Should the government raise taxes to deal with the deficit?
FROM CNN’s Jack Cafferty:
With a $9 trillion deficit facing this country over the next 10 years, it is almost inevitable that taxes will have to go up at some point. The questions are: When and by how much? The answers are probably soon and a lot.
As the government continues to spend more than it takes in, it keeps borrowing more – especially from overseas. These countries, like China and Japan, pretty much own us and can demand higher interest rates or decide to put their money somewhere else.
Experts say if that happened, taxes would shoot sky high in the U.S. and the government would only be able to provide the most basic public services while the social safety net would “evaporate.”
The problem with raising taxes now is we’re still fighting our way out of a recession, and most economists think that’s the wrong time to make people shell out more.
For his part, President Obama is promising to keep taxes low for most people. The president’s plan to raise taxes on only the wealthiest is estimated to raise about $600 billion over the next 10 years – but that’s only a drop in the bucket when you consider a $9 trillion deficit during that same time.
Tax experts suggest Congress will eventually have to take pretty drastic measures, like making the entire tax system less complicated. Also, income tax revenue alone likely won’t be enough to raise the money we’ll need, which is why some suggest a value-added tax on all goods and services.
Here’s my question to you: Should the government raise taxes to deal with the deficit?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Paul from Canada writes:
In Canada, we had a similar debt problem back in the early 90’s, our liberal government began increasing taxes and cutting back programs to specifically pay down our debt. It took over a decade to reap results, but now our economy is back on stable footing and we had some leeway to absorb the cost of our recent stimulus bill. It takes time, but the only course of action is to honor your debts and start paying them back or else you’ll start running out of creditors. It’s called realism.
Ken writes:
Taxes need to be raised to the pre-Reagan era levels: 60% for incomes from 250k to 1 million and 75% for incomes above 1 million. In addition, we need to cut military spending 10%, eliminate farm aid, cancel all NASA space flights, remove the 100k cap on Social Security payroll taxes, and stop providing Medicaid for persons who own homes and have IRA accounts above $1,500. We are a sinking ship and we will go down unless politicians take immediate and drastic actions.
Denny writes:
Raise taxes? Absolutely not! Government should have to learn to manage with the tax revenue that they currently collect. There is too much mismanagement and waste going on already. Increasing taxes will only give government more money to mishandle. They need to The best water damage restoration and cleanup company in Fort Lauderdale FL make due with what they have.
Phil writes:
Yes, taxes should be raised and it should be a VAT tax or sales tax. This would catch the billions lost in the “underground” economy!
Charles writes:
Of course government should raise taxes. It should start by immediately repealing the tax reductions passed during the Bush years. If we want to fight foreign wars, finance farm welfare, help people buy Japanese cars, and attempt to give everyone health care, we have to pay for it. It is unbelievable that there are so many Americans that think this is all free.
Insightful Views 