Sonic Youth Gossip - the fiscal clif

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- - the fiscal clif (http://www.sonicyouth.com/gossip/showthread.php?t=85406)

Quote:

Originally Posted by !@#$%!

it's easy to call for spending cuts, the issue is WHAT to cut.

do you cut NASA, do you cut food safety, do you cut the navy, do you cut social security and medicare, do you cut food stamps, what do you cut?

funny thing during the presidential debates that the traditional roles were reversed when romney wanted to buy aircraft carriers the navy didn't want-- and he said that they could create jobs (LOL). well they would, but that's a keynesian argument.

anyway i'm for spending in infrastructure-- electrical grid and highway and water and sewage and rail and airports and internet. and of course education. i'd say the biggest savings would be to pull the troops from all around the globe and reduce the armed forces. does the US need to be the world's cop? no it doesn't. let the rest of the world pay for their own defense. shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittt!

Many combined estimates suggest that there are between $500-750BILLION spent annually on corruption, bloated pork projects, ridiculous pension/compensation packages for police/prison unions, and of course out-right fraud (especially in Medicare and Defense spending..) so in theory we could solve all our woes not by cutting anything we use or like or need, but just cutting all the waste, corruption, and fraud. However, there is clearly not the political will to do such at the time, or such would not even be so prevalent in the first place. So I say we can cut, but our dialogue should not be on trying to find which half of Solomon's baby to cut, but rather were to start examining everyone's sacred cows and find some fat and fraud to remove. Many Americans don't realize just how corrupt this nation and our economy really are, but it is staggering to our economy. During bubble years we don't notice, but in recessions they become glaringly obvious in the holes they dig through the budgets. I am all for spending cuts, but cut the right things, all ideologies aside.

You all are really bumming me out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bytor Peltor

Making sure to give credit where credit is due (from the above link). Did you email him or is this from someeone else? Either way, he responded:

You are inaccurate or at least misleading in some of your statements about the fiscal cliff compromise.

1. The increase in the defict is based on a comparison of what revenues would be if all the tax cuts had expired. If you compare it to the tax cuts as they were, revenues increase by $600 billion. You can't argue that taxes should be cut and then complain that when they are, deficits increase.

2. The increase in payroll taxes was enacted for two years in 2010 as temporary stimulus. It was extended for one year. Since the cost was paid to Social Security from the general fund it has been adding to the deficit. It was allowed to expire. It was not part of the Bush tax cuts.

3. I don't know what you are talking about with the 28% if you die. The legislation keeps the estate exemption at $5 million instead of letting it revert to the $1 million if nothing had been done. It is also indexed so that the exemption will continue to rise. The rate for estates over $5 million changes from 35% to 40%.

4. Medical insurance is not taxable until 2018 and then only the more expensive, so called cadillac plans.

5. The President froze all automatic cost of living raises for federal employees, congress and judges in 2009 by executive order. His most recent executive order granted a 0.5% increase for those groups that does not become effective until March. The fiscal cliff compromise eliminated the raise for congress.

6. There were several things that you did not mention, such as a temporary extension of the farm bill to keep milk prices from rising. It included another doc fix on medicare payments to doctors that would have taken place on Jan. 1.

Answer : We all love these democratic talking points. A lesson to all of you - what we said is inaccurate or misleading - but this is the good that we are all paying more out of our paychecks and there were NO cuts in spending. Too funny.

NOTE: the above is copy paste from the link above......

oh! i'm glad someone called him out on all his fallacies... and i think his answer was kinda lame.

it's kinda like catching a thief in the act and the thief turns around to say "oh, i love these citizens arrests. a lesson to you-- i'm committing a crime. but it's good that you're paying more attention to your security"

good one!

but hey, at least he's not faux news and he admits his error.

Another thing I'd love to change.

Remove loopholes that the superwealthy use and get them paying an equal percentage of income. If they're already playing fair and paying an equal rate as the lower classes, they shouldn't have to pay MORE just because "they can afford it"