Originally posted by KazetNagorra
Haha, it's Reaganomics in reverse! Trickle-up?
Here's a thought. Cut in wasteful spending, invest more in useful spending. Tax more where it hurts least (i.e. the rich). Do you really think that heavy cuts in for example military spending or mortgage subsidies would be bad for the US economy?
"Here's a thought. Cut in wasteful spending, invest more in useful spending."
If you'ld have stopped there, I'd be on board. Governments in general are very good at the former, and rarely to the latter.
It must be remembered that the government gets money in one of two ways, both destructive of the economy: taxation or the borrowing or printing of money. There is no tooth fairy, or free lunch. P. J. O'Rourke once quipped to the effect 'if you let people keep their own money, they don't throw it in the bushes.'
We can argue the effectiveness of Bush's TARP, and Obamas stimulus, but it appears most of the trillions of dollars just vanished into thin air. I would not consider taxing anyone more, until there are rules in place to limit spending.
A good start would be to eliminate so called baseline budgeting, which grants automatic increases in spending via continuing resolutions.