seriously

i'm going to need someone to explain this one to me...

5/17/2006 4:21:47 PM

i've said it before... the only thing worse than a tax and spend liberal is a cut tax and spend conservative.

5/17/2006 4:42:24 PM

the future is no place, to place your better days

5/17/2006 5:37:20 PM

It is the place, for needless commas.

5/17/2006 5:39:05 PM

who are you, grammar ninja?

5/17/2006 5:42:44 PM

Well, tax revenue is up 13% from last year and a lot of Republicans would argue that it's the result of economic growth from tax cuts over the last 5 years. The spending is pretty out-of-control, though.

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/05/10/D8HH2VM08.html

5/17/2006 6:20:50 PM

wouldn't the wise thing be to let the taxes stay where they are until growth stops
and cut spending

?

5/17/2006 6:24:09 PM

I'm not complaining about the cutting of taxes. Federal revenue is up. But in the face of massive deficits, YOU HAVE to stop the spending... either that or raise the taxes. I vote for the previous.

5/17/2006 6:26:59 PM

Cut taxes and spending.

5/17/2006 7:05:03 PM

I prefer "Borrow and spend"

5/17/2006 11:07:13 PM

with the federal reserve walking the interest rate tightrope because the economy is "too strong" and could spark massive inflation, maybe it is better for the government to tax more ... that is, if you buy into this notion that tax cuts/hikes have a significant effect on economic activity.

p.s. - Prawn Star - your stat is absolutely bogus. reading the article, it looks like it's only comparing one month - april - from one year to the next. with that month's receipts accounting for only approx. 1/10th the total revenue for the year, you can't really make a conclusion about tax revenue going up ... at least not from that link.

5/18/2006 12:06:16 AM

^ True, but it isn't his fault. We don't yet know how much tax money is going to be raised in the rest of 2006. That said, 13.6% doesn't just come out of no-where and most tax money is raised through monthly deductions which are fairly constant month to month.

Quote :

"maybe it is better for the government to tax more"

Maybe, or perhaps it is time for the government to start spending less. Both activities would have a short-term negative effect upon aggregate demand, yet spending less is the only one that would not dampen the flow of capital to boost aggregate supply.

For example, if raising taxes stops me from building/modernizing/expanding my factory and boosting the supply of goods, then it might end up fuelling inflation. Of course, you could target the tax hikes towards the middle class, eliminating this problem, but cutting spending would still be more direct and far more likely to succeed. `

[Edited on May 18, 2006 at 1:19 AM. Reason : .,.]

5/18/2006 1:11:27 AM

The Republicans are fucking idiots. End of story.

People bitch about how we are going to be taxed out the ass to pay for the war and condemn the democrats, but...

LOOK WHO IS CAUSING THE FUCKING PROBLEM

not that I'm a democrat, but it seems blame is being shifted away from the cause

5/18/2006 8:39:34 PM

http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=409604

5/18/2006 8:48:17 PM

Quote :

"your stat is absolutely bogus."

my link may have been incomplete, but my assertion that revenues are way up is not bogus. In fact it's common knowledge. Tax revenue is way up so far this year (http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/71xx/doc7184/05-2006-MBR.pdf), and they were way up in 2005 as well. John Snow tried to link it to the 2003 tax act in this graph:





[Edited on May 18, 2006 at 9:19 PM. Reason : 2]

5/18/2006 9:14:01 PM

as a child i was always told that republicans never thought about the future and instead only about the present, and democrats solutions were always for the better of the future

5/18/2006 9:33:51 PM

Aren't fairytales fun?

5/18/2006 10:07:33 PM

the future is a dumping ground, at least it seems that way

[Edited on May 19, 2006 at 12:25 AM. Reason : i like big butts, and i cannot lie.]

5/19/2006 12:24:44 AM

Some of the tax cuts have expired, pushing up revenues. But there is no doubting that the GDP did grow 12.5% between 2001 and 2005.

That, plus a miracle is happening. Productivity is STILL booming, 3.2% in 1st qtr of 2006. combined with a growth in employment figures and we're left with a picture of an economic boom the likes of which hasn't been seen for half a century. The late 90s were great but year-on-year productivity never went above 2.8%. Compare this to 2002 where it increased 4.1%.

This productivity boom is predominantly accruing to business owners as the labor market isn't tight enough to engender barganing power. Nevertheless, this growth is making our overall society better-off and it is only a matter of time till this productivity growth is passed on to wages & healthcare costs.

Duration: % change quarter ago, at annual rate
Measure: Output Per Hour
Sector: Nonfarm Business
1990 1.9
1991 1.6
1992 4.1
1993 0.4
1994 1.1
1995 0.5
1996 2.7
1997 1.6
1998 2.7
1999 2.8
2000 2.8
2001 2.4
2002 4.1
2003 3.9
2004 3.4
2005 2.7 <- Katrina
2006 3.2 (preliminary)

[Edited on May 19, 2006 at 1:13 AM. Reason : I like tables]

5/19/2006 1:09:36 AM