/13 | Robert Schroeder

[Secret Agent Man]

They would be regardless.

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

Increasing taxes decreases revenue. Even Zippy knows that. That's why he told Joe Le Plumber that it's about "redistribution."

Redistribution and control. AKA, Marxism.

That's what Obama's about, Charlie Brown. And grab your life-preserver. The ship is going down.

[redgolum]

. Suggest a cap on the mortgage deduction or point out that seniors are taking out of Medicare several times what they put into it such that a hike in the eligibility age might be in order or propose the removal of farm subsidies or even taking away ethanol payments or...

Which are all tax hikes (or benefit reductions). And yes, it will hurt. Thing is we are screwed. To get un screwed we need to either cut spending (and that includes entitlements like Social Security), or increase taxes. LH made the statement that she doesn't want SS cut, so I guess that means taxes.

It is a simple mass balance. Income must equal outflows, or you go negative. We have to stop going negative, and no one wants to cut anything.

[9YearLurker]

I’d argue that spending is out of control and we can’t dig our way out of it with tax hikes. The only way we can get a healthy economy again is to cut spending. Period.

[redgolum]

I would agree. However, no one seems to want to tell the seniors, government pensioners, and everyone else that “THERE IS NO MONEY!”.

So that means if you work for the government, your hours get cut. That means you loose benefits and contracts, and that your lifestyle will have to change. It means that I don't get the same deductions as I used to, and that I accept that the roads keep falling apart for a while.

In other words, we make do.

Yet, even on this board, no one wants to do it. No one wants to get a cut to THEIR MONEY!! Even though it is all tax money, and has to come from somewhere. Social Security entitlement recipients see it as their money, so don't touch that! Defense sector personal see it as vitally important, so don't cut that! Space program workers see it as great (and cheap!) so don't cut that!

And don't even get me started on the various pork incentive programs that every see as to important (or to small) to mess with. Things like massive public buildings for pro foot ball teams, public school mandates that do little but increase the budget, and the local property tax cut to a new business (paid for by those existing firms).

Yet no one really wants to cut their government boondoggle money.

If we refuse to cut spending (which most people don't want), then we must raise taxes.