The Ryan budget plan, Part III: More trickle-down
In “The Path to Prosperity,” House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan makes it clear that tax increases will not be part of the solution to the nation’s fiscal problems. He intends to address the problem solely through budget cuts, most of them focused on programs affecting the elderly, the sick and the poor. After all, that’s where the money is in the federal budget, especially when you exempt the Pentagon from spending cuts, as Ryan proposes to do.
“The U.S. government is not running sustained deficits because Americans are taxed too little,” the plan states. “The government is running deficits because it spends too much.”
However, that sentiment doesn’t mean that Ryan intends to leave the tax code untouched. Among other things, he proposes to reduce the number of tax brackets from the current six, which would make the income tax flatter and less progressive. He also intends to lower the top tax bracket on individuals and corporations from the current 35 percent to 25 percent.
Inevitably, such changes would have the effect of lowering taxes on corporations and the wealthy, while shifting more of the burden to working and middle-class Americans. When combined with the payroll tax, which Ryan concedes is a surtax on earned income below $106,000, a large number of working class and middle-class Americans would probably end up paying a significantly higher percentage of their income in federal taxes than their wealthier counterparts.
I say “probably” because as far as I can tell, Ryan hasn’t released specifics of his tax reform proposal to the public. He did, however, provide considerable detail to the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis to allow it to project the economic impact of the proposed changes. So let’s see what they have to say.
Overall, Heritage projects, the Ryan budget proposal would produce an outcome that frankly would be nothing short of miraculous, including an increase in economic output of $1.5 trillion over the next ten years. That in turn would help drive down the federal deficit considerably.
But how real is it? Unlike projections by the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, the Heritage analysis relies on what is called “dynamic scoring.” In other words, it programs its computer models to assume that tax cuts on the wealthy and corporations produce enormous economic growth.
For example, let’s take a look at what dynamic scoring does to the projected unemployment rate. The CBO projects that the unemployment rate next year will average 8.4 percent. The Heritage Foundation, using dynamic scoring, projects that if the Ryan plan passes, unemployment would plummet next year to 6.4 percent.
By 2015, the CBO projects, unemployment will be down to 5.9 percent. Under the Ryan plan, Heritage projects it will fall to a remarkable 4.0 percent, declining still further to 2.8 percent in 2021.
2.8 percent?
Who believes that? Nobody believes that. In fact, those projections are so embarrassingly absurd that Heritage itself has gone back into its study and removed them. They were there in the version I downloaded yesterday; they are gone from the version available today.
In this case, Heritage can make ridiculous claims for the economic benefits of Ryan’s plan — claims that help account for the supposed deficit reduction — without fear of those claims being tested against reality. Nobody believes that the plan will ever be adopted.
Ten years ago, however, the Heritage Foundation’s Center for Data Analysis ran similar projections for President Bush’s plan to cut taxes, using the same computer model it used to analyze Ryan’s plan.
Heritage claimed that if the Bush tax cuts were approved, the economy would grow so quickly that by 2010, the entire federal debt would effectively be eliminated.
Not only that, “The plan would save the entire Social Security surplus and increase personal savings while the federal government accumulated $1.8 trillion in uncommitted funds from FY 2008 to FY 2011, revenue that could be used to reform the Social Security and Medicare systems and reduce the payroll tax,” Heritage claimed.
Well ….
– Jay Bookman
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970 comments Add your comment
md
April 6th, 2011
7:32 pm
“We’d have to be careful not to get caught up in their entanglements, though.”
Supposedly, it is designed to be an all for one and one for all arrangement…….yet when NATO voted to take over Afghanistan it became a very different equation………hope we remind the other members how they are playing the game when the shoe is on the other foot.
Mary Elizabeth
April 6th, 2011
7:32 pm
Thank you, Jay.
stands for decibels
April 6th, 2011
7:32 pm
pssst…. that’s Abilene, Kansas
Yep. Went there once to pay my respects.
(ok, it was an elementary school class field trip, but even at that tender age I felt honored to be there.)
