Saturday, July 19, 2008

If this guy can get it, anyone can

Peter Orszag says we should cut government spending and that is significant.

You see, Orszag is the former Deputy Director of Economic Policy at the Brookings Institution -- they are the folks who said the solution to the Fannie Mae/Freddic Mac is a total government takeover (seriously) -- and is currently Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid's Director of the Congressional Budget Office.

In a letter about tax policy dated Thursday, July 17, Orszag said:

"Legislation to limit the growth of the AMT or to extend the tax reductions beyond 2010 would increase federal budget deficits and federal debt, relative to those that would occur under current law, unless offsetting changes in federal taxes or spending were also enacted."

We haven't had a tax increase on the federal level in fifteen years and sober heads will likely prevail to extend that streak.

That leaves "legislation to limit the growth of the AMT" and "to extend the tax reductions beyond 2010" and "offsetting changes in ... spending" as the only politically palatable fiscal actions.

Now that Peter Orszag understands this, someone tell him to call Steve Beshear, Greg Stumbo, and David Williams.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

McCain was right for voting against the Bush tax cuts because it did not include spending cuts. Why can't anyone see this?

markwlowry said...

The alternative to bailing out the corrupt fannie and freedie fiascos is a buy out at current prices, bandruptcy to let the derivatives and buy short investors pay for their own losses, and finally an end to the commercial banks that defy the USA constitutional mandate that defines the congress has the sole authority to create money.

Then we are only a step away from breaking the central bank strangle hold on our nation and economy that has been a leech on our economy since the days of Andrew Jackson.

Maybe we could eliminate the federal income tax established in 1913 to provide the money to pay the interest incurred on debt owed by our government to commercial banks.

One step at a time to bring logic and effective solutions to a financial industry that has bled the USA economy into a 10 trillion dollar authorized debt with 45 trillion as incurred liability.

Drastic problems call for drastic solutions. We can no longer afford to take care of the Wall street robber barons. The tax burden has finally exceeded the ability of the USA economy to pay the bill.

Make the real spending cut we all need. End the interest payments on government debt and let the investors go elsewhere for their profits. Reduced taxes will off set the losses of people not holding their money in nonprofit tax free funds.

Hempy said...

Alexander Hamilton had a suggestion for a fair tax system. It could replace the income tax. In Federalist Paper 12 he wrote:

"The ability of a country to pay taxes must always be proportioned, in a great degree, to the quantity of money in circulation, and to the celerity with which it circulates."

So every time banks move the $1.5 trillion annual drug money they launder, there's be a proportional transaction fee.

Likewise, every time a bank sold a mortgage a proportional transaction fee would be paid.

Those transactions are "money in circulation."

markwlowry said...

Don't you just love paying for the same hog over and over while you have to pay for his eats at the same time?

That was Alexander Hamilton's idea of a good banking system but only if you were the banker.

The fools (WE the People) paying for the pet hog (and we don't even own it)thats eating us out of house and home needs to shoot that unruly beast and make some sausage and good pork chops before we all die of starvation. We can live high on the hog for a good spell of economic bad times.

It is past hog killing time in KY and the USA. The economic chill has been in the air for some time. Lets get the .22 rifle out and get the chain host ready. WE can't wait to get the water boiling.

Anonymous said...

Kentucky's Long Term Policy Research Center, an arm of Kentucky legislature to apprise legislature of trends and the like, in 1994 told legislators average growth rate of state's appropriations and tax resources were, 6% and 5.3%, respectively.

If overspending continues unimpeded through 2004 w/o any resistance, 2004 appropriations would be estimated 17% more than tax resources.

Governor seems to think prudent financial policy is not to modernize Ky's obsolete tax base, seize control of state tax expenditures which are now around $750 million and growing; allow uncollect taxes to continue to age and grow; allow corporate tax shelters to continue existence under current law costing state budget an estimated $400 million annually; all state personnel costs to keep paying out an estimated $100 million annually that should be eliminated and so on.

He seems to figure the legislature does not have the will to make the above "cuts" and "realisnments" so he's pushing again for gaming revenues to replace our cowardly legislature to make drastic cuts accompanied with significantly reduced state spending to be the strategy!

dash