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[QUOTE=Winstonbiggs;4018629]Everyone forgets that we were attacked under Clinton had the Intel on who did it and didn't respond. The next attack on the WTC put our economy into a deep recession and also put us on a clear war footing. A trillion dollars later in wars and another national entitlement program with no cuts anywhere else and we clearly have a deficit problem.
The Bush tax cuts did help the economy. Obama extended them in large measure because he knew raising taxes during a weak recovery would likely not get us more revenue and might put us back in recession. That and the stimulus yes stimulus from more deficit spending by both tax cuts and the extension of unemployment benifits is what Obama wanted to ensure the economic recovery continued. Remember he even sent Bill Clinton out to sell Supply side to the press.
The reality is local, State and the Federal government are going bust for many of the same reasons. We are living longer and our commitment to pensions and health care are simply unsustainable. Add in the instability in the world and our need for a continued and vigorous national defense and it's clear we need to completely reform our Social contract in order to keep debt from overwhelming our future.
Our tax code is a joke. It needs to be reformed. Everyone knows taxes are going to go up and benefits are going to be cut.
The last real tax deal was done under the first President Bush, it cost him a 2nd term. Obama isn’t going to do it until the next election cycle. Hopefully a divided government and a new Congress will make a reasonable deal.[/QUOTE]
I think where we depart is that you seem to argue for reducing taxes as a key to economic recovery while in a massive deficit, although it has been shown repeatedly that tax cuts, coupled with a war economy, have actually been the most sigificant factor in generating those enormous deficits. The key to a healthy economy begins with a balanced budget, which cannot be achieved by continuing lack of revenue generation and expenditures on war. We're right where we were at the beginning of the Eisenhower era (Clinton as well). And we need an Eisenhower approach to the problem... avoid pre-emptive war and raise sufficient taxes to pay down the debt, as well as curtailing wasteful programs such as defense, agriculture, tightening Medicare and Medicaid, and reducing eligibility for Social Security. Watch what happens if Obama finds an exit strategy from Afghanistan and raises marginal income tax rates. As the war machine ramps down in all phases and federal revenues increase, the economy will boom.
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