Newt's mind-boggling tax plan

[JoeTheJuggler]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/12/news/economy/newt_gingrich_taxes/index.htm

Tax Policy Center calls his plan "mind boggling".

It would cut revenues by $1.3 trillion (in just the year 2015)! That's about the amount of deficit reduction over a 10 year period that the Super Committee couldn't come up with.

Think Congress would be able to come up with something like $13 trillion in spending cuts?

 

[Unabogie]

When these people pretend to care about the deficit, they're lying. It's that simple.

 

[Puppycow]

Completely unbelievable.

He knows it won't happen. He's just trying to outbid the others.

What's he going to cut to pay for it all?

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

Well. . .since Newt now promises to remain faithful to his wife, and he blamed his past infidelities on his overpowering love of country, I can only suppose that Newt now doesn't care about his country. (I'd love to hear someone ask that question, "Mr. Gingrich, would you put your marriage ahead of the good of the country?")

Also, we have his past actions in the brinksmanship-in-place-of-compromise in the government shutdown, so I think maybe this tax policy is intended to be the end of the federal government (that is, the end of the United States).

 

[The Central Scrutinizer]

When these people pretend to care about the deficit, they're lying. It's that simple.

Pretty much.

 

[MattusMaximus]

Gingrich knows there is not a snowball's chance in hell that this kind of idiocy will ever come to pass, though he will continue to throw this red meat out to the Tea Party in the hopes that he'll lock up the nomination. This is yet more evidence that the GOP has gone down the rabbit hole and is looking for a shovel to dig ever deeper, and it is this kind of stupidity dominating the Republican party which has put me off them for the forseeable future.

The silver lining here is that come the general election, most reasonable people will look at Newt and take a pass on him.

 

[eeyore1954]

http://money.cnn.com/2011/12/12/news/economy/newt_gingrich_taxes/index.htm

Tax Policy Center calls his plan "mind boggling".

It would cut revenues by $1.3 trillion (in just the year 2015)! That's about the amount of deficit reduction over a 10 year period that the Super Committee couldn't come up with.

Think Congress would be able to come up with something like $13 trillion in spending cuts?

To balance what level of spending we would have to go to? Back to the spending levels we were at just a short period ago?

 

[WildCat]

What's he going to cut to pay for it all?

Since when has either party cut anything to pay for something?

 

[ZirconBlue]

What's he going to cut to pay for it all?

Everything.

 

[BenBurch]

Completely unbelievable.

He knows it won't happen. He's just trying to outbid the others.

What's he going to cut to pay for it all?

Well-proven campaign technique; Promise whatever will get you elected, and once you are elected, you pretend you never did.

 

[jnelso99]

Everything.

Except defense, of course.

 

[MattusMaximus]

Except defense, of course.

Oh yeah, that and the Faith Based Initiatives. Oh, and corporate subsidies...

 

[daenku32]

Oh yeah, that and the Faith Based Initiatives. Oh, and corporate subsidies...

But them food stamps....ending them would be enough to eliminate at least $42 trillion per year in wasteful spending.

[/sarcasm]

 

[Undesired Walrus]

What's with the Republican near universal obsession with cutting taxes? Paying tax seems to be one of the more responsible things you do in life, which plays well with the traditional Republican platform of responsibility.

 

[jj]

They want these cuts so that "we have to eliminate all social programs because we can't afford them".

That really is exactly what it's all about, a ploy to eliminate all support for people in crisis, bad health, etc, on a faux basis of budget.

Increase the SS retirement age by 2 years under 40, dump the bush tax cuts, and dump the bush spending on military and we're solvent to 2050. Geeze, folks.

 

[Bri]

What's with the Republican near universal obsession with cutting taxes? Paying tax seems to be one of the more responsible things you do in life, which plays well with the traditional Republican platform of responsibility.

Taxes give the government more money, and more money means bigger government. Unless you use the money to pay down the debt, but we all know government can't be trusted to do that! Better to just starve the beast.

-Bri

 

[JoeTheJuggler]

To balance what level of spending we would have to go to?

We are and have been deficit spending for some time now. How exactly is humongous revenue cuts (seriously, we're talking about cuts very nearly equal to total revenue for 2009) going to help bring the budget into balance?

Back to the spending levels we were at just a short period ago?

When was that? You mean maybe when Bush was getting us into expensive elective wars? Or maybe back in the '40s?

Revenues have already been decreasing fairly dramatically in recent years, but what Newt's suggesting would be unprecedented. Again, it'd be like coming up with spending cuts in one year that the Super Committee couldn't agree on for a 10 year period.

http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxfacts/displayafact.cfm?Docid=200

 

[BenBurch]

What's with the Republican near universal obsession with cutting taxes? Paying tax seems to be one of the more responsible things you do in life, which plays well with the traditional Republican platform of responsibility.

Maybe it is the only thing that they have left that does not seem insane to a casual listener?

 

[MattusMaximus]

Increase the SS retirement age by 2 years under 40, dump the bush tax cuts, and dump the bush spending on military and we're solvent to 2050. Geeze, folks.

Yup, the math isn't particularly hard. We just need to elect politicians with the balls to do what's needed.

 

[BenBurch]

Yup, the math isn't particularly hard. We just need to elect politicians with the balls to do what's needed.

It's all those sub-standard private schools the Republicans send their children to.