[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]CAR: You’ll get no disagreement from me on any of the points you made. My argument was specifically focused on Krugman’s banging on incessantly about the same failed policies.
I do agree that, relative to GDP, taxes are at their lowest point in many years and should be raised.
I also agree that the US absolutely NEEDS an Industrial Policy that is geared solely to bringing manufacturing jobs back to the US and creating the necessary mechanisms to do this (job training, competitive corporate tax rate, elimination of needless bureaucracy, etc).
We need tax reform. And, yes, we need TRUE financial reform (which, if you’re being fair, we have NOT gotten from the Obama Administration).
We need to declare victory and get the fuck out of Afghanistan. The loss of those SEALs over the weekend was the final straw for me. Figure out a different goddamn strategy and get our people home. Which ties into the idea of “stop wasting money on foreign misadventures”. Last time I checked, we’d passed the $1T mark.
All that said, entitlement spending is the single largest issue going forward and needs to be addressed. Put Defense on the table right there with it, but entitlement reform, including cuts, needs to happen.
I don’t hold one side guilty and the other blameless. We have seen the single largest vote-buying spree in US history and both sides have participated. We either get serious or hand the keys to the Chinese.[/quote]
Seems like we agree on 95% of the issues.
In case it wasn’t obvious, Obama gets an “F” from me. The Dems are no less complicit than the Republicans.
Yes, we need to reform SS and Medicare, but you and I would definitely disagree in the way that is done — I favor eliminating or raising the income limits for SS taxes. I would also take all the profitable patients from the private sector and bring them into the Medicare program. We are already paying for the most expensive patients, so why are we giving all the profitable ones to the private sector? People would still be free to buy supplemental insurance from the private insurers, or become cash patients, if that’s what they choose to do, but we should have a national healthcare system that provides a basic level of care for all U.S. citizens and non-citizens who pay into the system.
If that doesn’t work, then we need to have some form of means testing. Yes, it’s a socialist policy, and the right would go ballistic, but it would likely solve most of our problems where SS and Medicare are concerned.
