McConnell shows how the Repubs will pay for tax cuts.

Discussion in 'Political Opinions & Beliefs' started by 61falcon, Oct 16, 2018.

  1. Quantum Nerd

    Quantum Nerd Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2014
    Messages:
    18,030
    Likes Received:
    23,359
    Trophy Points:
    113
    We've already seen the Trump fan's response: "Fake news".

    In reality, it is clear to anyone who has at least one brain cell left that what McConnell is saying has been the GOP strategy for decades. Make no mistake, if the GOP somehow manages to hold on to the Senate and the House in November, the drumbeat for "entitlement" cuts will become very loud.

    If they don't, we just continue with exploding deficits in an effort to starve the beast. Reagan did it, GWB did it, now Trump is doing it: Trying to bankrupt the government to FORCE future entitlement cuts -- when a Dem is in office.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2018
    Centrista likes this.
  2. The Centrist

    The Centrist Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 15, 2018
    Messages:
    778
    Likes Received:
    550
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Gender:
    Male
    The GOP dropped the ball here. With both houses of Congress and the President, there was an opportunity to pass legislation that PRIORITIZED deficit reduction. The tax cut did NOT address that issue. If we are going to cut spending, it may have been more effective to pass tax increases.

    IMHO
     
  3. The Don

    The Don Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Aug 9, 2018
    Messages:
    1,687
    Likes Received:
    803
    Trophy Points:
    113
    That sounds like a rather cynical interpretation.

    I get that Republicans claim to want "smaller government" and that preemptive tax cuts are may be a way to force the issue on spending but is there a real risk that cuts will be made to Social Security and Medicare ? It sounds rather too much like hyperbole to me bearing in mind how much the GOP relies on Social Security and Medicare recipients' vote.

    I mean I can envisage swingeing cuts to other welfare benefits, possibly eliminating food stamps (after all they merely encourage the poor to breed*) and/or unemployment benefit (who needs it when there is essentially full employment*) entirely - that would play well to the GOP base, but SS and Medicare are, I think, sacrosanct**.

    * - I don't believe these statements but it's the sort of rhetoric that's used
    ** - Unless they are privatised and then any cuts can be blamed on the free market or the recipients
     
  4. Mac-7

    Mac-7 Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    Messages:
    86,664
    Likes Received:
    17,636
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2018
  5. ocean515

    ocean515 Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2015
    Messages:
    17,908
    Likes Received:
    10,396
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Awesome plan, huh. Set up the Dem, and then let them take the fall. Perfect.

    Back to Earth. There are fundamental problems, including base line budgeting, that make cut's in spending extremely difficult.

    The major portion of Government spending is in area of non-discretionary/mandatory programs. So, if lawmakers are looking for ways to address spending, why should they ignore this area of the budget?

    Keep in mind, the US Government could confiscate the entire wealth of the top 500 richest citizens in the United States, convert it to cash, and not get past year 2 before running out of money, so this dog whistle of taxing the rich is just a greed play to the gullible.
     
  6. Quantum Nerd

    Quantum Nerd Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2014
    Messages:
    18,030
    Likes Received:
    23,359
    Trophy Points:
    113
    No hyperbole:

    Saint Reagan: " ...first we've got to reduce spending before we can reduce taxes. Well, if you've got a kid that's extravagant, you can lecture him all you want to about his extravagance. Or you can cut his allowance and achieve the same end much quicker."

    Here you have it from the horse's mouth: The purpose of the tax cuts are to deprive government of revenue. Now, since Reagan, the GOP has smartened up and they avoid saying those things in public. They still adhere to the same, truly anti-American philosophy, though.

    Notice why they ALWAYS cut taxes first, BEFORE they try to cut spending? It's based on the starve the beast strategy, which was coined by a Reagan strategist.
     
    Diuretic likes this.
  7. mitchscove

    mitchscove Well-Known Member Donor

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2016
    Messages:
    7,870
    Likes Received:
    4,479
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Tax revenue increased. What's to pay for?
     
  8. Quantum Nerd

    Quantum Nerd Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Nov 14, 2014
    Messages:
    18,030
    Likes Received:
    23,359
    Trophy Points:
    113
    The wealthiest 400 Americans have the same wealth as 61% of the population combined. So, if the top 400 can't pay off the debt, where should the money come from? From the bottom half of America?

    Of course, that's really the antisocial agenda of the GOP: You can't touch the poor billionaires, but rather hurt the middle class by taking away their SS and Medicare. Notice how they cynically call these social program "entitlements", which has been converted into a nasty word by the GOP? They don't want to create the impression that SS is a deserved benefit that most people have paid for their whole working lives, no, they want to make it appear as if everyone on SS is a welfare mooch who is taking your hard earned money. And they are succeeding with this propaganda.
     
