Only a liberal would believe that paying higher taxes is patriotic.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden says that paying higher taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans.
~~~Biden told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Thursday that, in his words, “it’s time to be patriotic … time to jump in, time to be part of the deal, time to help get America out of the rut.”
Only the ignorant would believe the economic problems we are facing today are because people are not paying more taxes. The tax rebates Bush pushed through has filled the federal coffers quite well. No, the problems we are facing are because of loans being given to those who should never have gotten them, all because of government mandates. Add to this the fact that there was no oversight over the two behemoths, Fannie/Freddie, and you have this economic disaster.
We pay too much in taxes as it is and paying more would not be patriotic. What would be patriotic is if our government leaders would be responsible in their spending and provide the needed oversight over institutions that most definitely needed it.
UPDATE
First, taxes ain’t charity. Second, patriotism ain’t got nothing to do with it, since you’re required as a matter of criminal law to pay what you owe. So, in one sense Biden is asking — scolding, really — Americans to enjoy paying their taxes, which is like asking health nuts to enjoy getting a colonoscopy. Regardless, equating a legal requirement with patriotism is just plain gross.
Last, what he’s really saying is that it’s “patriotic” to use government force to take more money from other people.
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“…one of the things that we have to change in our politics is the idea that people cannot disagree without challenging each other’s character and patriotism. The times are too serious, the stakes are too high for this same partisan playbook. So let us agree that patriotism has no party. ”
-freshman Senator Barack Obama’s speech accepting the Democratic nomination for President
It’s more patriotic to borrow money from foreign investors and let our kids pay the tab later.
Don’t tread on my deficit spending!
After the baby boomers squandered the fruits of the greatest generation, they they’ve taken upon themselves to spend their following generation’s inheritance.
Sorry kids, there’s nothing left for you. Buy your Budweiser from Belgium, your Levi’s from South America, and everything else from China (careful with that lead).
Like sand through our fingers, so goes our country. And all we can worry about is how the rich might have to pay more in taxes.
Joe, my concern is that poor people don’t employ others. People and companies making more than $250k a year DO hire people, do make our goods, and do determine our wages. Make things more expensive for them, and they’re just gonna pass that expense on to us w fewer hires, more expensive goods, and less raises. Tax cuts for everyone? Sounds great, but if it comes at the expense of taking money from the people that run our economy just so the govt can get more tax revenue to waste like it usually does, then it’s not good. How can making taxing/taking more money from investors, business owners, and corporations help the economy?
What happened to running on the idea of HOPE and the future or the need to CHANGE the way politics are conducted, the call for bi-partisanship, the idea that there are no red states, blue states, just red white and blue states?
So gone, so lost…
so fake
“How can making taxing/taking more money from investors, business owners, and corporations help the economy?”
When it comes to economics, I believe in protectionism. If you want to buy and sell with Americans, the United States should benefit from it. Who benefits from a 2007 trade deficit with China to the tune of $256b?
Tax incentives for shipping jobs over seas and socializing our financial institutions is against every fiscal conservative bone in my body.
If this was a free-market economy where mortgage and insurance companies were free to fail, then that would be one thing; but when the tax-payer is left holding the bill for corporate greed and recklessness because “they’re too big to fail,” then that’s another. My next door neighbor’s house is vacant and foreclosed (bringing my property value down even further), while corrupt CEOs get “severance packages” (I think I need to start mowing their grass because it’s getting pretty bad).
Unfortunately, there are times when taxes need to be raised. Ronald Reagan (one of my personal heroes) raised taxes with a gas tax in ’83 and again in ’84 ($50b over three years, mostly by closing tax loopholes for business).
The Tax Reform Act of 1986 imposed the largest corporate tax increase in history, raising corporate taxes by $120b over five years and closed corporate tax loopholes worth around $300b. The act increased deductions and personal exemptions so that families with an income below the poverty line wouldn’t have to pay federal income tax.
Doesn’t this sound familiar? The government is charged with protecting the welfare of it’s citizens – To make sure the American dream is kept alive by preserving fairness and justice for all. When it comes to taxing the poor, “you can’t get blood out of a rock” and that goes for the middle class too. Who else is there to pay America’s bills? My grandchildren?