Paul
April 6th, 2011
7:32 pm
Doggone/GA
Well, well… so he was!
So I guess it is true, only socialists Texas produces are ones who wear green uniforms with five stars on each shoulder!
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
7:33 pm
Kam, LOL…
GOP think tank?
Is that like military intelligence? Or jumbo shrimp? Or plastic glasses? Or voluntary regulation? Or…
At any rate, you’ve gotta laugh at Republispeak.
Only in the mangled English of the bumbling, corrupt Bush Administration is reduceing air pollution controls, pumping 42 million more tons more of mercury and other toxins into the atmosphere labeled the Clean Skies Act…
stands for decibels
April 6th, 2011
7:33 pm
Anyway, I’m off to focus on the Mets, whose defense just botched a routine bunt play. Later.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
7:35 pm
“so I have to question, esp. in light of the Vanity Fair article, why have so many of the very top become so wealthy in the last decades in relation to the middle/working classes, and why have so many in the middle/working class had their financial wherewithal getting worse.”
Because the rich keep doing the things that made them rich, and the middle class keep doing the things that made them middle class. And the middle class trusted a government incapable of helping them to do the work they needed to do to get out of the middle class.
And btw, what’s so wrong with being “middle class”? Our middle class is probably better off than about 85% – 90% of the rest of the world’s population. Must be all that wealth envy.
stands for decibels
April 6th, 2011
7:36 pm
whoops, one other thing.
Paul, here’s the link:
http://majority.fm/
if for some reason that’s not opening for you, here’s his podcast RSS feed:
http://feeds.feedburner.com/MajorityReport
md
April 6th, 2011
7:36 pm
“Sooner or later it’s going to take raising taxes.”
And that’s fine……as long as we all pitch in……..it is our mess, not the “rich’s” mess. That is where the morally bankrupt aspect comes into play.
“Just because” just doesn’t cut it………
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:36 pm
“So I guess it is true, only socialists Texas produces are ones who wear green uniforms with five stars on each shoulder!”
As SoCo would say:
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:37 pm
“as long as we all pitch in”
Certainly. Hence the idea to return to the Clinton era tax rates
Paul
April 6th, 2011
7:37 pm
Mary Elizabeth
Dr. Paul Krugman writes op-ed for the NY Times. Also teaches at Princeton. You can see his bio and many of his columns (bottom left of screen) here:
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/opinion/editorialsandoped/oped/columnists/paulkrugman/index.html
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 6th, 2011
7:37 pm
Taxpayer, don’t forget this:
By 2021, unemployment would hit 2.8% under their projection, well below the 5% – 6% range that the Federal Reserve considers the maximum desirable rate achievable without dangerous inflation
Of course, dangerous inflation will wipe out our debt because we can pay it with cheaper dollars (well, that might have just a few small problems, right?)
The Path to Propserity is the yellow brick road? appropriate.
Paul
April 6th, 2011
7:38 pm
thanks, sfd -
md
April 6th, 2011
7:39 pm
“if we had grown ups running our government, we would be well on our way to doing just that already, instead of continuing to dick around with snake-oil spending-cut proposals.”
I’m seeing a conflicted message sfd…………..you are in favor of stimulus spending, but not in favor of letting folks keep more of the money they earn……..what’s the difference?
everyday American
April 6th, 2011
7:39 pm
i think everyone knows you can’t spend money you don’t have. it’s really that simple.
josef nix
April 6th, 2011
7:42 pm
hillbilly
Have you ever been to Blythe’s Ferry, Tennessee?
@@
April 6th, 2011
7:42 pm
The hummingbirds, on the cam, have flown the nest.
Ahhhh MAN!!!!
I’ve been checking in and out all day. The one on the left was the first to take flight, wasn’t it?
Are they ever coming back. It looks and sounds so lonely. Not even any neighborhood noises…just a gentle wind.
I need a tissue.
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:42 pm
“i think everyone knows you can’t spend money you don’t have”
Ever charged anything on a credit card?
md
April 6th, 2011
7:42 pm
“Hence the idea to return to the Clinton era tax rates”
Which hasn’t been proposed by either party………….
md
April 6th, 2011
7:44 pm
“i think everyone knows you can’t spend money you don’t have. it’s really that simple.”
