I gotta mention this. McCain picked as his choice Sarah Palin, Governor of Alaska. Initially in 2006 Palin backed funding for the Bridge to Nowhere, or the bridge between Ketichkan and Gravina Island. This was to cost $233 million.
In 2007 Palin changed her mind and said it was a terrible Pork Barrel Spending Idea. Sounds good right? Wrong. The money for the bridge was never returned and where’d it go? It was spent in Alaska for what?
I think that it’s time for the US government to step up and start answering where they are spending our US tax dollars. Here we are arguing about Federal taxes, but our current government feels it’s fine to spend and spend and spend. Hence we’re deeply in debt.
And we’re getting angry at Obama for suggesting raising taxes? What is the solution? Other than raising taxes (Income) and cutting spending? If Americans are needing to balance their budgets will our government follow?
I was very young when the first President Bush promised “read my lips, no new taxes.” Something he broke during this term, and it probably lead to his defeat in 1992. But I wonder did why did he change his tune? Was it because balancing a budget can’t happen with just cutting spending if there isn’t enough income (ie taxes collected)?
For everyone who doesn’t want to pay more taxes, how do you propose paying off our deficit? Do you think cutting our programs and pork barrel spending will really be enough?
12 responses so far ↓
1 Kristy // Sep 3, 2008 at 10:04 am
I have to comment only because you have taken words out of some of our mouths about raising taxes. I never said that taxes shouldn’t be raised. What I said was that I think it is not fair to only raise the taxes on the “rich” and to cut them for ther other 95% of Americans. It is not the government’s fault that Americans can’t save money or have an emergency fund and good behavior should not be punished.
I do feel that the taxes need to be raised, but I think they should be raised across the board (and not equally). I do think the rich should pay more, as they already do.
However, I do feel that the spending needs to be cut as well. How to do that though I am not sure. The goverment has health care paid for their entire lives, how about cutting some of that? Or stop raiding the Social Security fund? I am sure that there are many ways to cut spending, but without looking at the budget I have no way of knowing what to cut.
2 Livingalmostlarge // Sep 3, 2008 at 10:18 am
I know many people think the surplus left by Clinton only occurred because the first President Bush raised taxes. I have to say I agree.
But I watched last night as Jesse Ventura said we’re $9 trillion in debt, yes we are, and asked how can we pay for it? Well the unfortunate answer is cutting spending and raising taxes, which honestly will be hugely unpopular.
Also it was pointed out tha the war cost $9B/month or $110 billion dollars/year. Well add that up on top of tax cuts and we’ve got out deficit. http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aairaqwarcost.htm
Sadly we pretend that we’re concerned about spending. Truth is we’re not. All we’ve done for 8 years is shown people that spending and borrowing (yes from the Chinese) is what Americans do. So what if we’re in debt? So what if we can’t balance a budget. We don’t need to and neither should anyone else.
But I think people are starting to get worried. Suddenly our stock market is in trouble, housing market, credit markets. Our dollar has fallen drastically. Finally we have to answer why we are spending so much and taking in so little taxes.
3 Savign fora home Guy // Sep 3, 2008 at 4:08 pm
I agree with the spending disclosures. Congress shouldn’t be allowed to add extra tie-ins at the last minute either.
4 LivingAlmostLarge // Sep 3, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I agree that they shouldn’t get extra tie ins. But we have to vote in different people then!
6 Meg // Sep 6, 2008 at 1:42 am
I do think cutting pork-barrel spending and simply not increasing (as opposed to cutting) our vast social and government programs would be more than enough to balance the budget and avoid raising taxes.
Obama must raise taxes in order to support the incredible expansion of government and social programs that he is proposing. Under him the overall tax burden on Americans will significantly increase.
McCain instead plans to cut spending and/or not expand certain programs significantly. He will also raise taxes in some areas and give tax cuts to middle class Americans though.
You are right that we either have to cut spending or raise taxes or both. Obama wants to raise spending and taxes. I cannot support that.
7 Meg // Sep 6, 2008 at 1:44 am
Oh, and I’m not sure why you think that any money for the Bridge to Nowhere changed hands; you seem to imply that it did and simply disappeared into Alaska’s budget? I could be wrong, but I am under the impression that nothing of the sort occurred…
8 Tim // Sep 6, 2008 at 9:10 am
“LivingAlmostLarge // Sep 3, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I agree that they shouldn’t get extra tie ins. But we have to vote in different people then!”
no one likes line item veto. we just voted in different people since the Democrats got control of both house and senate, and the budget couldn’t pass since then without them. again, president isn’t the sole voter on the budget.
there’s a difference between budget surplus and the federal debt. note none of the surplus was ever used to actually reduce the defecit. And depending on what you count there may or may not have been a budget surplus. that’s the tricky part about numbers, and I would recommend going to US treasury’s website to look at the historical numbers to make your own determination. plus a budget is a guideline for spending, and you can budget whatever you want to so there is an inherent problem with arguing in terms of balanced budget, over budget, or budget surplus.
9 Livingalmostlarge // Sep 6, 2008 at 3:05 pm
She took the money and then didn’t do the “project”. http://mediamatters.org/items/200809040019?f=h_latest
She took the money and used it for a different project in Alaska.
10 Livingalmostlarge // Sep 6, 2008 at 3:07 pm
I don’t doubt that McCain will raise taxes there is no other way to balance the budget. Are we so sure we won’t be spending like we are now?
A balanced budget would be great, but who will do it?
Are we so sure McCain is a maverick anymore?
11 Livingalmostlarge // Sep 6, 2008 at 11:52 pm
Here’s it again that Palin took $27 million for the approach to the bridge and kept it for Alaska.
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