BJ,
If the US didn’t currently have the highest corporate tax rates in the world, what would the manufacturing/business sector of our economy look like?
Second question: When you raise taxes on corporations where do the dollars come from?
Third question: What percentage of total taxes do the top 1% pay? Top 5%? Top 50%?
Fourth question: What percentage of total tax revenues do the lower 50% pay?
Final question: What happens to tax revenue intake when tax rates are decreased?
So patriots should welcome the confiscation of their property by a rogue government. I bet the founders would get a kick out of such a definition!
In order to fund colonial education, individuals taxed themselves.
What fools.
Of course, back then they could pick and choose who benefited. So maybe you’d agree with Joe if the money was benefiting you?
Actually Snead I don’t need, nor do I want, anything from the gov’t.
I want them to stay out of my way and, as much as possible, stay out of my pocket.
I will handle the rest.
AC
You raise good points and I realize raising taxes on corporations across the board will not solve all of our problems because most of our problems lie in our free trade policies (here’s a great write up about protectionism).
What needs to be done is to rescind tax incentives that send jobs over seas and give the breaks to corporations that create jobs here at home. That is what will broaden the tax base, create wealth for everyone, and keep this country from circling the drain.
If we had elected Pat Buchanan, like I told people to, we wouldn’t be in this mess today.
…and as for your reply to Snead, I’m sure you want the U.S. to have a military and someone to pave the roads. Maybe you’re not a disabled veteran, an elderly indigent, or a handicapped person; but if you were, you might have a different opinion.
Paraphrasing Joe Biden:
“Paying more taxes is Patriotic!”
Query (Thus):
“Is paying less taxes Un-Patriotic?”
I guess Joe wants 95% of all Tax Payers to be Un-Patriotic
Actually my reply to Snead would be exactly the same without regard to what my situation might be.
My parents and grandparents taught me self sufficiency and self reliance. I am instilling those values in my children as well.
I don’t need the gov’t to provide for me and I certainly won’t count on anyone other than myself, my family, or my church if I were to fall on hard times that exceed what I am already well prepared for.
The role of the US gov’t is very clearly defined in the US Constitution. Anything not specifically enumerated in that document is not Constitutional and is not a place that our dollars should be spent.
The gov’t needs to get out of the way of the American People.
Our society has drifted far away from what our Founding Fathers intended.
removed-reposted on another thread
Baghdad Joe:
I think like Milton Friedman and I believe protectionism is bad for a country. This article explains why:
DISPELLING THE MYTHS ABOUT GLOBAL ECONOMY
1. Globalization costs jobs.
2. The United States is an island of free trade in a world of protectionism.
3. Americans are hurt by imports.
4. U.S. companies are running away, especially to low-cost areas overseas.
5. American companies doing business overseas take advantage of local people, especially in poor countries. They also pollute their environments.
6. The trade deficit is hurting our economy and we should eliminate it.
7. It’s not fair to run such large trade deficits with China or Japan.
8. Sanctions work. So do export controls.
9. Trade agreements should be used to raise environmental and labor standards around the world.
10. America’s manufacturing base is eroding in the face of unfair global competition.
That’s an impressive array of frequently heard charges and they are polluting our political environment. Worse yet, these widely held myths fly in the face of the facts. I’d like to take up each of them and knock them down.
READ THE REST OF THIS ARTICLE to demystify those myths:
http://www.allbusiness.com/government/759959-1.html
Obama is asking his followers, the young and the dumb, to get in people’s face and argue on his behalf.
For those lefties that wish to have tips on how to promote Barack Obama when you get in their faces:
http://www.nextgenerationcorp.com/NextGenBlog/?p=57
Throw Obama away.
“Because America is ‘broken’ we must take a hammer to her and ‘break’ her some more in order to fix her.” — Democrat idiots
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It wouldn’t let me post, then gave me this error msg…
…going to try one more time, then over to Mozilla to see if I have any better results
…nope, ok, here I go…