Budgets

[hudebnik]

The morning John Boehner says, in a spirit of bipartisan compromise, he's willing to consider increasing revenues, as long as it doesn't involve raising taxes (!) He adds that the way to get the deficit under control is to grow the economy so there are more people paying taxes. What a concept! If he'd been willing to say that three years ago, we'd have more people working and a AAA-plus credit rating right now.

I'm still not clear on how he proposes to grow the economy -- probably by laying off more public-sector employees so they can move to the abundance of "real" jobs in the private sector. And by closing tax loopholes (while lowering rates, so he can't be accused of raising taxes) to make the economy very slightly more efficient.

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Comments

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

There is also the magical thinking of "if we let the Bush Tax Cuts expire, we don't have to do anything - so I didn't vote for higher taxes. They just showed up while I was in the loo".

Or something.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

The problem is that if they don't do ANYTHING, not only do the tax cuts expire (making D's somewhat happy but slowing the economy), but there are also a bunch of automatic spending cuts (making R's somewhat happy but slowing the economy). If both things happen in full, we go back into recession, and anybody who was on duty at the time loses his re-election bid.

[goldsquare.livejournal.com]

There will be a recession early next year - the early indicators are pretty clear. (Dopey politicians who thought that businesses don't make decisions until after elections...)

The question is how bad.

The conservatives claim that all tax cuts are the same, and all tax cuts are an equal burden, and that all of them will cause a huge recession. But, of course, that is foolishness.

The cuts, of course (and there are many) are likely coming anyway. It's the "all at once" nature, and their indiscriminate sizing, that is the problem.

I suspect that if any sort of RealPolitick takes place, there will be an increase in taxation on the wealthy, closing of tax holes that allow the Romneys of the world to continue to export wealth tax free and some others that allow Corporations to arbitrarily hide income in other nations, and also the loopholes that tax-reward companies for exporting jobs.

Cuts? Some symbolic ones in the more democratic programs that support the poor or medically insure the needy, and lots of pain in defense. Perhaps even some responsible changes in government health insurance provisions that allow those programs to negotiate with vigor on price: stuff that was left out of Obamacare.

[minstrlmummr.livejournal.com]

Well, both sides have some free time now that ''making Obama a one-term president'' is off the table.

I realize those weren't Boehner's words, but Boehner did nothing to suggest compromises other than that peculiar Republican ''compromise'' where they get everything they want and the opposition gets bupkus.

[hudebnik.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's pretty much the size of it. "We'll accept increased revenue as a result of a growing economy. We all know that the way to make the economy grow is to make government shrink, with a combination of tax cuts and spending cuts. So let's work together, in a spirit of bipartisan compromise, and do exactly what I've wanted all along."