WE have a mandate- and we need to RAISE TAXES to cut the deficit

[RepublicansRZombies]

It is not enough to just let the Bush tax cuts expire.

WE need to do the mature responsible thing and raise taxes until the war on terror is paid off, just like more noble responsible Republicans would have done in the past.

Eisenhower tax rates were at 91% in order to pay off WWII.

He didn't want to leave the burden of WWII spending on future generations to pay for.

The current older Republicans need to be shamed for what they have done to our economy.

Not only have they taken everything for themselves, and left a pile of debt for the future, the want more more more!!!

Who the hell did they think were going to pay for their wars and Big Government programs on the credit card while they give themselves a tax cut?

I can assure you these rich assholes don't run their own finances this way.

Why are we letting them dump their crap on our children? This is unacceptable.

WE are in charge now, we need to take charge.

If these Republicans want to behave like three year olds me me me mine mine mine...we need to treat them like 3 year olds.

WE need to put them in the corner on a time out and let them think about what they have done.

The we need to ignore their whining and do what is right for the country.

The only way the government can raise revenue is taxes. The only way to pay down the debt is raising revenue.

We are going to have to raise taxes higher to take some of the money back that the 1%ers looted from the economy.

Raising taxes is the only way to pay down the debt. It is simple math, it is simple logic.

We need to explain this to Republicans slowly, but firmly. It's hard for them, but they might grasp it someday.

Either way, it is not our job to convince them we are right. We are the adults and we have to do what is right.

Did Bush ask our preference when he had a 'mandate'?



(of course the same media that has been lying to support Republicans for decades is still at work and we have done nothing to change that- are we waiting for the brainwashed Republicans to demand higher standards in our media?)

[RepublicansRZombies]

1. Are we afraid the Republicans might say rude things about us?

Are they controlling us with their bullying?


Because there is absolutely nothing we can do to make them happy.

They are miserable unhappy hypocritical assholes no matter what we do.


If we don't go on the offense, they will tie up the next four years trying to impeach Obama for Benghazi.

They are that immature and ridiculously absurd with their idiocy and hypocrisy...count on it.


We have to stop playing the victim and take charge.

Just because they are meaner and louder doesn't mean we should continue to let them control the debate.

And with their corporate media in control, they WILL continue to control the debate unless we do something.


What good is Obama winning, if they are going to continue to control everything?

[Zax2me]

2. President Kennedy CUT taxes on rich to raise revenue.

Fact.
Know it makes some heads spin but....
Fact.
Debate over.

[RepublicansRZombies]

4. JFK lowered taxes to 70%? because WWII was paid off, didn't need such high taxes anymore

Limbaugh has been using that lately, he thinks it's a great point.

JFK lowered taxes! yeah, to 70% from 91% under a Republican.

Fine, put it back to JFK's tax rate, no problem.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

3. We have a mandate to do what the President said he was going to do

Which never included raising taxes to Eisenhower-era rates.

[RepublicansRZombies]

5. WE the people! We the Democratic Party won!!

This is our party, not Obama's. This is our country, not the 1%ers and the corporate media.


I am suggesting that We the People push our politicians into doing what we want.

I am suggesting we take our power back, negotiate from a position of power.

WE THE PEOPLE!

FDR was forced by the people to act, he did not act alone.

Obama doesn't want to take the heat or the blame, he needs us to push him so he can say 'hey I'm answering to the people's demands'

[SickOfTheOnePct]

6. Do you believe that "WE THE PEOPLE!"

especially the lower and middle classes, would have voted for President Obama in the numbers they did if, instead of saying that our taxes would remain the same he had said "your taxes are going to double", which is exactly what you're proposing for the lowest bracket?

[RepublicansRZombies]

8. the economy is so bad, most people are in that low bracket which would not change

I'm sure that WE the People could agree that we will raise the rates to Eisenhower levels for the top 20% or so.

We'll figure it out, when we begin to negotiate from a position of power.

I invoke Eisenhower in order to bring in Republicans who might remember a day when their party was fiscally conservative.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

9. And they'll counter with JFK

who said the rates were too high and worked to lower them.

The top 20% of households in this country earn about $91,000...telling them that their taxes have to almost double would have lost this election for President Obama.

There is no mandate for raising taxes to Eisenhower-era levels.

