Neil Macdonald's commentary on US politics is worth a look

[dpareja]

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/12/04/f-rfa-macdonald-fiscal-cliff.html

America's fiscal cliff is one of those things that would be just about impossible to explain to aliens if they landed tomorrow and asked about it.

An acquaintance of mine described one of his columns as the best take on the American political dialogue he'd ever read. (I think it was this one, with the line, "Sure. And then release the flying pigs.")

[Material Defender]

I understand why they did it, but it was made apparently before tea party level lunacy.

[niam2023]

John Boehner: TAXES AHH UNNAKCEPTAHBEL!

Lindsey Graham: EVILOLOLOLOLOLZ

Alien: What the fuck is wrong with you people?

[dpareja]

John Boehner: TAXES AHH UNNAKCEPTAHBEL!

Lindsey Graham: EVILOLOLOLOLOLZ

Alien: What the fuck is wrong with you people?

I'd just point them in the direction of Grover Norquist.

[Agni]

Repubs once again do something boneheaded. Why am I not surprised?

What's worse is that I may be leaving my family's house for the real world right as we go over this cliff. Great, I'll be struggling fiscally right out of high school!

Ugh. I hope there's a solution to this.

[Material Defender]

John Boehner: TAXES AHH UNNAKCEPTAHBEL!

Lindsey Graham: EVILOLOLOLOLOLZ

Alien: What the fuck is wrong with you people?

I like taxes, because I like functioning roads and schools, among other things.

Why do people think taxes are some evil thing?

[Agni]

Republicans believe that they're somehow "stealing" your hard work. The GOP ascribes to a selfish idealogy where people "deserve" all the money they earn, and the thought of the government taking money from them repulses them.

In addtion, they also have that whole flawed Reaganomics economic policy where cuttig taxes will make the rich wealthier, and somehow this will trickle-down to the lower classes. It DOES make the rich wealthier...but that's it.

[dpareja]

Republicans believe that they're somehow "stealing" your hard work. The GOP ascribes to a selfish idealogy where people "deserve" all the money they earn, and the thought of the government taking money from them repulses them.

In addtion, they also have that whole flawed Reaganomics economic policy where cuttig taxes will make the rich wealthier, and somehow this will trickle-down to the lower classes. It DOES make the rich wealthier...but that's it.

The funny thing is that I think that notion (cutting taxes leads to higher tax revenues) can work, because the lower marginal rate encourages people to earn more, but only if the initial rate is high enough, and so there is some optimum. (Basically, at 0% there is no tax revenue, and at 100% there is no revenue because it's not worth it to anyone to earn anything, so in between there is an optimum.) Reagan's advisors, however, thought the rate at the time was above the optimum, when in fact it was below, and thus by cutting taxes they cut revenue.

Trickle-down, however, is just stupid.

[TheUnknown]

John Boehner: TAXES AHH UNNAKCEPTAHBEL!

Lindsey Graham: EVILOLOLOLOLOLZ

Alien: What the fuck is wrong with you people?

I like taxes, because I like functioning roads and schools, among other things.

Why do people think taxes are some evil thing?

Sometimes I wonder if it's because people look at the Boston Tea Party and Taxation Without Representation as history lessons about how taxes in general are bad, and not, you know, how being taxed without any input in the government is bad.

[Lt. Fred]

The only thing Laffer added to his theoretical curve- which has been understood for centuries- was the political argument he made that revenue always curved a little south of whatever the rate was right now. As some wit once pointed out, to extent that Laffer was novel, he was wrong and to the extent he was right he was not novel.

Taxes curve at about 70%.

[Canadian Mojo]

Is it just the income tax that is the bone of contention, or is it all taxes?

I shudder to think how high a goods and services tax would have to be, but you could always go that route to generate revenue.

[dpareja]

Is it just the income tax that is the bone of contention, or is it all taxes?

I shudder to think how high a goods and services tax would have to be, but you could always go that route to generate revenue.

These guys claim it would have to be (depending on how you calculate it) 23% or 30%. (The former figure is how much of each dollar spent is tax, the latter figure is how much tax is added on to each pre-tax dollar spent.) This takes into account a yearly credit issued to each family in the amount of the tax that the poverty-line basket of goods would be charged (so that people living at the poverty line would pay no tax--there would be no exemptions from the tax to avoid manipulation of such for special interests). This would be in lieu of income and payroll taxes, and would include a repeal of the 16th Amendment coupled with a constitutional amendment banning income taxes.

They would also encourage states to abolish their income taxes and instead impose such a sales tax piggybacking on the federal one (i.e. charged on all goods and services, coupled with the poverty-line rebate).