The American government has struggled with the issue of taxes and the budget for over a hundred years. Class conflict, adversarial political parties, and convoluted economic philosophies have resulted in a never-ending debate over taxation. The New York Times newspaper article, “Senate Panel Vote Backs Budget Plan”, from June 1993, discusses the current feelings of the time in regards to the budget and taxation. Moreover, the article mentions factors such as democrat-republican debate, trickle down economics, and high verse low taxes for the middle class. The issues discussed in this 1993 article differ only slightly from the taxation conversation of today. However, now in 2011, we face a budget crisis that threatens the American economy and lifestyle. Consequently, the United States needs a solution to the current bureaucratic backup, which impedes long lasting forward progress.
The June 1993 New York Times article, discusses the debate between Republicans and Democrats over the issue of the budget. The Democrats, remaining true to their ideology, argued for tax increases on the rich, while the poor received tax cuts. They also proposed a variety of spending cuts, which would reduce the budget deficit by $508 billion in five years. The Republicans in 1993 were the minority in Congress, and thus were unable of enacting many of their of their ideas. Consequently, they opposed the Democrats ideas on taxation and spending cuts. The Republicans desired lower taxes on the wealthy, and stated that the spending cuts were not based on factual calculations. The debate between the two parties occurred due to their contrasting economic, political, and moral philosophies. The Republicans support lower taxes on the rich because of a theory k...
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.... Furthermore, the people of America have due to tradition come to expect low taxes and multitude of services for their benefit. Such service come at a large that cost, which the current tax system cannot support; thus, sacrifice must be made in order to achieve a balanced budget. The varying problems impeding the creation of a solution to the budget problem have yet to have a toll on the American public. However, with each passing day, the debt rises and confidence in the American system fades. Europe in the past few months has displayed the dangers of having an out of control deficit. While the United States has an excellent track record with adversity and crises, a solution should be made before a crisis forms. The current problem requires the support of the American people and politicians, and sacrifice and compromise are vital parts any meaningful resolution.
Lofgren, Mike. The Party Is Over: How Republicans Went Crazy, Democrats Became Useless, and the Middle Class Got Shafted. New York: Viking, 2012. Print
Fairlie, Henry. The Parties: Republicans and Democrats in This Century. New York: The New Republic Magazine, 1978.
Many argue that Reagan “enacted irresponsible tax giveaways for the rich…[starving] the federal government of revenue [which] led to unprecedented deficits.” There is no doubt that “today’s budget deficits [can] impoverish our descendants.”1
Our current system of taxation is a varied rate percentage based on different income brackets. Many say that it violates our constitutional rights through unequal taxation. Multiple deductions, loopholes, special rates, and a complex system of regulations all characterize our Federal Income Tax System, prompting many to question why it is still being used (Peters, 2013). The current system although bringing in over $3 trillion, taxes income multiple times, and includes the taxing of estate, labor, savings, and investments (National Priorities Project, 2013). The system itself is complex with over 20,000 pages of regulations, requiring a massive filing system, which is set up and maintained by an even larger IRS, requiring over $225 billion in compliance costs (Hall, 2001). One can be hard pressed to find an advantage in the current system, other than the fact that it provides the government with an enormous amount of funds, and it has...
Political gridlock and dysfunction is a central aspect of studying Congress because it determines a huge part about how they function and their general effectiveness. When it comes to the political landscape in the United States, law-making and legislation ultimately comes down to what the Senate and the House of Representatives vote on and how they vote. Gridlock has been studied for years because of how it has changed the political landscape essentially from the beginning. The Jacksonian Era in the mid 1800’s shifted the way that political parties operated and from then on a two party system has been a critical part of American politics. The winner-take-all format of elections in the United States, along with the increasing importance of
During the study of various reforms that were proposed and denied, both the GOP and Democrats attempted to find a balance that would guarantee the success of their proposals. Years of research, growing ideologies, political views and disregard for the country's constitution sparked an array of alternatives to solve the country's healthcare spending. The expenditure of US healthcare dollars was mostly due to hospital reimbursements, which constitute to 30% (Longest & Darr, 2008). During the research for alternatives, the gr...
