patrick.net

There would be NO budget deficit and no need to reduce federal programs if everyone simply paid their fair share of taxes - you know, as if they benefited from the safety and security of American citizenship and enjoyed our vast markets.

The reality is that the conversation in Washington largely concerns a reduction of spending, getting rid of such things as healthcare for children and winter heat for the poor. Virtually no attention is given to the obvious need to raise taxes, especially among who benefit most from our government. Sadly, for his part, President Obama has failed to use the power of his office to enlighten the public, to explain that insufficient tax revenues are at the center of our financial meltdown.

"There's class warfare, all right,” Warren Buffett told the New York Times, "but it's my class, the rich class, that's making war, and we're winning.”

Top marginal tax rates for past years include 92 percent (Roosevelt, 1944), 90 percent (Eisenhower, 1952), 75 percent (Kennedy, 1960), 70 percent (Johnson, 1966), 50 percent (Reagan, 1983), 31 percent (Bush, 1991), 39.6 (Clinton, 1997), 35 percent (Bush, 2007) and 35 percent (Obama, 2011) .

The real debate is very simple: Will we raise taxes to cover the costs of running a modern government or will we not? A percentage of the population believes, in fact, that tax levels should be reduced as a way to limit the size and scale of government (except for agricultural subsidies) and to reduce federal regulation (except for gay marriage and abortion).

Also, many want to get rid of regulations which might curtail excesses on Wall Street because, after all, big banks and brokerages had nothing to do with our national financial mess. These folks also think it's perfectly fine for the government to loan money to banks at near zero percent, money which can be re-loaned in the form of credit card debt - often at 29.9 percent.

http://www.ourbroker.com/news/why-americans-should-be-furious-about-obama-the-deficit-income-taxes-041311/#axzz1JEB9nRDd

#politics