Gezzzzzzz, I don't know where to start but this comedian thinking he knows enough about economics that he can "teach" anyone is a j...o...k...e!
"In fact, tax cuts lower federal revenue and generate federal deficits?"
Sorry, Ben, but it has been documented that after the tax cuts, revenues actually INCREASED and the reason for the federal deficits were SPENDING.
"The first step toward putting our house in order, once we are past the seemingly looming recession, is much higher taxes on the truly rich and serious enforcement to prevent offshore tax evasion."
No, Ben, the first step is to BALANCE THE BUDGET.
As long as budgets are not balanced, no matter what the revenues are; continued budget deficits will be a fact.
And what McCain could do about taxes is propose an elimination of the IRS and replace the federal income tax with a national sales tax since half of America doesn't pay ANY income tax and half of Americans receive some kind of government assistance meaning those of us who actually pay taxes help support those who don't!
Ben, you should stick to comedy 'cause you obviously don't know squat about getting this country back on the RIGHT track!
We will be better off as a party when we stop adhering to the fiction of the Laffer Curve. Balancing the budget means cutting entitlements, not cutting taxes.
The next thing is that the Republican Party (my party and yours) has for the last 30 years or so been operating under a demonstrably false and misleading premise: that tax cuts pay for themselves by generating so much economic growth that they replace the sums lost by tax cutting.
********************************************************
Ben Ben Ben Ben Ben .... how can you ignore something as obvious as the results of the Reagan tax cuts? Was “Win Ben Steins Money” real? I’m beginning to think you were given the answers..
Just a bit about this “comedian”.
Ben Stein (Benjamin J. Stein) was born November 25, 1944 in Washington, D.C., (He is the son of the economist and writer Herbert Stein) grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, and attended Montgomery Blair High School. He graduated from Columbia University in 1966 with honors in economics. He graduated from Yale Law School in 1970 as valedictorian of his class by election of his classmates. He helped to found the Journal of Law and Social Policy while at Yale. He has worked as a poverty lawyer in New Haven and Washington, D.C., a trial lawyer in the field of trade regulation at the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, D.C., a university adjunct at American University in Washington, D.C., at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. At American U. He taught about the political and social content of mass culture. He taught the same subject at UCSC, as well as about political and civil rights under the Constitution. At Pepperdine, he has taught about libel law and about securities law and ethical issues since 1986.
But you already knew that, right?
I’m voting for Obama maybe he will make Oprah and the other Hollyweird crowd pay for all the government spending.. I mean then can afford it right? I’m tired of being told that tax cuts for the rich are bad... I agree so lets just tax the rich at about 90 percent earnings ratio... I mean they can live comfortably on 10 percent of what they earn and the rest can pay to run the govt for the rest of us...
Where is my forty acres and a mule?????
Define ‘rich’, Ben!!! Just because you have a high income—does not necessarily mean you are rich.
Did I miss the part where Ben mentioned his plan to make the congress spend within their means?
Ben—normally a smart guy—is an IDIOT on taxation. Hate to say it, Ben, but you would been paying taxes right up to the point they put you on the cattle car. You need to grow some balls if you’re going to be an American.
I usually like Ben Stein. This column I don’t.
Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve, won’t. McStrawberries has had plenty of opportunities to introduce this in the Senate. The fact that he hasn’t ... speakes volumes.
This would be a lovely thing if true, and the best of all ideas, the “something for nothing” idea. In fact, tax cuts lower federal revenue and generate federal deficits. It is also true that they do stimulate the economy and after a long period of years, federal tax receipts go back to where they were before the tax cuts.
_______________________________________________________
But, Ben, how could tax reciepts go back to where they were before (or even beyond the previous amount) if “tax cuts don’t pay for themselves”? Am I hallucinating or did Ben contradict his whole argument in this very sentence?
Everyone knows cutting taxes INCREASES government revenue because of increased economic activity. This guy is supposed to have received an education in economics and he doesn’t know that!? We should cut taxes, and then cut taxes again if we want to avoid this recession some think is coming, plus balance the budget.
I too am disappointed in Stein’s deferral of responsibility.
The purpose of tax cuts is to undo the economic constraints imposed by the government. The fact that tax cuts increase revenues is a bonus. But that’s not the real issue; the government should not spend the money it doesn’t have.
Folks, let’s bear in mind that Stein has also recently come out as a creationist.
He COULD do a lot of things, but I believe he'll follow the leftist agenda and RAISE them!!
Dear John McCain:
Th country is facing difficult economic times. A recession is possibly around the corner.The housing industry and lenders are in bad shape. Much of this is because of our politicians failiures and that includes you.
I propose you cut back on spending at all levels, local state and federal. The quickest and easiest way to do this would be to encourage the 25 million or so illegal aliens in this country to leave. They are a drain on our resources, and take up jobs that could go to tax paying legal immigrants or citizens. Costs for educating, incarcerating, doctoring, insuring and aiding these people will drop dramatically. Those are all a net drain on our economy. They will eventually be a net gain to the voting socialists of America if they are allowed to stay here.
Charity begins at home and the money earned in America should stay in America and be saved, spent,taxed here and given away only to Americans. Legal immigrants should be self supporting or asked to leave. If you don’t like that idea, then open the border for people from all countries, not just those who have the means to get here by foot or fraud. Keep America a country of fairness and justice for all that abide by its laws and not a place of opportunity and reward for those who choose to break its laws.
rs
Clinton, Obama Put Middle Class On The Wrong Path To Prosperity http://www.ibdeditorials.com/IBDArticles.aspx?id=289699661705631