Many ponder the idea of federal taxes and whether the wealthy deserve to pay a higher percentage rate of their overall income. That is, they argue that because our society needs more equality and a lower national budget deficit, taxes on the rich must be raised. This specific topic has been discussed for decades, and due to the severely different perspectives, it is unclear whether the two sides will ever come to an agreement. President Barack Obama and much of the Democratic Party strongly lean towards raising taxes on the rich, while the conservatives and the Republican Party heavily lean towards a more balanced flat tax. However, after extensive research and focus on what would be best for the equality of individuals, the nation and its economy, this paper will firmly prove that the top one percent should not be taxed any more than they are today.
Economics is the study of currency and how it is made and distributed through our economy. Taxation is one of those main issues in this category. The Democrats and Republicans both consider taxation a major issue but both have different ways they are trying to deal with the problem. The Democrats believe that extending tax cuts to the middle class families of America that make less than 250,000$ a year while raising taxes on the extremely wealthy and huge corporations to help parents pay for college (“Democrats Unveil”). While the Republican Party says it would “try to eliminate taxes on interest, dividends and capital gains altogether for lower and middle-income taxpayers also would work to repeal the estate tax and the alternative minimum tax” (“Democrats Unveil”). They both want to change the tax policy to try to help pay off our debt and or help Americans to live an easier life. Another Key issue in this category is Medicare. Both parties believe that the Medicare policy should be changed. "Democrats adamantly oppose any efforts to privatize or voucherize Medicare" when the Republicans pledge...
The national debt is usually a frightening topic citizens of any country, however, in the United States, twenty trillion dollars of national debt is one of the major fears of the economy. Along with this fear comes every politician claiming to be the person to lower this astronomical debt to ease concerns in the modern American economy. In Hamilton’s Blessing, John Steele Gordon tries to alleviate these concerns by showing a plethora of benefits and good the debt has been able to do throughout the history of the United States. The central premise of the book and the main guideline for John Steele Gordon’s thinking is that the debt was used to save the Union in the 1860’s, the American economy in the 1930’s, and the wellbeing of mankind during
This paper will take a close look at the concepts of the "flat tax," and look at the possible benefits and potential failings. Although there is a basic format to the flat tax, there are multiple flat tax proposals that have been offered by conservatives. Along with critiquing the basic format of the flat tax, this paper will compare an...
In the United States there are four social classes : the upper class, the middle class, the working class, and the lower class. Of these four classes the most inequality exists between the upper class and the lower class. This inequality can be seen in the incomes that the two classes earn. During the period 1979 through the present , the growth in income has disproportionately grown.The bottom sixty percent of the US population actually saw their real income decrease in 1990 dollars. The next 20% saw medium gains. The top twenty percent saw their income increase 18%. The wealthiest one percent saw their incomes rise drastically over 80%. As reported in the 1997 Center on Budget's analysis , the wealthiest one percent of Americans ( 2.6 million people) received as much after-tax income in 1994 as the bottom 35 percent of the population combined (88 million people). But in 1977 the bottom 35 percent had about twice as much after tax income as the top one percent. These statistics further show the disproportional income growth among the social classes. The gr...
Krugman points out how despite the obvious and ever growing gap between the rich and middle class in terms of wealth increase, Republicans tend to vote for tax cuts for the rich and for decreases in funding for programs that benefit the middle and lower classes of society, such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Cutting funds for these services puts the middle and lower classes at even more of a disadvantage than they already were. Meanwhile, the rich receiving more tax cuts means they receive more money, furthering the economic wealth gap and increasing the money they can spend to influence politics. Krugman suggests the solution to the problem is increasing taxes on the
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"Europe must prevent Greece from becoming an out-and-out catastrophe and make sure that the same fiscal 'remedy' is not applied to other weak economies" -- MEP, Franziska Brantner.
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