Bob Gorrell for November 30, 2012

How can someone so smart not see the very simple fact that we have a spending problem, not an income problem?

Isn’t it amazing that Boehner, Cantor, and McConnell don’t budge an inch from their single rail; which is STOP EATING we will never raise income to feed you, unless you’re among the 1 tenth of 1% eating not only high off of, but devouring the whole hog.

2003 rev =1787.3 bill -- 2011 rev 2303.5 bill a 28.88+% increase

@NeoconMan – Are you saying that we do not have a spending problem? Really? We all understand that the economy is dependent upon government spending but some of us believe that that situation is not ideal. At some point, someone needs to say something like – OK, lets cut all government spending by (eg) 1 percent – across the board – everyone takes a hit. The logical alternative seems to be “always increase taxes”. We would love to hear alternative solutions that make sense to a majority of rational individuals.

Bob Gorrell — champion of the radical rich and the lobbyists who support them.

He ran on the policy. He won the election. Are you making war on him, or on us?

sorry but cut spending should be on top of the list. And increase tax breaks to companies that produce here.

@ninety_nine_percent – So, just because we against raising taxes, we are somehow pawns of the rich? Surely you are smart than that. The rich will not suffer because of the hikes – they will still be rich, but do you understand that the amount is but a pittance compared to the total debt? Once again, it a spending problem.@TJDestry – O did not run on much of anything except to disparage his opponent. In only very few ads did O ever attempt to run on his accomplishments. At least, that was true in the states I saw his messages.

Inflation adjusted and relative to GDP, that would be a deal.

@Gypsy8 – You make an excellent point regarding there being two problems – Spending and Revenue. My point is that at some point, you must stop spending. Taxing “the rich” is a smokescreen – we have heard, from unbiased sources, that the revenue to be generated by taxing the rich will be miniscule compared to what should be done. On top of that, the rich will find a way to mitigate the increase – they will just move their $ around to avoid the whole thing. I really don’t care if they get taxed – I’m just saying that it will do nothing to fix the real problem which is spending.

@Braindead08 – As I mentioned in a previous post, cut a given percent (?1.5?) from every program across the board. Every single program gets cut – no exceptions. Salaries, consultants, office budgets – everything get cuts. And do that every year for 10 (whatever) years. Also, abolish this automatic budget increase crap that they get every year. I have been a government consultant – I am well aware of the waste. Programs funded by us (SS-Medicare) would be dealt with separately.

NeoconMan: “Certainly. Tax breaks for the rich.”I assume you are being cute here – but as I said in my response to Gypsy8, taxing the rich will do little or nothing to address the problem. I am puzzled as to why O is pursuing this course – he has to know that the additional income will be negligible – he seems bent on demonizing the rich for political gain. Of course, most folks will not be wise to that ploy. It has always seemed odd to me that we punish the “rich” by taking away some of their wealth. I am not rich, but some sort of level tax makes more sense to be – everyone should have some “skin in the game” – otherwise they do not care about budgets.

@NeoconManOK, so you are not being cute – you are being obtuse. So, you favor tax increases for the rich – that is fine. Unfortunately you are also correct in saying that some of that increase will be passed along to us commoners from rich corporations – that is a given. It is not the job of a corporation to fund the government. The job of a corporation is to make a profit for the shareholders – so expense increases must necessarily be passed along to us consumers. That sucks, but that is the way the free market works.

But my original point was that we need to cut spending. Do you agree on that at all?

Another question: How much do you think “fair” for the rich to pay? If you are going to tax them 40%, why not make it 75% – why not just confiscate all their wealth – what’s the harm? Yes, I’m being silly but surely you see that it is wrong to take something from someone just because YOU think they have too much of it.

Wow – the more I think about it the more I like your ideas. I am definitely getting converted to your way of thinking. That is pure genius. We all know that when corporate America is doing well, we all do well. So let the government subsidize them completely. But we need to carry this a step further – a REVERSE progressive income tax. People at the bottom should pay more tax since they receive more government services and free stuff. Poor people should pay way more – serves them right for being poor in the first place. Let punish the poor instead of the rich. We’ll all be millionaires (except for those pesky poor people – they’ll still be poor – but who cares)!

Wow – I am having a great time being a conservative. I was out depriving birth control to some women today and the feeling was exhilarating. This weekend I am going to push a few old people into the streets attend a conference of getting rid of social security completely. Being conservative is FUN and entertaining!