Originally Posted by
moonslav59
I don't disagree, but right now, the deficit is not the number one priority. Keeping people from dying, losing their jobs and pay and paying for making workplaces and schools safe is essential and is going to be costly.
Bill Clinton was able to get the deficit under control without raising taxes on the average American.
To me, this is not about "coveting" the top 1-5%'s wealth. I see it as they were able to use the system our government set up specifically for them to make $billions and billions while their workers were underpaid, under-insured and actually lost spending power, benefits and safety nets along the way.
I have no sympathy for slackers, but when people work a 40 hour week (or more, in many cases) but still can't afford adequate housing, healthcare and essentials needed to survive and thrive, the system needs to be repaired by government. I'd also suggest a few small comforts might be nice, too, but we see example after example of many wealthy business owners gaming the system to get tax breaks (or pay no taxes at all) while depriving their workers of a living wage and affordable and good health insurance.
My neighbor's wife has worked for Walmart for over 7 years. They make sure she never averages over 30 or 32 hours a week, so she can't get health insurance through them. She works a second job part time job at Home Depot. All totaled, she works over 55 hours every week just to scrape by pay check to pay check. She has no health insurance and goes to Mexico, if anything major comes up. How much did she get under T Rump's tax cut? She told me she got less than $10 a month in tax relief. Millionaires got the double whammy in tax cuts: they saved millions and millions in income tax while the companies they own or manage (many with stock options) saved millions and millions, too. This type of situation goes on way too much, today. We can't count on big businesses to "do the right thing."
It's about fairness NOT coveting another's wealth.
I get how many take big risks and lose, and people should be rewarded for creating a business that works and puts many to work with good pay. I'm not an anti-capitalist at all. I just think that those who make the most off our economic system should pay for the needs and services of the government that allows them to do so.
Under Biden's and even Bernie's tax plans, millionaires will still make $millions and $millions. They just won't make as much.
Asking the working man to pay for this huge debt is ludicrous. Worker production has risen and risen, every year. We get way less vacation and leave time than the rest of the modern world. We have to pay for a bigger chunk of our own healthcare, medicine and retirement. Most Americans are one medical emergency or job loss away from poverty and homelessness. Some are 1 to 2 paychecks away from that. Many will be evicted, soon. Many will be losing unemployment benefits, soon.
If people think there are too many protesters on the streets, now- wait until the desperation felt by many reaches the flash point.
The deficit is a major problem, don't get me wrong, but we are in the middle of a pandemic and economic meltdown that now seems like it could be worse than the Great Depression. Cutting services is not the answer. Raising taxes on the average guy isn't either. Payroll tax cuts may help those who are working, but with so many out of work, it means nothing to them- and they need it more than anyone.
Yes, someday, the piper will be paid.Hopefully it won't be extended so far into the future that our children will have to pay. Already, they are being asked to pay for the boomers reaching retirement age and social security benefits. They will have to pay for the environmental mess we have left them. They will have to pay the veteran benefits for the endless (and needless) wars in the Middle East.
We need to get the tax and spending systems in check when this thing is over. No nominee from either party will even entertain the idea of cutting military spending. Right now, we spend more on defense than the next top 8 to 10 spending nations combined (depending on how it is calculated)- and 8 of those 10 nations are our allies! Let that sink in. Russia fell out of the list of top five spenders for the first time since 2006. Its military spending decreased by 3.5% from 2017. But military spending in Central Europe (our allies) was up 12%. Both Biden and T Rump want to raise our military spending.
We need to re-evaluate our priorities, tax system and social safety net programs.
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