Because we don’t tax a handful of extremely wealthy people and corporations and offer them all kinds of distasteful deductions, we have a big deficit. Via Daily Kos Labor:
We are the 99 percent. We are getting kicked out of our homes. We are forced to choose between groceries and rent. We are denied quality medical care. We are suffering from environmental pollution. We are working long hours for little pay and no rights, if we’re working at all. We are getting nothing while the other 1 percent is getting everything. We are the 99 percent.
We middle-class taxpayers bailed out the super wealthy CEOs and mega-corporations when the malfeasance of a few almost cost the rest of us everything. We ponied up hundreds of billions to stablize a global portfolio of toxic assets and provided trillion dollar lines of credit at no interest. Thanks to our colletive credit, our generosity, our future tax receipts that tiny minority got to keep their mansions and investment income, fat exceutive bonuses and sweet government subsidies, and their lavish vacation homes. It’s way, way past time for that goodwill to be recognized and for everyone to pay their fair share.
This idea polls at 70% to 80%, across party lines, it’s as popular as a basketful of bipartisan kittens. Anger over the bailouts is what originally fueled parts of the Teaparty, before they were deftly folded into the religious right’s dreamworld and turned into cheerleaders for the rich by shady operators. It’s what’s behind the growing Wall Street protests today.
Any politician who does not agree with that is a bought and paid for whore. Any politician who successfully harnesses that resentment will balance the budget, inspire voters, and could well cruise to victory in 2012.
There is no way to balance the budget soon, and any politician who promises this is lying or very naive. Gutting defense might do it, but that would be politically impossible. Gutting entitlements and social services would collapse the economy entirely.
The 2012 election may be there for the republicans to win. The republican nominee will need to dump the tea party (they have no choice on who to vote for) and appeal to the moderates. If the nominee can not shake off the crazy from before the nomination, then it will be tough.
If we just taxed churches on their real estate holdings alone that would be enough to balance the budget.
Man I’m getting sick of this. Balance the budget, balance the budget. I think most Americans need to learn how to balance their own budget. A good start would be to take a good hard honest look at that ‘have/want’ ratio…
I couldn’t agree more with taxing the wealthier at a higher rate. I truly baffles me how so many working class disagree. This whole budget crisis in my opinion is the true victory of the Tea Party. Look how many times since the 1960’s the debt limit has been altered. 74 times according to a recent TIME article. Reagan, every Republican’s wet dream, raised the limit 17 times alone during his tenure! The budget and government spending has always been a go-to subject for any out of party candidate to use as something to scream about. Same thing with jobs and unemployment, which is something else that is not in the President’s direct control. But the volume level this time around is absurd!
FIFY. Teabaggers are not a ‘grassroots party of the people’ but simply an ALEC wet-dream come true.