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Need Some Good news...
Krieg
Posts: 5,188 ✭✭✭
When are we going to have a day of good news? When am I going to open a newspaper and find that consumers suddenly have confidence in our economy; that private small business owners are starting to hire again; that leading Democrat politicians have sudden concerns about the role and influence of government in our lives; that dependency on government is on the decrease; and that people have suddenly rediscovered their love for freedom? When? Not any time soon, that's for sure.
Let's see .....
Unemployment claims are up.
The so-called "recovery" is fizzling
US debt at a record percentage of GDP .. and growing
Private business aren't hiring ... and don't plan to
Government employment growing across the board
Iran thumbing its nose at further sanctions .. continue work on the bomb
Dependency on government growing at highest rate since Jimmy Carter
The United Nations is calling for the dollar to be replaced as the global reserve currency
Oil leak in Gulf continues with no real end in sight
Taliban cooling their heels and waiting for our July 2011 pull out date
Tax increases across the board in the US
The Value Added Tax is on the way!
Home sales are down by 30%
Six months to go before we are hit with the largest tax hike in history
Hugo Chavez just seized 11 oil rigs owned by a US company
Mexican drug gang fight at Arizona border kills 21
So ... how's that Hopey-Changy thing working out for you?
Let's see .....
Unemployment claims are up.
The so-called "recovery" is fizzling
US debt at a record percentage of GDP .. and growing
Private business aren't hiring ... and don't plan to
Government employment growing across the board
Iran thumbing its nose at further sanctions .. continue work on the bomb
Dependency on government growing at highest rate since Jimmy Carter
The United Nations is calling for the dollar to be replaced as the global reserve currency
Oil leak in Gulf continues with no real end in sight
Taliban cooling their heels and waiting for our July 2011 pull out date
Tax increases across the board in the US
The Value Added Tax is on the way!
Home sales are down by 30%
Six months to go before we are hit with the largest tax hike in history
Hugo Chavez just seized 11 oil rigs owned by a US company
Mexican drug gang fight at Arizona border kills 21
So ... how's that Hopey-Changy thing working out for you?
"Long ashes my friends."
0
Comments
The GOP is just slightly a better alternative than the Libs. They are corrupt, incompetent, and have zero plan whatsoever to actually reduce real spending, shrink our government, and release the stranglehold of government programs destroying our economy. Can you name a single person in the GOP that has any real leadership capabilities? That can unify a bunch of self-serving politicians like Reagan once did? I can't! Who in the GOP is really going to crush spending, not just cut but truly eliminate government programs and pull back control? None that I can name. The GOP is being handed a huge gift and they will probably squander it and do nothing. Nothing is better than continuing what is happening now, but wow do I wish someone would step up and actually give their base what they really want: less government, less control, and lower taxes.
+1. I got a roof over my head, food on the table, beer in the fridge, sticks in the humi, a stable job and a car to get me there, a woman to love(occasionally.....HA), and my tomato plant is doing pretty good! All in all the bigger picture may be grim, but i have a lot of good news around me.
Oh and what tax hike? the sunset of the bush tax cuts? oh you mean the top 2% or so... Yeah we sure will feel that. Got to continue the welfare of the rich on our tax dollars. Republicans are the biggest liars in history these days. They go on and on about smaller govt but in reality they are making it larger and overstepping their bounds. Making the super rich pay less than what the commons do, and not to mention giving them and huge corporations such huge tax breaks they pay next to nothing or nothing at all. Even now they are blocking legislation for another tax cut for the middle class and are trying to keep tax cuts for the super wealthy and big industry. Oh and let's not even start with the hand out to the top banks and wallstreet. Or the huge give aways to the oil and gas companies or the huge amounts of money given to private military contractors. Or the huge breakdown of our privacy and rights thanks to the patriot act. Or one of the biggest re-structuring of govt in our history with homeland security. For some reason it's okay to give countless money to large institutions but when it comes to upgrading our countries infrastructure or our schools or our manufacturing or anything that will push us ahead of the rest of the world the GOP are against it (some dems too). what is so fearful of doing the right thing and moving away from the past? Seems to me that the GOP once a great party has really just turned into slaves for their masters instead of doing their job, representing this nation and her people. Sad thing is the dems are following...
