I can understand this argument, but it doesn't make any sense coming from a die hard Reaganite who supported the Bush tax cuts and presently opposes tax increases.
The problem you have here is that you are the one labeling me a die hard Reaganite. You have the misconception that by supporting the Bush tax cuts I am somehow in favor of his profligate spending. As I mentioned to Rana, any economic theory can fail if not properly implemented. Tax cuts do not work without corresponding spending cuts or closing of loopholes/deductions (that offset the cuts... ie.. simplification of the tax code).
I also do not oppose tax increases in general right now. I do oppose the stupidity of the focus on the marginal tax rates. A better fix would be to treat all sources of income the same. Obviously I would personally take it further by eliminating the corp tax, eliminating all loopholes and deductions with the exception of the standard deduction (which I would drastically raise). But for now, the cap gains rate would be what I would target.
And this is just total bullshit, given (1) I have said repeatedly that short-term increases in spending need to be coupled with long-term decreases in spending;
Correct. The problem is that it never happens. It is the second half of Keynsian theory that the left always fights. (not that the right has been any better of late)
(2) near term spending increases to grow the economy improve our ability to pay down our debt, particularly where the cost of borrowing is negligible and there are plenty of socially beneficial uses to which that money can be spent and (3) the measures that you support to decrease debt actually don't decrease debt, they increase it and slow economic growth.
Only if it is done in areas like infrastructure. Spending for the sake of spending does not work. You must take it from the future and put it into the present. That is Keynes theory. That is what works. The stop gap measures at this point do little but maintain the status quo. Which is why the economy continues to flounder and unemployment remains high.
The cost of borrowing is high, despite the low interest rates, due to the size of the borrowing. As I stated before, it is like maxing out your credit card at the teaser rate and then having to come up with the money when it comes time to refi. Realistically we are not going to have an extra $4 Trillion to pay the low interest debt off when the time comes to refi.
The measures I support do not decrease the economic growth. They allow for a clear future and thus allow for actual job creation. You know... that thing that puts money in the hands of consumers and allows them to spend again. You continue to assume that the government spending is the only spending. Everyone and their brother sees the writing on the wall. All it does is keep the power in the hands of the idiots in DC. They are not the answer. They are the problem. (on that I agree with Reagan)
You again display exactly what I was referring to... You don't think we should feel any of the pain our profligate spending has brought us to. You want to continue pushing the problem further and further into the future. All that does is magnify the pain in the future.
