Weekly Address: Priorities on Taxes

Basically, the President's plan for spending was to let the Bush tax cuts expire, for the wealthy, and freeze discretionary spending. Republicans, meanwhile, want to extend the Bush tax cuts for all citizens, and underfund or outright un-fund large portions of government, in order to return discretionary expenditures to 2008 levels ─ as if we weren't running a deficit before Obama took office. Neither plan is good, but Obama's is about $200billion better.

2 things currently not on the table:

Defense Spending
Nationally, we need to acknowledge that while it's unfortunately necessary to maintain a standing military, the defense budget is bloated and certain programs very likely deserve to be on the chopping block, as much as anything else in the budget. Pay and benefits for military personnel and veterans ought not be touched, but anything else can and should be looked at.

Tax Increases
The tax code needs a solid review & simplification ─ loopholes need to be closed, effectively raising taxes ─ after that, taxes may still need to be raised as a second step. The conventional wisdom says, any tax increase is political suicide and conservative ideology states taxes undermine personal liberty or the free market economy. Still, I believe a new tax, with a finite duration of no more than 10 years, dedicated exclusively for the elimination of the national debt and coupled with comprehensive reform of the congressional budgeting process & the Federal Reserve Bank. Deficit spending shouldn't happen.

Since I'm talking about raising taxes, I should address the accusations of class warfare, socialism, and wealth redistribution ─ frankly, by enabling and fostering trade through the railways, interstate highways and airports the federal government has disproportionately benefited the rich, without mentioning corporate welfare in the form of government contracts & subsidies ─ compared to what the poor get from Medicaid or welfare and the middle-class gets from Medicare and Social Security (a traditionally & deliberately self-sustaining program).

Whether it was intended to, the federal government now exists as the only means to fight the oligarchical interests of Wall Street; while maintaining the infrastructures which have enabled modern business to prosper.