Should Uncle Sam raise tax rates?
Keep them the same?
I'm curious what you would propose.
No, raising taxes is not an option. However, the current GOP plan will only grow the deficit by huge margins. On corporate taxes alone, corporate growth would have to amount to a 43% increase just to match the current revenue stream. That is wholly unrealistic.
I think we should reform the tax code to simplify it, but, let's be honest: The US doesn't need tax cuts; it already has the second lowest tax burden (South Korea is first) in the industrialized world.
As some have pointed out, the economy is robust. For eight years now we have seen steady growth under the current tax rates. The economy is not bound in chains as Paul Ryan claims. Would cutting taxes encourage more growth? Probably but I think there isn't that much further to go when we are already posting 3%+ growth a year.
Bottom line is whether the short-term gains, which may be modest, outweigh the long-term gutting of revenue that won't be made up with increased corporate profits. Given the looming costs of Baby-Boomer retirement, as well as the specter of high national debt loads in the First World, the cuts as currently proposed would leave the US completely unable to cope with an economic crisis. Already diminished revenue would be cratered further if the corporate sector struggles due to an economic downturn. The US would have to increase the deficit dramatically to make ends meet.
I think we can keep current rates, perhaps with a modest 5% or so cut on corporate taxes, coupled with real spending cuts would allow the US flexibility to withstand a downturn.
We can change the code to give cuts to smaller businesses owned by the Middle Class rather than continuously favoring large corporations that are far more likely to move profit off-shore and embrace methods that allow them to reduce their workforces.
We must find ways to cut unnecessary spending.
The first place we can save money is ending the fucking war in Afghanistan and our other Middle Eastern adventures. It is a money pit with no return.
And, this may be a controversial opinion, but I think there is one thing we can do to spark an even larger boom: Forgive a significant portion of the student debt load.
Why? Simply put, the largest demographic cohort in this country is not contributing much to the consumer economy. Their wealth is being sequestered in student debt which is owned by the government. They are not buying homes, they are not buying cars. They aren't buying the things that comes along with home ownership. They are getting married and having fewer kids later. Reducing debt by half would double their spending power. It would be "trickle-up" economics.