I’ve known many that don’t quite grasp the credit card concept and think they have money in the bank as long as there are still checks in the checkbook…………..
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
7:44 pm
Ike, though born in The Lone Star State lived in Kansas from before the age of two. As noted, he graduated from high school in Abilene and is considered another great (albeit quasi-) Jayhawk.
And though I voted against him, I like the hell out of another great war hero and Kansas Republican – Bob Dole.
In spite of that zany tendency to talk about himself in the third person…
Mets and Phillies?
One of the great disappointment in sports is that in games like that both teams can’t lose…
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:45 pm
“Which hasn’t been proposed by either party”
Not my problem. It was suggested up thread, remember? But I am convinced it will come to that in the end.
Mary Elizabeth
April 6th, 2011
7:46 pm
Dave R 7:35
Dave, our middle/working class is not what it was 30 or 40 years ago; it is now shrinking terribly. Again, if you read the Vanity Fair article, the writer explains this much better than I can.
Paul 7:37
I have followed Krugman’s thoughts for years, and know that he has received a Nobel Prize in Economics, but I was simply trying to find something – quickly this evening – to respond about returning to the Clinton tax rates. Thanks much, though!
Rightwing Troll
April 6th, 2011
7:47 pm
“I’m not a small business owner YET, but I’m hoping to be one in the next 10 years or so. I fully intend to be disgustingly wealthy and retire early so that I can enjoy my money with my wife all over the world.”
Good luck with that Brother… how about you’ll spend more than you take in for 1-3 years, and then if you’re not tapped out or emotionally wiped out from the stress, then you might actually start to earn a paycheck, but it will most likely be less than your most senior employee. If you make it that far you’ve done better than 85% of your peers who had the ball$ to try it. To make it to where you profess you wish to be, well… I’d suggest buying lottery tickets… The American dream of starting small and growing something to the point of being able to retire and travel the world is dead, it don’t happen no more…
everyday American
April 6th, 2011
7:47 pm
yes, i have used a credit card. Use one every month. And pay the bill the day after it comes in. what’s your point?
Don't Forget
April 6th, 2011
7:47 pm
Heritage claimed that if the Bush tax cuts were approved, the economy would grow so quickly that by 2010, the entire federal debt would effectively be eliminated.
“We’re broke!” John,Boehner Feb 13,2001
ROFLMAO
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:48 pm
“Ike, though born in The Lone Star State lived in Kansas from before the age of two”
Once a Texan, always a Texan
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
7:50 pm
“And pay the bill the day after it comes in”
If you used a credit card, you spent money you didn’t have. Because if you did, you’d have paid with the money instead.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
7:50 pm
Oh, and for all you libs out there who think everybody should pay more (as long as that everybody doesn’t include you), here is the annual recap from Howie Carr of the Boston Herald on all those limousine liberals in Mass. who have the ability to pay more to help their state, but somehow never find the wherewithal to open THEIR wallets:
http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2011_0406liberals_on_the_run_from_voluntary_tax/
F. Sinkwich
April 6th, 2011
7:52 pm
AmVet:
“GOP think tank?
Is that like military intelligence? Or jumbo shrimp? Or plastic glasses? Or voluntary regulation? Or…”
You’re a pretty funny guy.
I guess your Messiah Obama is your idea of Plato. Maybe Marx.
USMC dawg
April 6th, 2011
7:53 pm
WHERE IS THE DEMOCRATIC PLAN, JAY?
Oh Yeah, Democrats don’t do spending cuts.
F. Sinkwich
April 6th, 2011
7:55 pm
Libs don’t have a plan USMC. They just sit on the sidelines and carp.
WillieRae
April 6th, 2011
7:55 pm
Obama budget plan: “We can’t do anything”
F. Sinkwich
April 6th, 2011
7:56 pm
I think we should refer to the budget they passed for 2011 last year.
Oh, that’s right, THEY DIDN’T.
