Posted on 04/25/2011 4:28:38 AM PDT by Scanian
Standard & Poor's warning last week of a possible downgrading of America's credit rating sent tremors through markets worldwide -- and underscored the nation's short- and long-term deficit and debt woes.
The warning came just days after the speech in which President Obama basically dismissed the House GOP's comprehensive long-term budget outline -- which addresses the need to restrain growth in discretionary spending and entitlements.
Instead, the president just focused on raising income -- and possibly payroll -- taxes on the wealthiest Americans.
On cue, administration supporters pushed the usual talking point: The wealthy aren't paying "their fair share" since the average federal income-tax rate on the 400 wealthiest Americans is 17 percent; in 1992, it was 26 percent.
This analysis overlooks an essential fact: Hiking taxes on the "rich" won't rescue the nation from flooding red ink.
As The American Thinker's Steve McCann notes, even if the government decided that no American could have a net worth above $1.5 million, confiscating everything above that figure would net the Treasury $6.1 trillion in one fell swoop.
But the national debt is now nearly $14.5 trillion -- so Uncle Sam would still owe $8.4 trillion.
Meanwhile, the richest 1 percent of American taxpayers pay 32 percent of all income taxes (up from 27.5 percent in 2007). And as the Tax Policy Center reports, 45 percent of American households pay no federal income tax whatsoever
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
There has been plenty of bad news today, it’s true. The unions trying to stop the secret ballot for unionization votes in AZ and SD...Sebelius demanding a pharma CEO be fired as a condition for gov’t business...it goes on and on every day.
You mention Steele, who was pretty bad. What about Priebus, who is supposed to be a crackerjack fundraiser? Why hasn’t he been buying TV time to explain GOP budgetary positions? Why isn’t the “new” RNC trying to offset media bias with advertising?
So far, the Priebus RNC looks very much like the Steele RNC. At least to one outsider it does.
Steele was on MSNBC Maddow recently and she asked him why Republicans are trying to slash medicare and he said "I tried to change that". The first time he went on a liberal show in 2009 I saw it was a disaster. He claimed he was reaching out, by apologizing. His reaching out was acting like a Democrat, taking their positions.
Steele is dead meat. He is the past. Let’s forget him.
Just like talking about Bush. Why bother? He’s gone and he’s not coming back.
We need to focus on the future and forget the flops of the past.
I was watching CNN at the gym today (FNC was on too) when they did a story on this and they mentioned liberals showing up to make these scenes on camera. I have no doubt that they are tearing a page from the 2009 Townhall- Obama-care playbook by organizing and complaining at these about the Ryan plan dramatically and taping it to try to get it on the news. It's an obvious opening politically that we know will work.
The one that moved me yesterday was a woman that screamed on a cam “You never ran on this last fall. You never mentioned a word of this (medicare changes) last year”. That's a killer of a line and he couldnt say he did either.
That was the point I was getting at today. The Steele comment came out of my pointing out how Republicans sort of set themself up by delaying their 'bad news' until after the election( and to some extent taking the opposite positions as their real ones). Yes, I know Obama is famous at that but look at his polls.
I saw those on Cavuto, they are also sueing Boeing for opening a new plant in South Carolina claiming it is intimidation. SC is vowing to defend Boeing.
You did motivate to dig up some old posts which were on my list today. I appreciate the interchange with you.
I know what he is up to, Obama is reading from the Pelosi (2007-2008) 'play it safe' playbook. It goes : Raise a stink, appear to hold out till the edge of the brink, then round up a passing (caving) vote saying “We held out. We got the best we could. We have to swallow this and wait till after we win the Senate to get this through.”
What is weird is that Boehner will pobably not hold a vote on the oil company tax credits if he will lose it. What has bothered me on this issue, like many others, is how Republicans go on the TV shows and get grilled and give a pathetic defense of the issue. That is the real seeds of failure, giving in is just the formality that everyone notices. THe real battle is taking on the MSM and creaming them supporting your position so you change minds.
Boehner like Obama is thinking 2012. I am still pondering the vote on this Ryan ‘plan’ and where it is going politically relative to the last paragraph.
both parties will do anything but cut pork...its their personal slush fund. we will still have bridges to nowhere.
Many Big Oil corps “invest” their “obscene profits” into research into alternative energy. It’s good to reform tax loopholes, but in this case the result will be taking money from useful research to pay for govt. boondoggles.
I just pinged you to another thread on that same subject.
My point on this one is Democrats now are on the offense and Republicans back on the defense from what I see on all the channels. It's the perception.
” What is weird is that Boehner will pobably not hold a vote on the oil company tax credits if he will lose it. What has bothered me on this issue, like many others, is how Republicans go on the TV shows and get grilled and give a pathetic defense of the issue. That is the real seeds of failure, giving in is just the formality that everyone notices. “
Exactly!
Obama will soak em, and give the money to communist greenies.
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