We are living in some trying times Krieg, and it is definitely enough to try a man's soul. The best advice I can give you or anyone else is this - lead from where you stand. We cant reach high enough to fix the economy or international relations or many other things. But you CAN reach your family, your neighbors. You can volunteer your time, or money, or whatever you have to contribute to make the world around you a better place. Somebody help me out here, who is the author of the quote that went something along the lines of "All that is needed for the triumph of evil is for good men to stnad idly by and do nothing"?
Pheebs, I agree with you that the Republicans have overstepped their bounds and have spent way too much money. That was the point of my original post. The difference between you and I is that (from earlier posts in other threads) you seem to think that even our Democrats are not far enough to the Left for you on issues like healthcare and business regulation.
Btw. Obama/the Left continued all of the "evil" things from the Bush administration (Patriot Act, anyone? oh yeah, they expanded it!) and took the idea of government involvement in business to a whole new level. (GM? Wallstreet? Banking industry? They are partly owned by Washington now! How does that make you feel?) Obama/Pelosi/Reid are far more frightening than the GOP, but as I've stated earlier, I doubt much will change even if the GOP annihilates the Left in November.
Six Months to Go Until The Largest Tax Hikes in History From Ryan Ellis on Thursday, July 1, 2010 4:15 PM
BREAKING: Wounded Warriors Face New Tax This Independence Day
In just six months, the largest tax hikes in the history of America will take effect. They will hit families and small businesses in three great waves on January 1, 2011:
First Wave: Expiration of 2001 and 2003 Tax Relief
In 2001 and 2003, the GOP Congress enacted several tax cuts for investors, small business owners, and families. These will all expire on January 1, 2011:
Personal income tax rates will rise. The top income tax rate will rise from 35 to 39.6 percent (this is also the rate at which two-thirds of small business profits are taxed). The lowest rate will rise from 10 to 15 percent. All the rates in between will also rise. Itemized deductions and personal exemptions will again phase out, which has the same mathematical effect as higher marginal tax rates. The full list of marginal rate hikes is below:
- The 10% bracket rises to an expanded 15% - The 25% bracket rises to 28% - The 28% bracket rises to 31% - The 33% bracket rises to 36% - The 35% bracket rises to 39.6%
Higher taxes on marriage and family. The marriage penalty (narrower tax brackets for married couples) will return from the first dollar of income. The child tax credit will be cut in half from $1000 to $500 per child. The standard deduction will no longer be doubled for married couples relative to the single level. The dependent care and adoption tax credits will be cut.
The return of the Death Tax. This year, there is no death tax. For those dying on or after January 1 2011, there is a 55 percent top death tax rate on estates over $1 million. A person leaving behind two homes and a retirement account could easily pass along a death tax bill to their loved ones.
Higher tax rates on savers and investors. The capital gains tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 20 percent in 2011. The dividends tax will rise from 15 percent this year to 39.6 percent in 2011. These rates will rise another 3.8 percent in 2013.
Second Wave: Obamacare
There are over twenty new or higher taxes in Obamacare. Several will first go into effect on January 1, 2011. They include:
The Medicine Cabinet Tax Thanks to Obamacare, Americans will no longer be able to use health savings account (HSA), flexible spending account (FSA), or health reimbursement (HRA) pre-tax dollars to purchase non-prescription, over-the-counter medicines (except insulin).
The Special Needs Kids Tax This provision of Obamacare imposes a cap on flexible spending accounts (FSAs) of $2500 (Currently, there is no federal government limit). There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. There are thousands of families with special needs children in the United States, and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education.
The HSA Withdrawal Tax Hike. This provision of Obamacare increases the additional tax on non-medical early withdrawals from an HSA from 10 to 20 percent, disadvantaging them relative to IRAs and other tax-advantaged accounts, which remain at 10 percent.
Third Wave: The Alternative Minimum Tax and Employer Tax Hikes
When Americans prepare to file their tax returns in January of 2011, theyll be in for a nasty surprisethe AMT wont be held harmless, and many tax relief provisions will have expired. The major items include:
The AMT will ensnare over 28 million families, up from 4 million last year. According to the left-leaning Tax Policy Center, Congress failure to index the AMT will lead to an explosion of AMT taxpaying familiesrising from 4 million last year to 28.5 million. These families will have to calculate their tax burdens twice, and pay taxes at the higher level. The AMT was created in 1969 to ensnare a handful of taxpayers.
