Thursday, December 13, 2007

To PAYGO or not to PAYGO; that is the question

The debate over eliminating the AMT has my dander up.

One of the first things the new Democratic leadership did this year was pledge to follow the PAYGO rule, where any new tax cut or spending increase has to be paid for. The non-partisan Concord Coalition, the nation's leading advocacy group for fiscal sanity in government, has been pleading for years for Congress to re-institute the PAYGO rules, but it took the Democrats to do it.

Now, in the debate over eliminating the Alternative Minimum Tax, which threatens 23 million middle class Americans next year if it isn't fixed, the Democrats and moderate Republicans have been honestly working to follow PAYGO and find a deficit-neutral way to pay for it.

However, President Bush, as part of his new-found discovery of the veto pen for the first time in his presidency, has threatened to veto any AMT relief that doesn't use his preferred way of paying for tax cuts: charging it up to our grandkids.

My wife and I are are included in the group that could get hit by AMT for the first time next year. But I would much rather pay the extra tax than to steal money from my grandkids. Paying for tax cuts with deficit spending is just plain immoral.

Anyone who can utter the phrase "Republicans are fiscal conservatives" these days without breaking into maniacal laughter isn't paying attention.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Republican County Commissions like to play games with our tax dollars. So they send the little old lady that is the current County Assessor to go and jack up the entire home assessments in valley, because of most of them don’t vote republican anyway. Then the Republican Commissioners lower the tax rate, for entire people who live below the valley. Knowing that if they didn’t lower the tax rate, their ring wing wacko constituents that live below the valley will revolt against them.

All three Republican Commissioners live below the valley that had their taxes cut also. (Rob Peter to Pay Paul)!


Then they claim they gave us a Merry Christmas!!!


Well I get mad when someone pisses on me and tells me it’s raining, and then claims that they prayed and it stopped raining.

Wake up… Vote for the Democrats next time. They won’t lie to you about jacking up your taxes. They’ll hold a truth and taxation hearing before they jack up your taxes. And they’ll tell you why and what the money is for.

Mean while my taxes still went up of a total of $85.00.

Way to go…Republican County Commissioners Deardon, Bishoff and Zagmaster.

Merry Christmas to you too….

Anonymous said...

"But I would much rather pay the extra tax than to steal money from my grandkids."


Steve, as usual you have it wrong.

It's not the govt's money..it's your's...wouldn't you rather do something right, like invest the money in a trust fund for your grandchildren that they can use for college vs. giving the money to the govt ?

Anonymous said...

Politicians have been destroying America's industrial base through excessive taxation and regulation.

By not paying income taxes you help eliminate many of America's social problems which have developed, for example, welfare, food stamps, and other avenues of government redistribution of wealth.

Taxes don't supply government services to you. They destroy sustainable government funding opportunities, and cause a continuing drain on the world's natural resources.

Taxes don't protect our freedoms. They rob from us, kill us, imprison us, indebt us, and make us anything but free.

Jeremy said...

Steve,

I think this was a great post. I agree that Republicans have lost any right to refer to Democrats as "tax and spend Democrats". They've proven themselves worse than Democrats ever were on fiscal policy.

Anonymous said...

I'm paying attention and I can still say that "Republicans are fiscal conservatives" without breaking into maniacal laughter. (I'm too busy slapping myself, muttering, and looking in every available cupboard to find a Republican in office)

Anonymous said...

David:

I think you've been toe tapping too much with Republican Senator Larry Craig!

Anonymous said...

No doubt.. The Democrats have gained the moral high ground.

Anonymous said...

Moral high ground? I didn't know there was any left. I thought that had all washed away.