The Debt Solution: Tax Hollywood and Volvos?

Debt default? Higher taxes? More deficits? No matter how you look at it, the United States faces some tough budget choices. Megan McArdle of theAtlantic.com joins Glenn Reynolds to discuss the fiscal and political challenges facing the nation. http://www.PJTV.com.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• mcardle
• atlantic
• debt
• deficit
• budget
• political class
• congress
• taxes
• grover
• norquist
• instapundit
• instavision
• glenn
• reynolds

[skippythebold]

Megan, you keep saying "tax revenue", and how the Tea Party people don't want it raised. Raising REVENUE is fine, just not by increasing tax RATES. As Marco Rubio said the other day, we don't need more taxes, we need more tax PAYERS. Reduce restrictions on business, give business owners some predictability, & we will put people to work, who will then be able to pay taxes. Your whole argument is based on calling Tea Party people crazy & saying tax revenue instead of tax rates.

[oilhammer04]

All federal gov't workers and gov't dependents need to take a pay cut to keep the gov't running. Forget tax increases. The gov't already takes far too much out of the economy for their Leftist programs.

[CanadaCorporateTax]

We need to create a deficit arbitration committee to arrive at the best solution for the country

[wolfengheist]

Tax Hollywood!

[pkarmybrat]

whatever your political views, this seems, to me, to be a balanced, rational look at the possibilities and dangers of current Washington politicians, their constituencies, and debt. Urging our reps to take a middle road and stay away from either extreme is good advice, and it comes....da da da DUM...from a woman! Love it!

[hennypenny247]

Nobody on the Republican side is saying we should default. That is the Big Lie of the left to get their way. They are so desperate to keep their crack, and their Gestapo in our lives, they can see it slipping away and they are sweating big-time.

There's a better way. Go down to the wire, pass enough debt increase to cover seniors and soldiers, let Obama prioritize. Have the shutdown, then we'll see what's important enough to keep. Obamacare? Dead. Obama does NOT want to have that discussion.

[hennypenny247]

Obama's definition of "tax loopholes": deductions of mortgage interest, charitable contributions, and state sales tax.

We can raise revenue without picking anyone's pocket by selling off some federal land. The US govt. owns about 1/3 of all the land in the country, most of it mineral-rich land in the western states that the Statists are hell-bent on locking up. G-d forbid we should produce our own energy, on our own land.

[MrConservative608]

Someone please send Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University to congress if you can waste $100. I reject the idea under Clinton, we had a surplus if we had trillions in debt. That is like someone who is $64k in debt saying there was a little left over this month after I paid the bills but I still owe $63,987.45.

[666sigma]

Obama and the Democrats have to undo his annual $1 trilllion in extra spending. That MUST come before they talk about any tax increase.

The first tax increase should be to take away Wall Street's sweetheart deal. I am stunned no one is talking about why the hedge fund gamblers are only paying 15%.

[wiz9496]

@MrConservative608 Well, I've never fucked a chick in the brain, but it might be good to try.? I don't know.

[elharbingero]

@leeuniverse What she's referencing is a debate over things like using the tax code to subsidize ethanol. There's a debate among conservstives over whether it's okay to raise revenue by eliminating those sorts of tax loopholes, which benefit special interested at the expense of everyone else. But Megan is taking one side of the debate and saying that it applies to EVERYONE on the right, which is wrong.

[XCritonX]

Yep, we cant do the right thing because somebody might not like it.