LOL
Paul
April 6th, 2011
7:56 pm
“Once a Texan, always a Texan”
Amen, Doggone?GA, Amen -
Pleasant evening, all -
md
April 6th, 2011
7:57 pm
“If you used a credit card, you spent money you didn’t have.”
Not necessarily…….many have the money yet use credit cards merely for convenience. True, they didn’t have the money at that moment in time, but it depends on the definition of “have”. I run most all of my purchases through a credit card for the free airline tickets……but pay them off every month.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
7:58 pm
But Mary Elizabeth, if the percentage of people living in poverty hasn’t statistically changed in the last 40 years according to our Census Bureau (13%-17% on average), then where are all the middle class going?
They aren’t getting poorer. The Census Bureau says so.
Ipso facto, they’re getting . . . c’mon, you can say it . . .
F. Sinkwich
April 6th, 2011
7:59 pm
“Obama budget plan: “We can’t do anything””
He can read a teleprompter!
So there.
everyday American
April 6th, 2011
7:59 pm
uh, no. i had the money. don’t it help your credit to use a card and pay it off as soon as you get the bill. at least that’s the way my dad, a democrat, taught me to get your credit over 750 and stay there. not too mention,it is convienent, not having to carry a whole lot of cash on you.
He also said, you’ve got to keep the rich man happy, if you want a job, that is.
“Ask not what your government can do for you……….”
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
8:00 pm
“many have the money yet use credit cards merely for convenience”
Which is exactly what we’ve let the government get away with. As a country we’re nowhere near “broke” – we’ve just overspent the credit card. The wealth to pay it off exists several times over in the overall wealth in this country. We’re deep in debt, we’re not broke.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:02 pm
Ipso facto, they’re getting . . . c’mon, you can say it . . .
I’m not Mary Elizabeth, but “chewed and screwed”?
Luv’d that Boston Herald story.
Hillbilly Deluxe
April 6th, 2011
8:02 pm
Have you ever been to Blythe’s Ferry, Tennessee?
No, I haven’t. Where is that at?
@@
I didn’t see the hummingbirds leave. Once they fly the nest, those little ones are gone. The adult pair will probably raise some more, though. They are in California, so I don’t know how many bunches they raise a year. Bluebirds, here, usually raise 2 and sometimes 3, though not often.
I like the hell out of another great war hero and Kansas Republican – Bob Dole.
I would recommend his book, “One Soldier’s Story”. There is very little political content in it, just his life story. He’s quite a man.
Adam
April 6th, 2011
8:05 pm
I like how Dave R used statistics from 2008 to make a point, and then on his next point decided to say that conditions changed since then making all statistics moot.
md
April 6th, 2011
8:05 pm
“The wealth to pay it off exists several times over in the overall wealth in this country. We’re deep in debt, we’re not broke.”
Except that “wealth” doesn’t belong to the gov’t……so yes, we as the gov’t are broke….or deep in debt for those that like big deficits.
Adam
April 6th, 2011
8:06 pm
And yeah Dave R, didn’t feel like reading everyone’s posts from before. Your point on Congress is noted, but I hope you recognize that it’s Congress that did that, on both sides of the aisle.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:07 pm
That’s what I love about ya, Herschel, your attention to detail.
Most adults only have to be told something once before they understand.
Then there is you!
The Yankees/Twinkies game’s a rain out, so I get stuck with the Phillies/Mets.
Thank gawd ESPN is also showing some of the Freak in SD…
Credit card use? It’s easy.
Use their money and pay it off as close to thirty days later as you can. Been doing it for years and years…
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
8:07 pm
“Except that “wealth” doesn’t belong to the gov’t”
It does. We let them spend it in our name, on our credit card. Now the bill is due and we have to pay it.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:08 pm
I use a credit card for online purchases, then go into my online banking and pay it off the moment it appears. I’m not happy until that box shows $0.00. It’s like that commercial where the giant boulder is hanging over that woman’s head.
