I wish this was to be a Pixar feature for those with the mentality of a turnip…..but unfortunate it is NOT!
GOP 2012 nominee hopeful Tim Pawlenty made his “big” economic speech and what did it say? NOTHING that is new….but rather a re-hash of the tired old policies of the GOP for the last couple of decades…..tax cuts and then there is the….tax cuts and finally there is tax cuts…….
Some of the major points of his speech…….
We should start by overhauling the tax code. Its currently an anti-growth — nine thousand page monstrosity. That’s chock full of special deals for special interests. It’s main goal — seems to be to generate campaign contributions. Not jobs.
American businesses today pay the second highest tax rates in the world. That’s a recipe for failure — not adding jobs and economic growth.
We should cut the business tax rate by more than half. I propose reducing the current rate from 35% to 15%.
But our policies can’t just be about simply cutting rates.They must also promote freedom and free markets. The tax code is littered with special interest handouts — carve-outs — subsidies — and loopholes. That should be eliminated.
Such reform would not only help offset short-term revenue loss from the rate cuts. But it would also reduce cronyism — favoritism — and government manipulating markets for political purposes.
Under my plan — those who currently pay no income tax would stay at a zero rate. After that — the first fifty-thousand dollars of income or one-hundred thousand for married couples — would be taxed at 10%.
Everything above that would be taxed at 25%. That’s it.
A one-third cut in the bottom rate.To allow younger — middle — and lower-income families to save and build wealth. And a 28% cut in the top rate — to spur investment and job creation.
In addition — we should eliminate altogether the capital gains tax — interest income tax — dividends tax — and the death tax.Government has no moral or economic basis to claim a second share of the same income.
There it is….the same song…different singer……..there is NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING new in his song to the base…..but do not take my word for it…..check out his speech and tell me what is new in his proposals?
There may be nothing new in the speech (not being American, I really wouldn’t know), but that doesn’t mean he’s wrong, does it? I mean, he may be wrong, but it’s not what you’ve got at present and that’s not working, is it?
Taxation is, in your country and in mine, used not just for funding the government of the country as they would have us believe and is (annoyingly) justified, but for the purpose of social engineering – whether that is to the benefit of the poor or of the rich – so-called “special interests” can be anything and they have NO place in the application of taxation. To agree to that is to agree to the micromanagement of our lives by the state and THAT, in my opinion, is utterly unacceptable!
Quin, his speech is the same speech given by almost every conserv politician in the last 3 decades, possibly more……..and his faux concern with special interests is so transparent the GOP would have a hard time existing without the support of special interests….
I’m sure you’re right about that – but that STILL doesn’t mean that what he SAYS (even if it isn’t what he means) isn’t right, does it?
Nope it does not….but (and there it is) there is nothing in economic theory that says he is….and I know….economics is 99% theory….none he has proposed has done what he claims in past tries….of course, none of what he proposes will ever happen….it is all so much campaign BS……but someone will listen and believe.
…and THERE lies the problem – the system once more.
As always, huh? Will we humans ever learn from our mistakes?
Actually this proposal is nothing more than a scam to get donations for his campaign. Pawlenty knows this will never float in a general election but it will get a lot of support from wealthy right-wingers during the primaries.
lb, like I said….a tired old GOP mantra……..there is nothing new in his speech or his proposals……