Our system is rapidly approaching a failure which must be addressed.

Economists continue to apply 'theroies' to the economic system that were never designed to work in a closed cycle GLOBAL environment...

(i.e. 'foriegn' has changed but the model has not).

Taxes are increasingly transfered to the 'workforce' portion of the model directly from the Governemt. (changes the angle of measure for all aspects of the model that are related to financial pressures... yet no one accounts for that).

Government itself has changed its 'angle' relative to the 'financial market' by assuming 'toxic' debt caused by speculation and the increasing 'distance' of Corporations (as taxes increase Corporations retreat from the measured market and 'money' takes longer to influence the market). (as government moves into the financial market that market no longer becomes a 'safe' place to put savings - and Government must 'stretch' its resources to maintain the workforce yet it is 'transferring' tax funds to that workforce - bad idea as the 'money' will eventually run out).

Labor supply becomes larger than labor demand, (Corporations have 'distanced' themselves from the market) which increase the need for Government to transfer additional 'funds' to the workforce (Government should NEVER transfer funds to the workforce it causes an 'imbalance' in the system).

Because the system is actually global the major import/export balance to the markets changes angle and becomes a transfer of 'assets' between the foreign and local financial markets. (which will further distance corporations from the system)...

it sprials...

this is a very simplfied version... but we are in trouble...

Because the system should be a broad based pyramid with the point up... but it is rapidly becoming a broad based pyramid resting upon the point. It will fall.

Good points there. The Austrian School economists (such as Tom Woods and the other economists at the Mises Institute) predicted the collapse long before it happened, and were ignored by Boobus Americanus and the political class. Hopefully, Americans will learn the lesson of the failure of warfare/welfare statism and central economic planning. However, history tells me that Boobus will probably not learn.

There is a game that illustrates that point exactly!

The game is called Tropico.



You run an Island called Tropico located somewhere in the Caribbean. You have to manage the workforce and economy of the island. That also entails trying to keep all five population factions happy enough to not boot yer azz from the island in a coup de tat. Sounds easy? Yeah! I own this game and frankly it is hard to even keep people in a simulation happy!

There is a tactic to balance the budget (and have fat to trim off) and that is balancing the cost of living to just high enough (usually sucking up most of the workforces' income) to offset their existence yet bankrolling a fat Swiss bank account for your retirement. I have played by several models, one of them was cutthroat and dirty. It costs but declaring someone a criminal and deporting them has staved off a coup de tat here and there but thank God for high paid troops! Bribes have saved my azz under those models. So far the best winning strategy was to try to maintain a fine balance of building and social spending. Income building comes first. You need to have industry to put people to work. The tourism dollars only come when you clean up and build enough on the island to attract tourists. Think that sounds easy? Yeah right! Each faction wants satisfaction NOW! And the worst part is you can't just snap your fingers and a church pops up to make the religious faction happy. If you don't get a High School built soon enough the Intellectual Faction starts trouble. You don't have any entertainment the Military faction gets real pissy and they are the ones you DON'T want to piss off!

This game is a challenge and a learning experience. One I would recommend for anyone who thinks they understand economics!

The critical failure is that the people who got the education and run this country do not evidently do well in history. I see shades of Rome and Roman arrogance all over again! our "Enlightenment" will be our downfall. With a deficit in trillions of dollars it seems all the bribes and graft will suddenly come to a crashing halt. we are being left wide open for the rise of an American tyrant! Obama sure qualifies for one in my book! I question the "truth" behind his birthplace, I question his objectives, I question the truth behind the electoral college. His incompetence drives me further and further from trusting him and he lost all trust with TARP II! Bush tossed the banks a Bone. Obama threw them the whole damn cow! And they pay us back how exactly? With Interest? And is it putting Americans to work? They paid the money back by printing more. No Interest. And NO It isn't.


Sad huh?

Oh, as far as the tyrant thing, Obama's failure will surely usher in a wolf in "savior" clothing!

And if some general gets a real hair across his azz? Decides to take troops loyal to him on a little march to DC... And impose say Martial law... ROME PART III!

Settle down there prophets of doom. This is not the end of the U.S. There will be no revolt here in America with the military vs. Obama. We are in a rough patch that yes the government is partially to blame but so are we as the people of this great nation. Everything has become about "right now". Nobody saves anymore, or waits for anything. Patience is a virtue. You have the power not them and you need to realize that. Vote the officials out of office that don't do what they were elected to do. Get out of debt. Don't buy that 2011 $60,000 vehicle when your paid off 2001 is stil running fine. Don't buy a house with 7 bedrooms when you're a family of 3. Common sense people and we need more of it.

"Common sense is not so common."

-Thomas Payne

budget crisis? Tax the rich duh.

