KCRag Forum

Letting the Bush tax breaks expire back to pre-2000 levels and closing loopholes while lowering rates will go a long way to covering those costs.  As Walter Williams explained: "All told, households earning $250,000 and above account for 25 percent, or $1.97 trillion, of the nearly $8 trillion...

But what they really want is lower taxes. In that respect, the Republicans are as delusional as the Democrats, which keep selling the fantasy that the middle and lower classes can have lots of government freebies because increasing taxes on "the rich" will be enough to cover those costs.

KCMax wrote: Not at all. That's a big reason why we have such a gaping deficit, despite Republican Congresses and Republican presidents.

Other than defense and agriculture, I can't think of too many other programs/agencies where Republicans have advocated more rather than less.

KCMax wrote: The GOP's platform has never really been about smaller government, its been about less taxes.

Doesn't one require the other?

Not sure of the issue but that is administrative action by the IRS and probably very limited in scope, not passing the actual law by Congress for say tax rates. This lecture is old (1998) but covers the legal aspects: http://www.heritage.org/research/lecture/retroactive-tax-increases-and-the-consti...

Only during the current tax year.  In 2012 or after they cannot change the rates retro to 2011. In 1993, the IRS issued rules that were retroactive to 1984, and the courts upheld it. That's the most recent example of a multi-year action by Congress or the IRS that I've read about, but there might b...

Oh please god no. Our govt can't even figure out how to properly administer FTHB credit, there's no way our legislators could pull off a retroactive tax increase. But they've done it before. For example, Congress increased estate tax rates in August 1993 and made the increase retroactive to January...

PumpkinStalker wrote: I brew it at my desk at work and I love it!  Got the Bay Blend, ultra dark roast

The can is blue, right? I haven't been in several months, but that's one I often buy.

And while the Dems didn't get the revenues they wanted, they can get $3.6 trillion in additional revenues simply by doing absolutely nothing - on December 31, 2012 the Bush tax cuts expire which could do more to help the deficit than any of this window dressing. Whether or not they have the discipl...

chrizow wrote: I was under the impression that TJ's and Aldi have a fair amount of overlap in how they operate, but I could be mistaken. 

It's tough to say because most of the TJ profiles I've read (e.g., in Forbes) note how secretive TJs is regarding its operations, such as its suppliers.

well, i didn't intend to relate the two at all.  i am just saying that a nationwide infrastructure initiative is a much more reasonable way to encourage growth and create jobs, even if there is a bit of cost overruns, compared to the local, destructive, wasteful practice of inter-state incentives.....

so doesn't it make more sense to implement a comprehensive, nationwide infrastructure plan.  I'm not sure how a federal infrastructure effort would convince states and municipalities to stop playing the incentive game, except perhaps if the feds said, "We won't spend in your state as long as y...

Jobs at any price is why states and municipalities keep throwing incentives at any company that gives them the eye.

What do y'all think of TJ's coffees?

So we know that Congress can create a bunch of jobs by, say, implementing high speed rail. Tons of construction jobs for years, then various administrative, operational, and maintenance related jobs indefinitely. Yet, the very republican governors bitching about jobs are turning down that money . R...

schools don't impact the majority if households. Sure they do. Unless they're planning to live there the rest of their life, childless couples will care about schools when buying a house or condo because they know it will matter when they need to sell it. Schools also are a factor because they're a...

heatherkay wrote: First, the USPS has not directly received taxpayer-dollars since the early 1980s with the minor exception of subsidies for costs associated with the disabled and overseas voters.

Didn't the USPS borrow $12 billion from the Treasury a couple of years ago? I recall reading that.

Don't FedEx and UPS contract with the USPS for the final leg of delivery in areas where it's not cost-effective for private services to send a truck?

A couple of questions for those of you who use Opera: 1) Safari has an icon in the upper-left corner that takes you to Safari's equivalent of Speed Dial. Does Opera have such a button? I can't find it in any of the customization options. I just want to be able to pull up Speed Dial at any time witho...

Thanks, loft. It's interesting to learn how these credits are bought and sold. I occasionally get them from my accounting firm, but I didn't know about the middlemen.