[RepublicansRZombies]

11. the tax rates were 70 %, WAY HIGHER than today

And the US witnessed the best economic growth between the 40s and the 70s, under the highest tax rates.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

12. I understand that

but it doesn't change the fact that this is not what the President ran on and that there is no mandate for such steep tax increases.

[RepublicansRZombies]

13. I'm suggesting Obama is wrong (0h my gawd) and that he has just been trying to appease maniacs

He takes all the heat from these loud mouthed assholes so he has to appear moderate.

WE the People, just as we did in FDR's time, have to take charge and make demands of our government.

That is how a democracy works. This is not a dictatorship.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

15. So in other words

You want the Republicans to be able to run in 2014 with the line that President Obama lied about his tax plan just so that he could elected.

If that's true, then there is a reason why he lied - no way would he have won this election if he had said the he planned to return to Eisenhower-era tax rates. Why not? Because that isn't what the majority of people in this country want.

And THAT'S democracy in action.

[RepublicansRZombies]

16. Republicans lie either way. They have been saying Obama raised their taxes for the last 4 years

Who cares what liars and looters say anymore?

Social media has proven that the Republican party and the corporate media no longer control the truth.

If they complain about higher taxes, most intelligent people will understand we did it for the good of the country, and only a tiny percentage will complain.

They just happen to be the meanest and loudest and have been getting their way for too long...but we can just ignore them, like they have ignored the vast majority of America's needs for the last decades.

[SickOfTheOnePct]

18. Simple yes/no question

Do you believe that middle class voters would have voted for President Obama if he had told them that he planned to double their taxes?

[RepublicansRZombies]

19. what middle class? And I already said Eisenhower rates for the top 20%

The American people would have voted for Obama, no matter what.

He won in a landslide.

The media already lied repeatedly and it didn't work.

I think people would have supported the idea had he explained that our treasury had been looted and in order to pay down debt, revenue has to be collected.

Most people aren't as stupid as Republican party leaders.

I think the majority of Americans would rather see taxes raised on the top earners, than lose their health care and retirement they have been paying into their entire working lives.

I think the majority would rather raise taxes on the highest earners than watch the debt grow due to interest on Republican credit cards, only to have them blame us yet again for what they have done.

Obama has already said that he wants us to push him, let's push him! Let's make this about what WE the People want, so Obama doesn't have to take the blame/

[SickOfTheOnePct]

20. We'll just have to agree to disagree

Since I don't believe there is any way that President Obama would have been elected had he told the voters that he planned to double everyone's taxes.

There is simply no way that the majority of voters in the country would vote for that, and that includes the majority of Democrats.

[RepublicansRZombies]

23. If we had a functioning media, the people would be demanding tax hikes on the top earners

n/t

[SickOfTheOnePct]

24. You need to make up your mind

as you keep shifting what you want. First, you clamor to raise everyone's taxes, then you go back to raise anyone at $91,000+, then back to everyone, now to the "top earners", whatever that means.

Why don't you put down exactly what you think this mandate means, and then stick with it?

[RepublicansRZombies]

26. geez, I'm just brainstorming here, I'm not the president

[SickOfTheOnePct]

27. Thank God for that n/t

[RepublicansRZombies]

29. you and me both

I wouldn't want that job for all the money in the world

[leeroysphitz]

7. but but but... blue dogs! Keep the Powder dry! Lieberman!

[ladjf]

10. I don't disagree with the idea of returning to the Eisenhower tax rates. However, I favor

a graduated schedule. This allows the taxed to adjust to the new schedule and see that the tax plan is working for everyone.

[RepublicansRZombies]

14. I think we should shock and awe them. They sure created this debt in a hurry

Forcing wars and big government on us, expecting our children to pay for their looting.

It is time for us to stop playing nice with these sociopaths. It will never be enough. They will never be happy.

So we might as well just do what is right for the country.

[ladjf]

17. I don't disagree with your assessment of the terrible behavior of the Republicans. However,

I think that we could reach the good goal of fair tax rates quicker, with less rancor, by
moving toward it slower. In reality, it's going to be a major feat to raise the taxes on the rich even a little. So, our discussion is probably just academic.