Nationwide deficit reduction is on our side.
godless heathen
April 6th, 2011
8:08 pm
The Democratic Plan is to seize every dollar and distribute them the way they see fit. Windmills and solar panels will provide free energy to everyone. The lame will walk. We will live blissfully in big city condominiums, munching organic veggies we grow on our windowsills. We will ride bikes to and fro. The climate will stay exactly the same for ever and ever. Evian water will flow through little brooks between the condos. Everything OTP will be just as it was 10,000 years ago except the lions and wolves will all be vegans so the little deers will have no worries. There will be no rich people, and therefore no poor people.
It will be wonderful – now get on board.
Adam
April 6th, 2011
8:10 pm
@@ love it.
md
April 6th, 2011
8:10 pm
“Time growing short, Congress’ leaders reported making headway Wednesday in talks to cut spending and avert a partial government shutdown that the White House warned would hit U.S. combat troops abroad and taxpayer refunds from the IRS at home.”
Funny (not)…..when we are late paying the irs, they sure as heck don’t cut any slack on the interest and penalties……….when the shoe is on the other foot……not so much.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:11 pm
“I like how Dave R used statistics from 2008 to make a point, and then on his next point decided to say that conditions changed since then making all statistics moot.”
Adam, once again (and you really are a bit untrainable), reading comprehension is your friend.
In the world of statistics and projections, a 2-year difference is much more likely to show predictable results than a 30-year difference, since conditions don’t change as much in the shorter time frame. I also pointed out that little factoid to Jay, but he’s not very receptive to facts, either.
Were you asleep when they covered this in middle school, Adam?
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:12 pm
Adam:
@@ love it.
What’s wrong? Does your cougar turn in before 8:00?
(ISH)
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:14 pm
“Your point on Congress is noted, but I hope you recognize that it’s Congress that did that, on both sides of the aisle.”
As I have been posting ad nausem for years, Adam, even if the Dems are the bigger offenders in overspending.
Glenn Beck's Black Mistress
April 6th, 2011
8:15 pm
Would you believe it? 500+ posts per blog per day for Jay. 300+ for Cynthia. A whopping 16 for ol Wingfield
And the superior intelligentsia that are the neocons here would have you think these two are “idiots”. Hmmm
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:16 pm
Jay is awfully quiet. There’s either a Braves game on, or he’s trying to create more phony data to try to redeem some semblance of redemption on this column.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:17 pm
“Would you believe it? 500+ posts per blog per day for Jay. 300+ for Cynthia. A whopping 16 for ol Wingfield
And the superior intelligentsia that are the neocons here would have you think these two are “idiots”. Hmmm”
Actually, there is so much less to debunk on Kyle’s columns. We come here to school the untrainable.
Del
April 6th, 2011
8:18 pm
If you’re hunting something you hunt where they are.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:18 pm
Thanks, Hillbilly.
Along with Hagel and McCain one of three Republicans, I truly admire.
Adam, I’ve ridden several cougars.
Beginning with this beauty…
http://www.boss302.com/9f569899.jpg
md
April 6th, 2011
8:19 pm
“It does. We let them spend it in our name, on our credit card. Now the bill is due and we have to pay it.”
yes, “we”…..not “they”……..and if we try to force “them” to pay it just because “they” have it, we will eventually screw ourselves. Folks with that kind of money are not stationary……………
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:19 pm
Mistress:
First off…Is there a reason you’re black?
And the superior intelligentsia that are the neocons here would have you think these two are “idiots”.
I think it’s the pleasure they take in disCREDITING.
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
“yes, “we”…..not “they”……..”
Nope. ALL of us, pro-rated to economic level. “They” will have to pay more…because they have more. it might not be tomorrow, or the next day, but it will have to happen eventually.
Del
April 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
The neo-socialists seem to be running scared.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
If I may? In response to AmVet’s earlier post regarding the Swiss.
http://www.policynetwork.net/health/publication/how-mandatory-health-insurance-altered-swiss-health-care
A good system with much of what the GOP has promoted–predominantly private, portable, and individually owned. Insurance companies compete for enrollees.
Good up to and until the government got overly involved.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
Nice Cougar, AmVet.