Small business expensing will be slashed and 50% expensing will disappear. Small businesses can normally expense (rather than slowly-deduct, or depreciate) equipment purchases up to $250,000. This will be cut all the way down to $25,000. Larger businesses can expense half of their purchases of equipment. In January of 2011, all of it will have to be depreciated.
Taxes will be raised on all types of businesses. There are literally scores of tax hikes on business that will take place. The biggest is the loss of the research and experimentation tax credit, but there are many, many others. Combining high marginal tax rates with the loss of this tax relief will cost jobs.
Tax Benefits for Education and Teaching Reduced. The deduction for tuition and fees will not be available. Tax credits for education will be limited. Teachers will no longer be able to deduct classroom expenses. Coverdell Education Savings Accounts will be cut. Employer-provided educational assistance is curtailed. The student loan interest deduction will be disallowed for hundreds of thousands of families.
Charitable Contributions from IRAs no longer allowed. Under current law, a retired person with an IRA can contribute up to $100,000 per year directly to a charity from their IRA. This contribution also counts toward an annual required minimum distribution. This ability will no longer be there
Read more: http://www.atr.org/sixmonths.html?content=5171#ixzz0siXBG0KH
just how does that work? less labor, but more jobs.... hmmmm yes it did. that is a bad thing that he did. he had part of the equation. the spending half of it was clearly not right.
and haw do you sit here and *** about Reagan's spending when spending during THIS administration is astronomically higher? you always seem to back that. show me ANY shred of evidence of that. when carter left office he gave Reagan an economy that was worse than the one Bush gave Obama. by the end of Regan's presidency the economy was stronger on many fronts. this set up almost 20 years of solid economic growth.
the average family of 4 making $60k a year got to keep $2000 more a year.
$60k a year is not "rich" especially when you take into account that is in a family of 4 people. yeah... keep punishing those rich guys that make $60K and have kids!! correction: politicians are the biggest liars ever. that i agree with. but thats what all government does.
i think its funny that when a republican makes government bigger you complain and call them liars but when a democrat does it its for the good of everyone.
the reality here is that every time that government is made bigger (either by Democrats OR Republicans) there is a violation of rights somewhere. its not "republican vs democrat" or "right vs left" or "conservative vs liberal"
It is "US" being the people of the United States VS. "them" being the government and the policies that erode the rights of individuals
that is an out and out lie. there are tons of places where i can find documentation about what percentage of taxes paid into the system come from where. im not going to bother to link to them because it is damn near common knowledge. not only that but almost 50% of the people who have jobs in the US today dont even pay income taxes anymore. your above statement is laughable at best. why are you so worried about who is getting taxed? the bigger issue here is SPENDING. its out of control. those were democrat problems as well. if you believe that BP and the democrats arent in each other's pockets then you are way more naive than i ever imagined. i agree. there are problems with these systems as well. as i said above, every time the scope of the government is increased, there is a violation of rights going on somewhere. larger taxes hurt companies. and higher taxes are what the Dems are for. as for schools... we keep putting more and more money into them but keep falling further and further behind other countries.
private schools are not as far behind.
maybe its because the government shouldnt be in the business of education, but only in the business of protecting our rights.
If i could opt out of paying taxes for schools i would. then i would take that money i saved by not paying several thousand a year on those taxes and buy my kids the best education i could find. schools that have to compete for your money will try harder to get you to send your kids there by offering up a better education. this competition leads to better schools. no competition (public schools) leads to mediocrity. i think education policy of the last 50 years or so can back me up on that. what is so fearful? these exact policies are whats bringing down Greece, Spain, Portugal, and the EU in general. the Euro is falling apart, and their deficit spending exceeds the GDP. this leads to a Bankrupt nation. the past may have problems, but the way we are moving is more European. we are a few years behind them now. the past is done. the future is not looking good if we take after Europe the way our current government is trying to. that is very true.
BOTH parties need to remember that WE THE PEOPLE are their masters. they are not ours. WE THE PEOPLE have individual rights that they are not to violate. WE THE PEOPLE are their bosses and we can (and should) fire them.
down with incumbents.
"Long ashes my friends."