If you hate paying taxes, then read this.....

[smokeyjay]

Yeah, there's always a "but" in there somewhere when we say we don't have a problem with a statement. 

The point about the list is there's no easy fix.  To say I'm against taxes is one thing.  To demand a cut in spending without thinking about the consequences is another.  An across the board cut is the least painful for everybody.  But both political parties like to think they can solve the budget crisis on the backs of people and programs they don't like. 

Don't you find it a bit ironic that republicans, though they are pro business and defend programs that benefits them are so easily convinced they can escape any painful cuts in programs?  And yet, agriculture is a business and though they don't have the political clout non ag businesses have, they (republicans) are convinced the budget battle can be won by cutting ag programs.  The CNN poll that I linked to in another post says consumers disagree with the Republican party on this one.

Democrats aren't innocent either.  They really do believe taxes are theirs to do what they wish and the more the better.  But in fact, both parties are complicit in their roles that created the recession of 2007.  And still, consumers are the ones bailing them out and taking the hit on home mortgages and foreclosures.

[Kay/NC]

I knew you were sharing this list to provoke thought, so didn't really pick it apart; however, a lot of what government does now, we as private citizens did pretty damned well once.

I am old enough to remember playing ball on diamonds at country stores, no parks and recreation department or facilities necessary. We fished farm ponds and creeks, and drew water from a well..still do, in fact, even within ic water at the end of the driveway.
I stayed home and reared our kids, instead of asking for subsidized daycare. No student loans at our house, either. GI Bill is to me a form of deferred compensation to our vets...we owe them training for a peacetime profession.

I think perhaps the greatest sin of the so- called Greatesf Generation of our parents' vintage was that they allowed Veitnam vets to return home to a lack of support that left many broken and homeless. We saw them dump mental institutions into our streets, too, and laughably " manage" their problems with meds.

Someone, somewhere, decided to supplant family and community, in the name of government. Shame on us that we let them....

[Kay/NC]

I was born in 1954... Heard last night that interest rates are lowest since Eisenhower administration, in 1953.
Tax rates haven't regressed that far, but are still among our lowest in many decades.
The Great Society cut poverty roughly in half in short order, but generatIonal entitlements have resulted.
It occurred to me as I read that list that a lot of jobs for humans have been phased put by some of our tax- funded tech enological advances. Maybe an unintended consequence, but an effect, regardless.

Anthony Bourdain, who is a famous chef and foodie world traveler with several books published and a couple of TV series running, stated on Maher last night that in 20 years running restaurants, he had not had a single American- born kid approach him for a job washing dishes, busing tables, or even for a starting prep cook position. So, we farmers aren't the only ones with a labor pool
problem.

[smokeyjay]

You make a great argument.  And yes, I posted this to provoke thought, and debate if necessary.

[smokeyjay]

Tax rates, as a percentage of disposable income are at their lowest since the '70s.  Not sure about further back.

I wrote a column on this a few months back.  I think it was 23% compared to over 27% earlier.  This includes all taxes paid.

[Nebrfarmr]

Taxes going down, spending going up (as a % of GDP)

And there are those who have PHD's in economics that have trouble figuring it out.  I think my 5 year old knows if you have 5 apples, and take 6 away, it doesn't add up...

[Kay/NC]

I like the suggestion for balancing the budget that a friend of mine quoted from Warren Buffet last week. He says he could solve it in five minutes, and after reading his idea, I think he is right.
His formula? Anytime spending exceeds the GDP by more than three percent, no sitting member of Congress would be eligible for re- election.

The Treasury Department made a lot out of S&P's downgrade being based upon a $2 trillion error. I think it had as much to do with the relationship between spending and the GDP. Comments were also not too good on the debt ceiling fight.

Will be interesting to see what the markets do on Monday, after that late downgrade on Friday.

[nwobcw]

   Buffet was an Obama supporter, then he bought a railroad after the election.  Many inferences can be made from this.  To me it means continued bringing in of Chinese made goods and shipping grain and coal to ports on the backhaul.   And scrap metal which the Chinese so graciously reconfigure and return to us.

[Nebrfarmr]

One thing you need to know about Warren Buffet.  Don't listen to what he says, watch what he does.  I firmly believe that he makes public statements for the sake of farthering his fortunes.  When he speaks, people, and markets react, and somehow he just seems to be positioned to profit from it.

He has publicly stated over and over again, that his personal taxes are too low, yet he exploits every possible loophole so he pays less than his secretary.  I can't blame him for using the laws to his advantage, but to turn around and complain he isn't paying enough, is hypocritical.  I doubt the treasury would turn away extra money.

He has made public statements against the repeal of the 'death tax', yet when there was zero estate tax, he transferred BILLIONS of dollars into an estate trust, to be donated to charity, all done in such a way that it was tax free, or all but tax free.  Also, he earned a big portion of his fortune because of the inheritance tax.  He bought many, many smaller, highly profitable businesses, or at least a big stake in them because of the death tax.  The company couldn't pay the tax when the owner passed away, and he was right there, to buy up the company, or parts of it, to pad his portfolio. 

He says his kids aren't going to get a lot of money, but his charitable foundation (which he put billions into tax-free or nearly so) has a clause in it (so I am told) that allows for his descendants to always have a good-paying job there, so although technically, he isn't leaving them much as a % of his fortune, he has provided for several generations of Buffets down the line to always have a good paying job.

Buffet is for more regulations of trucks, even lobbies for more regulations, such as CDLs being required for farmers in the lines of 'public safety', higher road taxes, shorter hours for truck drivers, and then buys a railroad.

I live in Nebraska, so I probably hear more about Warren's day to day stuff than most (get the Omaha World Herald if you want a lot of little blurbs about what he does).  However, make no mistake about it, what Warren Buffet does is from the point of view of what's best for Warren Buffet.

[Kay/NC]

Perhaps it is best - at least in terms of peace of mind - if we do not know everything we pay our government to do. That Chinook chopper loaded with Navy SEALS going down is a case in point.

I guess I expect my nation to expend resources to defend us from harm on a global scale. We pretend that the sheriff's office depends our safety here, but know it is mostly up to use for first hour or two, until they can make the six- mile trip from their central office here.

Have you read that new history of Area 51 yet? I downloaded it on Kindle a while back, and am just starting to get into the c. 1960 espionage of the Soviets by overhead observation, initially with the U-2 planes that could fly too high for Russina defense to knock down.
I didn't realize, until beginning this reading, how much our nation's defenses in the post WW II era, and based on through today, depended upon former Nazi scientists. Some of these were the most heinous war criminals. We got some, the Soviets got others, I guess divvied like other spoils of the War.
If you read your original list closely enough in this light, you can see that a lot of what "we" accomplished scientifically in the space
race and weaponization, since that exchange of captured Germans, was gained by standing on Hitler's shoulders.
ConsiderIng that the Soviets very doing exactly the same thing, maybe this should not bother me as much as it does this morning. Makes me feel safer in some respects, but also more vulnerable...evil, even when necessary, is still not good.