  9. ocean515

    ocean515 Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2015
    Messages:
    17,908
    Likes Received:
    10,396
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    The point is, this meme about the rich is bogus.

    As I stated quite clearly and factually, the government could confiscate every penny of wealth from the top 500 richest citizens in the US, convert it to cash at present value, and it wouldn't last two years. They could increase income tax rates to 90% on the richest, and it wouldn't do much of anything.

    If anything serious is going to be done with spending, all areas of spending need to be looked at.

    Perhaps it would help if people actually took the time to learn where the spending is before echoing the dog whistles the New Democratic Party keeps blowing.
     
  10. JakeStarkey

    JakeStarkey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2016
    Messages:
    25,747
    Likes Received:
    9,526
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Mitch can bitch all he wants.

    SS, Medicare, Medicaid, ACA will all remain.
     
  11. opion8d

    opion8d Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2018
    Messages:
    5,864
    Likes Received:
    4,631
    Trophy Points:
    113
    This is getting tiresome. 'Confiscation?" Anybody suggesting that? No, of course not, but there's the RW dog whistle again. Confiscate guns, confiscate jobs, confiscate rights, and on and on and on. They never tire of playing from their stacked deck. Stupid.
     
  12. Turin

    Turin Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 17, 2012
    Messages:
    5,685
    Likes Received:
    1,853
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    This has always been the plan.

    Conservatives do not care either, because they lack empathy. In fact, most of them consider empathy to be a weakness.
     
  13. ocean515

    ocean515 Well-Known Member Past Donor

    Joined:
    Jul 20, 2015
    Messages:
    17,908
    Likes Received:
    10,396
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I have offered an accurate illustration to prove a point.

    No, nobody is suggesting confiscation of the entire wealth of the richest US citizens. But if such an event took place, it would do nothing to address the issue.

    So, perhaps the left should rethink this kind of reply, as it was colossally stupid, and defines tiresome.
     
    Last edited: Oct 17, 2018
  14. Sanskrit

    Sanskrit Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Feb 12, 2014
    Messages:
    17,082
    Likes Received:
    6,711
    Trophy Points:
    113
    All the links you posted originally were partisan biased sources with little credibility. Want the public to take sources like those seriously ever again? Then tell them to stop being transparent extensions of the Democratic Party.

    Turning to the above, thanks for proving the OP to be a dishonest distortion. Knew someone would eventually, because that's exactly what it is. But we all knew that from the start, the adults did anyway.

    Anyone who is an adult in the U.S. knows that the Democrats trot out "they are going to cut bladebla" LIES around every election time. I presume that works on some of their weak-minded blocs. In the net age? doesn't work on much of anyone else.
     
  15. Diuretic

    Diuretic Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Jul 23, 2008
    Messages:
    11,481
    Likes Received:
    915
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    I wonder what it would be like for American society if they were removed?
     
  16. Aperez

    Aperez Member

    Joined:
    Jun 3, 2016
    Messages:
    63
    Likes Received:
    21
    Trophy Points:
    8
    But didn't the deficit grow by 120 billion this year?
     
  17. Mac-7

    Mac-7 Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    Messages:
    86,664
    Likes Received:
    17,636
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I think it will grow by almost $1 trillion

    So the biggest offender is spending
     
  18. JakeStarkey

    JakeStarkey Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Sep 4, 2016
    Messages:
    25,747
    Likes Received:
    9,526
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Disaster.
     
  19. Centrista

    Centrista Newly Registered

    Joined:
    Oct 14, 2018
    Messages:
    2
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    1
    Gender:
    Male
    No. This year it didn't grow that much. It grew 113 billion from last year . We are talking about yearly changes.
     
  20. 61falcon

    61falcon Well-Known Member

    Joined:
    Apr 27, 2018
    Messages:
    21,436
    Likes Received:
    12,227
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Gender:
    Male
    Search engines exist so that we can RESEARCH INFORMATION!!!
     
  21. Mac-7

    Mac-7 Banned

    Joined:
    Apr 21, 2011
    Messages:
    86,664
    Likes Received:
    17,636
    Trophy Points:
    113
    I am talking about the chronic budget deficit that washington has been feeding for a decade

    The debt doubled under obama not due to tax reductions because there were no tax cuts

    The villian is and always has been excess spending
     
    JakeStarkey likes this.

Share This Page