What do you think about the retro Challengers and ‘Cudas Dodge is putting out these days?
md
April 6th, 2011
8:23 pm
“Jay is awfully quiet.”
Must be working on Ryan parts IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:24 pm
Dave, I’ve noticed that Kyle’s has replaced Wooten’s as the blogging morgue of the AJC.
I like them both, but talk about boring-ass subjects and even more boring “regulars”!
And I thought the term was liberal intelligentsia!
md
April 6th, 2011
8:26 pm
“because they have more. it might not be tomorrow, or the next day, but it will have to happen eventually.”
You must not be grasping the fact that they can afford to go elsewhere…………..wherever their little hearts desire. Why do you think corps are moving headquarters out of here?
Because they can………….
Pay up
April 6th, 2011
8:29 pm
Rich people need to pay a lot more taxes! I’m tired of my unemployment benefits running out while rich people have all the money. The government needs to increase the benefits for people, especially minorities who need a lot more money.
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
8:29 pm
“You must not be grasping the fact that they can afford to go elsewhere”
Not likely. As Jay said, where would they go that they wouldn’t still have to pay taxes?
Thulsa Doom
April 6th, 2011
8:30 pm
Trickle down economics like Reagan’s 20 million new jobs?
I’ll take that trickle down economics over Obama’s trickle up poverty and day. And I imagine a lot of Georgians staring at the 10.2% unemployment rate here in Georgia would to.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:30 pm
I think Kyle is pretty even handed when it comes to admonishing both parties. He supports conservative principles but not always conservative politicians.
jay, on the other hand, tends to overlook his own party’s faults more often than not.
I enjoy reading at Kyle’s. Don’t always feel qualified to enter the discussion. Learn a lot though.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:30 pm
Dave, kind alike the new “fake” Mustangs and Super Sports.
They’re cool, but they remind me of anything knock off.
Once you experienced the real deal, it’s hard to get real excited about them.
My very first car was a 1969 Camaro convertible. I was 19 and stationed at MacDill. I’m surprised I didn’t go to jail several times, but the cops were MUCH cooler back then!
But trust me, if some anonymous benefactor were to drop one off one of those “cudas in my driveway, I’d see what she could do…(But NOT on 285!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xKKP_cZuk54
Kamchak
April 6th, 2011
8:32 pm
…where would they go that they wouldn’t still have to pay taxes?
Galt’s Gulch.
Del
April 6th, 2011
8:32 pm
“Must be working on Ryan parts IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX and X.”
Jay’s lost the last 3 rounds regarding Ryan’s proposed budget, so my guess is his next topic will be either Huckabee, or Romney, or Gingirich, or Palin, or Cain, or Pawlenty, or Bachman, or whoever else might possibly challenge the lefts dear leader.
md
April 6th, 2011
8:32 pm
“As Jay said, where would they go that they wouldn’t still have to pay taxes?”
Plenty of places where folks don’t think like you and Jay………….and I’m guessing they know the best of the best……as I said, they aren’t dummies……they know how to protect their assets.
The same reason all these corps have huge tax departments……they know how and where to play the game.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:34 pm
I’ve noticed that Kyle’s has replaced Wooten’s as the blogging morgue of the AJC.
And AmVet, I’ve noticed that with YOU, everything is a competition….ERGO THE EGO!!!!
Childish? VERY MUCH SO.
Doggone/GA
April 6th, 2011
8:34 pm
“and I’m guessing they know the best of the best”
then why haven’t they moved already?
Get Real
April 6th, 2011
8:36 pm
Glenn Beck’s Black Mistress
These 2 are idiots; it just needs to be reinforced on a daily basis
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:36 pm
You got me there, AmVet. My first car was a 1972 VW Karmann Ghia.
Orange.
And the downside of any early VW was that you had to be moving in order to have heat flowing into the car (no fan in the system). Great car for Mass. summers, but not for the winters due to that little design flaw.
Dusty
April 6th, 2011
8:38 pm
Could we break this commotion down to something simple.
The USA has a huge deficit.
