Mona Charen: Beware of Democrats Bearing Gifts

» Overtaxed Taxpayer on 03.09.10 @ 05:34 PM

Trial lawyers and unions have paid off our liberals democrats in power—puppets of the union..

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» local on 03.10.10 @ 12:22 PM

We are broke due high spending but also low revenues. Corporations have a 35% tax rate but only pay an average of 12% due to all the tax loopholes. Also, corporations only paid 7% of all taxes in 2009, a record low. This in the face of very high profits. Put that together with the estimated $500 billion per year of unpaid taxes due to cheating that that gets you part of the way there. The other part is spending and starting with the defense department’s bloated budget would be a good idea. On the entitlement side why not move back age that triggers receiving benefits such as Social Security and tighten the screws on Medicare Fraud. I loved the Bounty Hunter Bill that Obama passed yesterday. This is where private entities that find medicare fraud are entitled to part of the savings. So on balance this is partly a benefits and spending problem but it is also a disportionate burden on people, not corporations to pay taxes. A good example of that is that the oil companies in California pay no extraction tax, however, in every other state they do. That is estimated to be $3 billion of lost revenue.

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» local on 03.10.10 @ 04:57 PM

An50, Wow what a rant. You get an award. I was merely pointing out some areas where we could improve and make a dent in the problem. You will get no argument out of me that we need to expand our economy, our productivity and production and manufactoring. I also agree that if a company can find cheap labor overseas, no environmental or humanitarian regulation then we will not be competitive.. The way we can get there is invest in our future through education, change NAFTA and other trade laws and try to hold other countries accountable. We could also not pander to the Chinese in terms of allowing them to artificially devalue their currency. Where we part is I do not think the answer is resource extraction. All you have to do is look at other countries that rely on that too much to solve their economy problems: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,Russia and Nigeria and that is not the model you want. We can close the gap towards energy independance with a variety of actions such as solar, wind,nuclear, natural gas, efficiencies etc.  We need to be the leader in progress on a variety of fronts and export our technology, inventions, machines, patents, medical cures etc to the rest of the world. We can leverage our great universities as the think tanks they are in working with the private sector. This will reverse our course and head us back towards the goal of a creditor nation.

See no name calling. I believe everyone should pay their fair and legal share of taxes. That said, without a strong middle class this country is in big trouble.

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» AN50 on 03.10.10 @ 08:14 PM

Good Local. I like this, two political opposites, finally we see the same common problem. Yes I am a conservative/libertarian and you a liberal/progressive. So we differ on who controls the wealth, production and distribution in our economy, I favor private control and you public. I like small government and believe in self reliance and personal responsibility, you like your government big, believe in a communal reliance and would rather the responsibility be society’s. We are way different on these things. But we both realize that even if we were as obnoxiously over bearing on industry or any private enterprise as Europe is we still need that basic wealth in order to expand well being. The Europeans, for all the picking on them I do, ain’t that dumb. They too recognize the value of a basic manufacturing, extraction and agriculture economy. That’s why they practice, like all our global competitors do, the kind of protectionism to their industry our country scoffs at. They know they need that just to keep up with the entitlements. We just go to our fictitious money tree and bang there you have $50 trillion in debt.

BTW – most green energy is extraction. Don’t get hung up on your party’s antipathy toward the oil industry. Coal, natural gas, wind, solar and wave power are all forms of energy extraction. Iron ore, bauxite, gravel, gypsum, salt are examples of material extraction. The point is these resources are gold. They are material wealth. Manufacturing is a form of intellectual wealth, the ability and know how to turn those raw materials into useful durable goods. Agriculture is a combination of both intellectual know how and resource management.

All other forms of commerce, though needed to support the primary wealth generators, are not wealth in them selves. You can have a nation with doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, accountants, bankers, sales clerks, cops and government workers but you can not finance one with just those people. You still need farmers, miners, drillers, construction workers, technicians, assemblers, engineers and all the other folks who daily get their hands dirty doing what needs to be done to add wealth. Adding wealth ensures there is more to go around for all. Can you think of a better system EmptySuit?

Thanks for the engaging conversation Local.
Cheers!

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