This current crisis is all about how we cut taxes so we could stimulate growth didnt happen.

sO now what? do we tear up the floor boards and tear off the doors and burn the library books to keep warm? that is what the republicans would have us do by dismantling the infrastructure of this country rather than close some tax loopholes and tax the rich at a fair rate.

Taxing the rich will cause Corporate to distance itself further from the market.

It will limit savings from households from returning to Financial...

Forcing government to absorbe a larger portion of financial...

Resulting in a further 'gap' in labor supply versus labor demand...

reducing the atual amount of tax collected...

reducing the available cash flow of government.

forcing government to 'print' cash. Causing that cash to be of less value... Causing a further reduction in the available 'real' value cash flow, a reduction in 'real' savings to Finance, further 'distancing' of Corporate...

get the picture?

Now the world is a video game. Yikes!!! I think I'm beginning to understand where these libertarian ideas come from. At least the Mises Institute pretends to use reality as a backdrop for its Liberarian philosophy. At least Ayn Rand had the excuse of having lived through the totalitarian excesses of the Bolshevik Revolution for her bitter delusions about the nature of a Constitutional republic. Frankly, this is just a little bit terrifying.

So basicly only the middle class should face austerity? The rich who have seen their wealth grow and grow should not have to put back into the system that created their wealth? Nothing radical about returning the tax code to the pre Reagan era.

How about a flat tax, no loopholes, And corporations pay a higher tax rate to compensate for the other benefits they have enjoyed for so long. How about less government and less involvement in global politics too? Also we need to cut off all the foreign aid to hostile nations and nations who do not return anything to us in any way! We need to be better neighbors by making the rest of the world fix its own damn mess! China can play police force of the world for a change. let them eat financial shitte trying to keep the world in check!

flat taxes are always regressive.

The current attempts to 'redirect' the wealth has nothing to do with 'redirecting' it to the so called middle class... that is propaganda to 'sway' the middle class into voting for it...

What is actually happening is a 'redirecting' of the money and influence at the upper levels of 'rich' to a different set of 'rich folks'...

Middle class will still be middle class... they will just have a diferent set of 'landlords'... (the whole thing is a case of misunderstanding the people that make up the 'middle class').

In the process of 'fighting' over the position of 'landlord' both sides have forgotton who the real landlords are in this country...

WE THE PEOPLE.

Better explain that. It does not make any sense!

http://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2010/04/12/flat-tax-is-class-warfare

Read it and that is UTTERLY PREPOSTEROUS! To rely on an outdated and overly complicated tax system is not class warfare. This is nothing but dogmatic rhetoric with no substance or proof to substantiate any of the article's claims. If everybody paid their percentage and government was being financially responsible then once we had a surplus we could either improve our crumbling infrastructure properly or reduce taxation. The system we have now protects the rich more than makes them pay their fair share.

The real class warfare is what the DNC is using to keep us from seeing how evil they really are. Sorry but the DNC is wolves in sheep's clothing. they use illegal immigration to divide us by playing on our sensitivities! While we are so busy fighting over an issue as important as they are playing other games behind our backs. Sorry but a flat tax strips the games from paying in!

Our tax system is a huge shell game to bankroll power players!

You're welcome to your opinion. I have more time now, so I can explain it to you in more detail.

Flat taxes have a regressive impact for a couple or reasons.

First, a flat tax would have a serious impact on poor people's ability to buy the necessities. Food, rent, transportation to get to work, clothes; You know, all that "luxury" stuff. A flat tax has virtually NO impact on the ability of wealthy people to pay for necessities.

Second, I have already provided a chart that shows that, as taxes are now, they are only very slightly progressive. This is because the income tax is not the only tax that people have to pay.

Your chart does not include sales tax or any of the host of other taxes snuck in on our purchases. Also there has to be a poverty line that taxation is refrained from. Below 25K is not an unreasonable number but tax all income flatly after that point.

Now about the ability of the rich to pay... And how much of their earnings should they pay? A flat tax has to have structure. 10% below 100K of annual income, 15% below 1M annual earnings, and 25% over that number seems very fair in the grand scheme of things. Corporate profits should be taxed a flat 25%. Considering anyone making over 1M is subject to almost 48% of their earnings all said and done! So how hard are we supposed to punish the rich for achieving? You seem to confuse Old Money with New Money! Likewise all these "Poor" people stinking our country up think becasue someone earns more than them they deserve something as well for nothing. PFAHS!

Our tax system is the WORST in the world! We need to do away with all this misrepresented taxation! And your beliefs play right into the reason everything in this nation is so screwed up from! Yeah, the answer to America's woes is to plod along within the Status Quo. No real reform, no real change, just tepid and mediocre attempts at solving a far worst issue we face.

And you consider yourself progressive if I may ask????

OH! And this assumes there are no welfare warriors milking our benefits! Hearing, "I will make less working than I get from the government" is a LOAD OF SHITTE I Hear WAY TOO OFTEN!