Steve R.
Retired
- Local time
- Today, 16:05
- Joined
- Jul 5, 2006
- Messages
- 4,700
The election is over, Obama has won. Now the politicians are moving towards acting of the fiscal decisions that were kicked-down-the-road. The Washington Post, in recognition, had this article: "Both sides appear upbeat on opening round of ‘fiscal cliff’ talks". Since things are just "warming-up", not much can be said at this time. Nevertheless, in observing this story unfold over the past couple of years there some things for each of us to ponder on.
- Obama's "tax the rich" won't solve the deficit spending issue. The reality is that everybody's taxes will need to be increased along with spending reductions. What the US needs is a fiscal plan that goes beyond the populist simplistic misleading "tax the rich" mantra. It is time for the politicians to make the "tough" decisions.
- Every once in a while, tax reform pops-up. Will the politicians mean it this time? I hope so. In the past, tax reform seems to have been blithely tossed-out as a populist sound byte that is immediately forgotten after the votes have been counted. Realistically, tax reform will have to wait well into 2013.
- Suppose that Obama gets to "tax the rich". Will the additional revenue be used to reduce deficit spending OR will that additional revenue be used to increase spending in certain programs? Obama vaguely implies deficit reduction, but then we will have to wait to see if he really means what he says.
- Savings after 2016 should be dismissed as hiding the intent of any supposed deficit/debt reduction plan. Obama will be out-of-office and any incoming administration will feel no obligation to continue with an "obsolete" fiscal plan. Consequently, any deficit/debt reduction plan that is agreed to must deal with the time period 2013-2016.