Why governments have deficits now.

[HankReardon]

During the recent years of economic prosperity all levels of government recieved revenues well above what was needed to meet their respective budgets creating budget surpluses. This money was used, in great error, to expand existing government programs, create new programs, expand the bureaucracy and, of course, create new regulations on those creating wealth and jobs. The ensuing recession resulting from this caused lowered revenues. The governments no longer collected enough money to meet the budgets that were increased during the times of prosperity. There are lawmakers who audaciously propose to raise taxes to cover these budget deficts. I do believe there are those in government whose way of thinking is, "take as much money from the people as you can and be sure to spend as much as you take so you can ask for more." These people must go! We need successful business men and women as our lawmakers, not career politicians. Term limits should be considered at all levels. During the coming economic expansion we must demand that measures are taken to allow those who are earning the money to keep more and more of it. Democrats call this giving money to the wealthy, we call it tax cuts on earnings. This will lead to continued economic expansion and all will benefit. Lowered revenues have resulted in the federal budget being less than expected, not the Bush tax plan which has barely been in effect. The fight for lower tax rates and less government must be constant. The ensuing economic growth from this would result in increased government revenues. All, even those with little or no tax burden should know it is right to advocate this cause. A democracy can only last until the people realize they are able to vote themselves the wealth. That is only one reason why this is not a true democracy, but a constitutional republic. This is a nation governed by the "rule of law", and not, as often repeated with deliberate attempts to mislead, a nation governed by the "will of the people."

[ricpic]

We Americans are a large people: generous, open hearted and open handed, expansive, tolerant. The list could go on and on.

Unfortunately there is a flip side to those traits. We are a careless people. We are indifferent to waste. In fact we are prone to waste; shocking waste. We are also almost blithely unconcious of the criminal theft that permeates our bloated corrupt government(s).

The best that can be hoped for is that the dynamism of our economy will keep us one step ahead of the governmental eating machine. Time will tell.

[FITZ]

A deep and very painful depression would probably cure a lot of our problems

I'll bet you never lived during the Great Depression. Neither have I but my grandfather told me much about it ---and it wouldn't cure a lot of our problems. I wonder if we as a society could even survive something like it ---there wasn't a large welfare class going into that last one and many more people were self-sufficient, living on farms, there weren't the racial tensions we now have. It's hard to believe that the economy is now so bad that some are believing a deep depression would be a good thing.

[longun45]

Taxes are required to fund a government. The government decides how to tax.

The government also has taken it upon it's self to be the distributor of wealth.  Failed and retained social programs are bleeding the taxpayers of this country.  This is not a legitimate function of government.

The polls taken on taxation are from the people who pay no taxes.  Like they will say tax us more.
The poor have been bribed with money from the public treasury.  This should not be a function of government.  But the politicians have found a way to buy votes.  The government is elected by the people and the poor as a block have voted themselves a paycheck, signed by the politicians.

The rule of law has become a joke, Governments and government agencies are saying it doesn't apply to us.  We have so many laws now that nobody can know them all.  They were badly constructed and are designed for one purpose, to keep government in charge.



Can you say asset forfeiture?

  These laws are written so that nameless and faceless committees can write regulations defacing the freedoms of the people.  These regulations are LAW.  Many of these regulations work on a presumption of guilt and due process is out the door.

Think not -- look at the tax code.

The government is loath to cut programs that they expanded because then its time to confess to overspending and insane programs.  They created a dependant constituency dependent on tax money.  Rather than admit their misdeeds their solution is easy raise taxes on the people making the most money.  They have the fewest votes.

Californians will be leaving -- Grey Davis has seen to that.
 .3% of the population of California pays 37.6% of the taxes in that state. Now Governor Davis wants to raise taxes on the people who are actually paying taxes, and many of them are leaving.  The lunch story is about to visit California.
¡

[lewislynn]

You and the president need to do your homework.

a family of four making $40,000, who now pay $1100ish dollars, would under his package, pay over $1000 less..

You're confusing "making" with taxable.

The tax liability of a married family filing jointly, with a taxable income of $40,000 (after per child credits) is $5,404.00 if you're single it's $7,153.00...(32+% MORE) it's there in the tax tables for all to see.

Before your tax liability can be only $1100.00 your -taxable income- would have to be no more than $11,000.00. Someone earning $40,000 dollars gross, paying only $1100.00 in taxes would have the luxury of 3/4 of their total income ($30,000.00) as write offs.....

[boris]

Welcome aboard. So tell me, when is "Atlas Shrugged--the Movie" coming out?

[trueconservative]

Oh, how nice it would be if the tax structure was so simple. A family of 4 making $40,000 will likely be contributing to 401K's and IRAs, significantly reducing taxable income. What about deductions for mortgage interest, what about deductions for car taxes etc? I used to use Quicken for my taxes, at the end it showed average taxes actually paid for different tax brackets.

It is indeed possible for a family of 4 with a $40K income to actually receive money back from the government and pay no taxes. In fact I quit my subscription to US News and World Report after they profiled a man with 10 children with a $75K+ income who, thanks to the alternative minimum tax, paid $3000 in taxes vs. the $0 he had previously paid. (They portrayed him as a victim, I don't see why the tax code forces me to subsidize his children).

I am fairly confident the stats that Bush is using to describe his tax plan are the median or averages for families in the situations he is describing. Quicken aggregates that information, I assume the IRS does as well.

[HankReardon]

We should never give up hope of having honorable men and women in government who do not put themselves or their special interests ahead of the general welfare of the nation, states, counties, cities. Term limits! Are they doing something so unique that only they can do it? Vote out the career politicians.

[HankReardon]

As often, the movie will never be as good as the book. I do not know when it is due to come out.

[Positive]

Direct quote from www.whitehouse.gov website text of the 2003 State of the union address: "The tax relief is for everyone who pays income taxes -- and it will help our economy immediately: 92 million Americans will keep, this year, an average of almost $1,000 more of their own money. A family of four with an income of $40,000 would see their federal income taxes fall from $1,178 to $45 per year. (Applause.) Our plan will improve the bottom line for more than 23 million small businesses."

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2003/01/20030128-19.html

Perhaps you should let the President know that he needs to do his homework. I was just referring to what he said.