How would you balance the US budget?

[Jon Miller]

You know that I owe a lot on student loans (which I really didn't need to) and have a good chance of being in the 35% tax bracket in my list at some point in my life?

Anyways, you can't do math:
39k has 39k to spend.
42k has 40k + .7*2k = 41.4k to spend.

You sure you would decline that raise?

JM

[Zkribbler]

Move along. Nothing to see here.

[SlowwHand]

Temporary isolationism. Retreat and regroup.

[Jon Miller]

Originally posted by Zkribbler


Whoops. Remember, the first $39k is tax free.
Only the last $3k is taxed.

Not in my tax proposal.

JM

[Zkribbler]

Declare Bill Gates guilty of monopolistic practices.
Hang him and seize his property.

[Victor Galis]

I'd cut:

-Farm Subsidies
-The miliatary budget
-Bush Tax Cuts

I'd impose:

-Carbon tax
-Return the estate tax
-Tax other polutants,
-Increase taxes on tobacco heavily
-Income taxes raised enough to make up what's left after above cuts/tax hikes

I'm sure there's minor tweaks I'd make too.

[onodera]

Originally posted by Victor Galis I'd impose:

-Carbon tax

$10/gallon!

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by Jon Miller
You know that I owe a lot on student loans (which I really didn't need to) and have a good chance of being in the 35% tax bracket in my list at some point in my life?

Anyways, you can't do math:
39k has 39k to spend.
42k has 40k + .7*2k = 41.4k to spend.

You sure you would decline that raise?

JM

Whoops, you're right. It wasn't that I couldn't do the math, it was that I had poor reading comprehension, two very different things.

Your tax dollars (via federal student loans) at work

[DanS]

1. Index the retirement age and medicare to life expectancy

2. Amply fund hospice

3. Cap spending increases to 2 percent less than the nominal economic growth rate

[Zkribbler]

Oooh oooh! Auction off T.V. and radio frequencies. As of now, broadcasting corporations get exclusive use of their frequencies for FREE.

[LotC]

Oh, here's an idea, get AIPACs/defence industry's/neocon's dicks out of your mouths and slash your defense budget to a somewhat reasonable level and stop building military bases all over the world and bombing the **** out of pushover countries.

Just a thought.

[Aeson]

Legalize drugs and tax them. (Part of the VAT/luxury tax)

Empty the prisons of all non-violent criminals. Fines for non-violent crimes. Work programs for those who can't pay.

Work programs for those on welfare.

Eliminate capital gains tax, income tax, and use a VAT/luxury tax instead, with food, housing (to a certain level, say median house price/rent for your local), and education exempt. Should be roughly revenue neutral (+drug/luxury tax) if set right. I don't care how much/little you make, if you're buying spinning wheels for your ride (among a great many other things) you should be paying maximum tax on that money.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Zkribbler
Declare Bill Gates guilty of monopolistic practices.
Hang him and seize his property.

Ahh, the King Henry VIII approach.

[LotC]

Good ideas Aeson. Between us I think we have the problem licked.

Aeson/LotC 2012.

Forget what the Constitution says about foreign born people holding high office; Dubya and company have reduced it to a worthless sh!trag anyway.

[Theben]

I like Zkibbler's idea.