Do you support cutting taxes, even if it increases the deficit?

[Peter]

I have voted for parties that want tax increases to pay for specific things like free university education which I will not benefit from.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

So what parts of the government are you willing to sacrifice?
How about road maintenance?
Maybe the fire department?
The military are expensive, why not just abolish that and you can have a massive tax cut.

Why the everloving **** are you STILL asking me these questions as if they have some bearing on my initial comment?

 

[Greenbeard]

No, it still is 100% true.

So is the inverse. Pretend spending obligations are immutable: Raising spending does not increase the debt. Raising revenues below spending obligations is what increases the debt, in all cases.

Both are true.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Are you ok?
One effect of tax cuts is a loss in revenue and that's what pays for public services.

How is that a made up statement?

That's not what you said. You jumped to made up bullshit about what I do or don't like.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

So is the inverse. Pretend spending obligations are immutable: Raising spending does not increase the debt. Raising revenues below spending obligations is what increases the debt, in all cases.

Both are true.

Why am I pretending spending is unable to be changed?

 

[rahl]

I think the difference now is this: More people now realize that cutting taxes won't necessarily increase deficits.

It increased deficits every single time it’s been done.

More people now understand that it is spending that increases the deficit.

No. When moronic and fiscally retarded republicans slash revenues, they also INCREASE spending. Which is why republicans increase the debt and deficit more than democrats do.

More people now understand that cutting taxes unleashes the economy and results in economic growth and increased revenue.

This has never happened. We have over 4 decades of data showing this magical Republican talking point doesn’t work. There has never been a magical increase in economic output due to tax cuts. Ever.

 

[Greenbeard]

Why am I pretending spending is unable to be changed?

For the same reason you're pretending revenues are unable to be changed.

 

[Peter]

That's not what you said. You jumped to made up bullshit about what I do or don't like.

Yes I said.

I take it you don't like decent public services and I stand by that as you seem to love tax cuts and part of tax cuts is a lot less money too spend on public services.

 

[rahl]

No, it still is 100% true.

No it isn’t.

 

[Peter]

Why the everloving **** are you STILL asking me these questions as if they have some bearing on my initial comment?

Do you support tax cuts?

 

[Dans La Lune]

The right-wing want to cut taxes for the rich, defund social spending, and also tax the working poor with tariffs.

I have never seen the effort for such a massive upward transfer of wealth in my life time, with the average person getting gut-punched in return.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

For the same reason you're pretending revenues are unable to be changed.

Where did i do this?

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Yes I said.

I take it you don't like decent public services and I stand by that as you seem to love tax cuts and part of tax cuts is a lot less money too spend on public services.

That would be the "made up bullshit."

None of that can be inferred from the simple statement that spending beyond revenue is what causes debt.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Do you support tax cuts?

Sometimes.

 

[Greenbeard]

Where did i do this?

If you're not doing this, then you recognize that obviously insufficient revenues are a cause of deficits.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

If you're not doing this, then you recognize that obviously insufficient revenues are a cause of deficits.

No. Debt happens when outlays exceed receipts. Always. Taking in less income? Cut spending. Don't cut spending? Add debt.

 

[EthanB]

Decreasing our nations deficit should be a top priority. Suggesting that adjusting taxes in order to accommodate massive government spending isn't the solution; living within our means is the solution.

Question: could raising the debt ceiling be considered an entitlement? If so, it's one that we should get rid of.

 

[anatta]

I think the difference now is this: More people now realize that cutting taxes won't necessarily increase deficits. More people now understand that it is spending that increases the deficit. More people now understand that cutting taxes unleashes the economy and results in economic growth and increased revenue.

yes. Congress is addicted to spending..I don't think it will change until we hit so called entitlement crunch - mid 2030's

 

[Greenbeard]

No. Debt happens when outlays exceed receipts. Always. Taking in less income? Cut spending. Don't cut spending? Add debt.

Thus the appeal of taking in more income.

 

[Grizzly Adams]

Thus the appeal of taking in more income.

Oooookay?

 

[Dans La Lune]

They don't "function properly" no matter how much money they get.

How many times do you have get smacked down on basic concepts like government, economics, money, before you start to listen?

I think the reason they don't listen is because their sense of humiliation / embarrassment is fundamentally broken, so they cannot adjust their thinking after having been repeatedly humiliated on fundamental economic issues.

aociswundumho: 'Government spending doesn't work.'

everyone: 'Um... roads?'

aociswundumho: 'Government spending doesn't work.

 

[Peter]

Do the ultra rich really need another tax cut?

 

[Mr Person]

How can one vote for "short term loss, long term gain"? This is demonstrably not true.

It comes from a graph one dude wrote on a napkin in a bar that represents his idea of common sense, the accursed "Laffer curve". In practice, the Repubilcan tax cuts have never produced growth sufficient to justify their destruction of revenue.

 

[Grand Mal]

I've paid Canadian-level taxes all my life and it's never been onerous, never been a burden. I see the benefits all around me.
Rightists are allergic to two words- 'taxes' and 'benefits', and the thought that their taxes might benefit someone they don't even know damn near gives them the vapours.

 

[Greenbeard]

Reminder that over the past decade and a half, with respect to expectations of near-future budgets (i.e., in 2035) Social Security is exactly on track with projections from back in 2009 (demographics aren't that hard to predict), whereas federal health spending obligations (particularly for Medicare) have dropped substantially as health care cost growth plunged and discretionary spending/other mandatory spending obligations have also fallen.

The only place where the budget picture has unambiguously (i.e., relative to both the 2009 extended baseline and alternative fiscal scenario) deteriorated has been with respect to revenues.


Budget Outlook in 2035, Spending as a % of GDP

​	2009 Extended Baseline​	2009 Alternative Fiscal Scenario​	2025 Budget Outlook Update​
Outlays	27.5​	33.9​	24.4​
____Social Security	6.0​	6.0​	6.0​
____Medicare	6.9​	7.2​	4.0​
____Medicaid [+ACA spending]†	2.8​	2.8​	2.7​
____Other noninterest spending	8.5​	10.4​	7.6​
____Interest	3.3​	7.5​	4.1​
Revenues	21.8​	19.2​	18.3​
Deficit	-5.7​	-7.2​	-6.1​

†The 2009 projections don't include ACA spending since the law had not yet passed.