Ryan (R) wants big cuts on expenditures and low taxes. Democrats want less cuts and higher taxes.
Decide what you want. I would like to keep more of my money and decide how to spend it.
The government is bloated and its growth should not be continued. Therefore I want budget cuts, less taxes and less government.
It is not a matter of who deserves what. It is a matter of whether the government is operating wisely and it is NOT. No one fares well in a country run poorly. We see that here every day.
Congress is trying to offset the poor or non-directives of Pres. Obama. Someone has to run the country and Congress is trying to fill the empty space. I hope it works.
———————
HILLBILLY
I’m glad you are here. Like Mark Twain said” The early reports of my demise…….”. Well, you know. Sorry about the hummingbirds. I wondered if that wind the other night would blow them away. Seems probable..
Get Real
April 6th, 2011
8:39 pm
Pay up
Surely your post was a joke..right?
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:39 pm
Kyle makes some good arguments most of the time, but he needs to punch it up a bit. I don’t know how much of a leash he’s on with his AJC masters (being new and all), but a bit of that Howie Carr I linked to wouldn’t hurt him.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:40 pm
Galt’s Gulch.
Now thass funny.
Dave, one time back in the late 70s/early 80s, I was in NC on business and rented this sweet Celica. I’m standing on her pretty good somewhere between Raleigh and Winston Salem. I look up in my rear view and here’s a state trooper screaming up on me! But no sirens or lights. I’m thinking, “OK, I’m dead”. But all he does is ride my ass until the next exit about a mile up the Interstate and then gets off.
He was clearly just sending me a message. And about 20 minutes later my heart beat returned to normal!
Good times…
The Dude
April 6th, 2011
8:42 pm
until more people actually pay federal income tax, as a person in the upper tax bracket, I feel little sympathy for their cause. I was poor for about 10 years out of college, lived in a small apartment with my wife and kid and built my business from scratch. i find it pathetic that the very people that cry about taxes are the same that get money FROM the government and still find the gall to buy nice cell phones and new HDTVs.
I do not believe in trickle down economics. Lazy people believe in that. Reagan was wrong when he said it. I believe in work up economics, i.e. if you want a better life, YOU do something about it. Put your government handout hand back in your pocket.
Truly pathetic.
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 6th, 2011
8:43 pm
David Stockman: Obama Oblivious to Deficit
David Stockman, the former congressman and Reagan-era budget director, blasted President Barack Obama on Wednesday for going “radio silent” on offering genuine proposals to rein in deficit spending.
“I think it was very disappointing,” Stockman said of the speech. “It’s part of the general situation where Washington is dreamwalking and not facing the hear-and-now of this huge problem.”
On Wednesday, the Congressional Budget Office reported that this year’s federal deficit will reach an all-time high of $1.5 trillion, compared to last year’s $1.3 trillion.
————————
Idiot Messiah: Still voting “present”.
Hillbilly Deluxe
April 6th, 2011
8:46 pm
Ol Ralph Bennett’s VW………..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0s9144hn5I
md
April 6th, 2011
8:47 pm
“then why haven’t they moved already?”
Many have……..and the misfits have yet to make any changes………..when the time comes where the masses actually try to vote as you suggest, I doubt highly those folks will sit back and take it…….most smart folks with lots of money have plenty of contingency plans……or they are not very smart, and won’t keep those bucks for long.
getalife
April 6th, 2011
8:47 pm
lil bar,
“Pelosi To Headline Soros ‘Change The World’ Event…” drudge.
Your thought?
