Taxes. Mitt says he won't raise taxes but we will get out of debt with spending cuts. The CEO's in this article say we need spending cuts and taxes. The math by the CEO's seems to make more sense and after reading this article I have a question for all of you.
Is it really a simple math problem, or is it possible that there is some secrete formula our there that most of us are just not seeing?
I for one lean to the to CEO's POV after reading the article
I agree with the CEO's as well but it is most likely also more than just a simple formula. Spending cuts is critical yeah but we are way over our head with stuff right now. There is a lot of leaky buckets scenarios going on right now that we could fix to be more efficient that could help out the economy and debt. Cutting public spending will also help and at this point, I don't know if I can see much of an improvement without some raise in taxes as well. It will have to be a combination of a lot of things to start tackling this problem. It seems all presidents have talked about it but none have done nothing but add to it in the long run.
ReplyDeleteThere is never any secret formula for growth or paying back a debt, all that can be done is to cut what can be cut without disturbing the functioning of society, and raise taxes a moderate amount in crucial places. Tax reform, especially the closing of loopholes and deductions could pull double duty by also reducing compliance costs which cause financial drag, but the value of this would even still be a pittance compared to the more than 16 trillion we owe and it would require that Congress actually cooperate, and it seems politically advantageous for both sides to simply be obstinate right now. If Congress cannot get it's act together though, our society is at risk, and those responsible for the collapse will eventually be recognized for their misdeeds.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I can see, in the broad picture, the plans set froth by Mitt Romney and the President are different only in their promise on taxing the wealthy. This is the broadest sense, by which the government will reduce the deficit either through tax increases for the wealthy, or by generating more revenue through tax cuts. But overall, I agree with Karl that the only real ways to help reduce the deficit and the federal debt are by reducing spending on dispensable items and implementing tax increases where they won't cause a huge economic riff. The fact is, Romney, I think doesn't have as strong of a position if he admits this, therefore, I don't think he'd run with this platform.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard not to agree with the CEO's in this situation. As we all know, neither candidate has really come out with a concrete plan with a detailed explanation of how exactly they are going to reduce the deficit. What they have given us instead, are vague plans that they promise to be effective. It's almost as though at this point you have to vote for the candidate who's ideas sounds the best, and then hope and pray it works out like he says it will.
ReplyDeleteIn general, I don't think that there is any "secret formula" out there that can solve our debt problem. However, I do believe that there are plenty of options that should be looked at instead of being simply dismissed. I think with how bad our current situation is, drastic measures need to be taken. In my opinion that means both raising taxes and decreasing spending in appropriate areas. I think we need to protect our country through our defense, but other unnecessary programs and spending should be cut or seriously reduced. In turn, most of these cuts and tax increases will immediately negatively impact nearly everyone. However, when looking at the bigger picture, our economy needs serious change.
ReplyDeleteReducing "debt by $4 trillion over a decade by cutting defense and discretionary spending, curbing federal entitlement costs and reforming the tax code" sounds like a good idea to me. I am nervous however that congress will only have several weeks to get their plans in order before the new president is sworn in. I like that Obama's current plan involves a temporary fix that will temporarily stop the national debt from growing faster than the economy, however neither his nor Mr. Romney's plans are very solid for the future. I don't think there is a secret formula out there that is just yet to be discovered. I believe that with help from advisors who have real life experience at lowering debt, the country will be able to curtail its spending while also increasing taxes to lower national debt.
ReplyDeleteThe thing about this all is--Neither candidate wants to talk about austerity measures. The only way to raise more revenue, is to tax more..or make more cuts to government spending. Neither of these will be popular with..ANYONE. We've seen the overarching results of austerity measures through Europe. Riots and fires in the streets. The fact of the matter is that both candidates stands to lose votes and piss off a/any sector of people by singling them out for cuts/tax increases. In an election that is this close, neither candidate will say anything in particular about exactly 'who' will bear the brunt of this budget balancing. Obama can talk about those that make over $200,000 because, proportionally--this isn't a significant number of voters. Romney can simultaneously propagate lowering taxes by 20% across the board, and cutting UNDEFINED loop-holes and deductions...because by not defining them--he doesn't lose any voters in the process.
ReplyDeleteNeither candidate will become more specific about their aims, until they win the election. As interesting as these past few months have been, in the days leading up to the election--I'm excited to actually see some policy measures in the weeks to come in later November.
I have to think you are going to be disappointed Andrew, for all the reasons you mentioned above, we are likely to see the candidates plans become more vague rather than pointed. If Romney wasn't going to explain specifics while he still had time to do spin control after the fact, he definitely isn't going to explain while time is running out.
DeleteI don't think there is any secret formula as well. However, the numbers are taken from many different things which will make the calculation little complicated but there isn't any secret formula. The videos shows that neither Romney's nor Obama's plan to reduce the deficit is complete unless Romney's has some special loopholes from where we are losing a lot of money. So it will be really interesting to see what kind of policies Romney will have.
ReplyDelete