We obviously can allow the so-call Bush tax cuts to expire and we can propose a new bill that would put the middle income earners back to the rates of the Bush plan. The Republicans, if they are dumb and crazy enough, just might do anything, including leaving the higher tax rates on the middle class while framing it as our fault.

It's going to be a rocky road. We have some leverage. Let's hope its enough to force the Pubs into some cooperation.

[RepublicansRZombies]

21. "it's going to be a major feat to raise the taxes on the rich even a little"

But why?

We have to take charge here, with social networks, and demand they do what is right.

It seems like everyone here is going to kick back and let the media and the Republicans control the narrative...yet again...

[ladjf]

22. My sympathies are with you all the way.

However, relating back to your sentence: "We have to take charge here, with social networks, and demand they do what is right. "

We can SAY that we have to take charge or we can DEMAND that they do what is right
but things we say and demand to do a thing to move the Republicans from their recalcitrant position. They will only move in the face of overriding power, a level of power that I don't think we (the Dems) have. If when had total control of both the Senate and the House, it would be a "piece of cake". It wouldn't even be necessary to either say or demand anything.

But, we're not a "toothless tiger" either. I think we are going to have to use the strategy used by good football teams, which is we have to take advantage of the opponent's weakness. We are dealing with Republican men who aren't very smart on average but are uncommonly stubborn to the point that they are willing to take losses just to prove their points. (in their minds)

Obama is smarter than they are and he will surround himself with some people with good brains. I believe that they will succeed in getting the tax code revised to our satisfaction. He will need to be much more forceful than he was during the first four years. He will have revise his "game" just as he did in the second and third debates.
You will recall that in debates 2 and 3, he took no crap off of Romney. Had there been a hundred more debates, he would have won them all.

I see his first term as "debate one" and the second term as debates 2 and 3. I think he will handle Boenner, Cantor and Turtle Man just as he did Romney. I will be disappointed if he starts giving stuff away in the name of compromise.

[RepublicansRZombies]

25. there has to be a way of shaming them into doing the right thing

If millions of Americans are making demands on Twitter and facebook, making demands of the media to tell the truth..eventually the Republican dinosaurs will be the last ones standing, and everyone will be laughing and pointing.

We need something like tar and feathers...only different...

(and Obama won all of the debates, as debates are scored by points made based on facts. The media was and still is the problem. The media has to change.)

[ladjf]

33. I hate to state the obvious but, Republicans appear to have no shame. nt

[PETRUS]

28. Your heart's in the right place.

There are plenty of good reasons for more progressive taxes, but now is not the time for deficit reduction.

[RepublicansRZombies]

30. there seems to be a direct correlation between high taxes and high economic growth

The lower the taxes, the worse the economy, the higher the debt...

When would be a good time?



You are worried about what Republicans say?

They make shit up and attack Obama no matter what he does, so he might as well do the right thing.

[PETRUS]

31. Thanks for asking.

A good time would be when we are at or near full employment (or running trade surpluses, maybe).

I'm very much in favor of raising taxes on higher incomes, but in today's economic conditions that needs to be offset with tax cuts elsewhere and/or increased spending. Otherwise people will suffer even more.

If you're game, read this and this and tell me what you think.

[RepublicansRZombies]

32. History shows higher tax rates on companies increases hiring, as companies seek to cut total income

They hire more, they buy more, they grow their business all in an effort to not pay taxes.

[PETRUS]

34. Taxes are half the story

My point is about the deficit, i.e. the difference between revenues and spending. Deficit reduction - aka austerity - is a recipe for disaster when so many people are out of work. We should be worried about unemployment, not deficits, and organize our thinking and policies around that.

[RepublicansRZombies]

35. if we raise corporate tax, they will hire more- THAT is what creates jobs

I'm thinking about jobs too.

Right now they are just hoarding money.

I am not suggesting austerity. I do suggest cutting Homeland Security,the TSA, the drug war, prisons for profit etc.

I also think we need to go back to putting Social Security in a lock box.

Who the hell told them they could take our retirements, use it in their general fund for wars and tax cuts, then tell us 'oops, we're out of money'.

[PETRUS]

36. Demand creates jobs.

Deficit reduction will reduce demand. Your OP suggests we use tax hikes for this purpose.

I take it you weren't in the mood for the reading I suggested a couple of posts back?