Jm
April 6th, 2011
8:47 pm
Legitimate Ryan plan criticism on fareed zakaria. Very different than some of jays criticisms.
lexis de Tocqueville once described what he saw as a chief part of the peculiar genius of American society—something he called “self-interest properly understood.” The last two words were the key. Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense:
April 6th, 2011
8:48 pm
For Dave R (and others who are interested) -
Okay, here are two excerpts from the Vanity Fair article – because I don’t think you are going to read any of it, otherwise:
“It’s no use pretending that what has obviously happened has not in fact happened. The upper 1 percent of Americans are now taking in nearly a quarter of the nation’s income every year. In terms of wealth rather than income, the top 1 percent control 40 percent. Their lot in life has improved considerably. Twenty-five years ago, the corresponding figures were 12 percent and 33 percent. One response might be to celebrate the ingenuity and drive that brought good fortune to these people, and to contend that a rising tide lifts all boats. That response would be misguided. While the top 1 percent have seen their incomes rise 18 percent over the past decade, those in the middle have actually seen their incomes fall. For men with only high-school degrees, the decline has been precipitous—12 percent in the last quarter-century alone. All the growth in recent decades—and more—has gone to those at the top.” (Those are the article’s opening words.)
And these words close the article:
“Alexis de Tocqueville once described what he saw as a chief part of the peculiar genius of American society—something he called ’self-interest properly understood.’ The last two words were the key. Everyone possesses self-interest in a narrow sense: I want what’s good for me right now! Self-interest “properly understood” is different. It means appreciating that paying attention to everyone else’s self-interest—in other words, the common welfare—is in fact a precondition for one’s own ultimate well-being. Tocqueville was not suggesting that there was anything noble or idealistic about this outlook—in fact, he was suggesting the opposite. It was a mark of American pragmatism. Those canny Americans understood a basic fact: looking out for the other guy isn’t just good for the soul—it’s good for business.
The top 1 percent have the best houses, the best educations, the best doctors, and the best lifestyles, but there is one thing that money doesn’t seem to have bought: an understanding that their fate is bound up with how the other 99 percent live. Throughout history, this is something that the top 1 percent eventually do learn. Too late.”
Lots of well thought through information between these excerpts, too. Check it out.
@@
April 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
Dave R:
Are you saying that Kyle needs to offer up more red meat? That’s a butcher’s job.
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
Hmmmm . . . Celica or some Statie with an Interceptor engine under the hood . . . .
Yeah, I’m voting the Statie.
getalife
April 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
“Walker’s Loss: 19 Counties Flip To Dems In Wis. Supreme Court Election” HP
Oh my.
Mary Elizabeth
April 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
The above is from Mary Elizabeth to Dave R and others. Somehow I “goofed” in translation to computer!
Thulsa Doom
April 6th, 2011
8:49 pm
When combined with the payroll tax, which Ryan concedes is a surtax on earned income below $106,000, a large number of working class and middle-class Americans would probably end up paying a significantly higher percentage of their income in federal taxes than their wealthier counterparts.-Jay
Hold on now. What rational thinking person actually believes that middle class folks are going to be paying more taxes as a % of their income than the wealthiest taxpayers? At least Jay hedged himself in this probable mistruth by saying “probably” and not will or certainly. The top 1% pay something like 25% of all federal taxes, the top 5% something like 40% of all federal taxes. Does Jay really think that’s going to change much? Seriously?
Hillbilly Deluxe
April 6th, 2011
8:52 pm
The strength of Kyle’s blog, in my opinion, is that he spends more time on state and local issues.
AmVet
April 6th, 2011
8:52 pm
Dave, a Karmen Ghia? Well at least they looked cool!
Two last car stories.
Another time I was in the Mississippi delta on business and am flying down this two lane highway. It was fairly flat, but there were a couple of hills. Well, lo and behold, over the crest of one comes a cop and as I go by, I can see his expression of dismay, and shonuff, he turns that thing around and comes after me.
He said, “Son, I know it’s a nice day and there’s nobody out here, but you need to slow that thing DOWN!” I, of course, said yes sir. I think the ticket cost me about $50.
After I was married a couple of years, the wife got preggers and we decided on a “family car”. Well, being the agreeable soul I am (HA!), I let her talk me into a Volvo wagon. A diesel, no less! That thing had the acceleration of a wounded snail!
I was damn near terrified of trying to merge into traffic!
Now, I just take it easy and ride in style in my sweet Q45…
Dave R.
April 6th, 2011
8:55 pm
I’m a Subaru guy now, AmVet. Love the AWD.