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How to pay off the National Debt Now

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  • How to pay off the National Debt Now

    Here we go, in one fell swoop we can reset the dial to zero:

    1) Wealth tax - every individual with net assets of $1,000,000 and up pays 20% in a one-time wealth tax.
    That zeroes the national debt.

    2) Didn't need a second step, we're done here.
    Last edited by salmoned; November 14, 2012, 11:28 PM.
    May I always be found beneath your contempt.

  • #2
    Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

    Whew, thank goodness I've only got $999,999, I'm off the hook of having to pay anything. My overachiever cousin, who has $1,000,001 (two dollars more than me) has to pay $200,000.
    Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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    • #3
      Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

      Just a one time 20 % hit on rich people and the national debt is gone? Sounds worth it, really. A huge per-cent of the deficit, over 50 %, is due to the Bush tax cuts, mainly for the rich. Even for the super rich it makes NO sense to take down the whole economy.

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      • #4
        Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

        But the real problem is the deficit, not the debt. Romney had promised to eliminate the deficit over the course of his presumed 8 year term. Obama now proposes to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion. Notice that neither one was talking about the debt. So why don't you turn your talents to eliminating the deficit, instead of tackling a problem that no one really cares about?
        Greg

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        • #5
          Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

          Since the debt is the cumulative value of all previous surpluses and deficits, eliminating the debt would wipe the slate clean. No one could blame anyone in history for the current deficits, an increasing portion of which is servicing the debt. If you can't see the value, your vision needs improvement. In other words, this is bigger than merely balancing the budget for a hypothetical moment in the future.

          The other point I'm making here is that the government may be in debt, but the country is still enormously wealthy - well beyond our accrued debts. Both the debt and the deficit are small potatoes, not worthy of the attention they command. The wealthy focus attention on reducing government expenditures for the poor only to shift the focus away from their own low taxes and growing wealth at the expense of the poor and middle class. Rectifying that imbalance is the best means of strengthening our nation at this time.
          Last edited by salmoned; November 15, 2012, 11:40 AM.
          May I always be found beneath your contempt.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

            Without having to pay each year on the servicing cost of the national debt, it would be much easier to bring in a balanced budget.

            Q: Would eliminating the national debt essentially take care of the annual deficit(s)?

            If so, to heck with my cousin, hit him up for his 20%!
            Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

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            • #7
              Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

              Originally posted by Amati View Post
              Q: Would eliminating the national debt essentially take care of the annual deficit(s)?
              No. "Interest expense [on the national debt] will rise to 3.1 percent of gross domestic product by 2016, from 1.3 percent in 2010 ..." (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-0...to-record.html)*, while the 2011 deficit was 8.5% of gross domestic product (http://www.cbo.gov/publication/41586).

              *"Still, U.S. spending on debt service accounts for 1.7 percent of its GDP compared with 2.5 percent for Germany, 2.6 percent for the United Kingdom and a median of 1.2 percent for AAA rated sovereign issuers, according to a study by Standard & Poor’s published Dec. 24. Among AA rated nations, China’s ratio is 0.4 percent, while Japan’s is 2.9 percent, and for BBB rated countries, Mexico devotes 1.7 percent of its output to debt service and Brazil 5.2 percent, the report shows."
              Last edited by GregLee; November 15, 2012, 05:07 PM.
              Greg

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              • #8
                Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                Talk about cherry-picking quotes, from your first reference (but a little further into the article):

                "Debt-service costs will climb to 82 percent of the $757 billion shortfall projected for 2016 from about 12 percent in last year’s deficit, according to the budget projections."

                That means, the deficit would be reduced by 82% in 2016 if the debt was removed. That's from the article you selected. By cherry-picking data, you can argue any position and seem to make sense - how about matching apples with apples and oranges with oranges?
                Last edited by salmoned; November 15, 2012, 09:10 PM.
                May I always be found beneath your contempt.

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                • #9
                  Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                  The vast majority of the national debt was incurred by a very small number

                  of big time players.

                  When the hand went bad, they expected the man in the street to pay off

                  their bad bets.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                    Originally posted by salmoned View Post
                    That means, the deficit would be reduced by 82% in 2016 if the debt was removed.
                    I think you've lost the thread of discussion. To review, the question was whether eliminating the debt would "essentially take care of the annual deficit(s)." My answer was "No." If the deficit is reduced by 82% then there is still a deficit.
                    Greg

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                    • #11
                      Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                      A nice idea, but a bit unfair.

                      I have net assets of about that much, but half of that is my home. I could not come up with $20,000 without forfeiting my house. (or refinancing, though I could not pay off because I'm disabled).

                      I think a better idea is a flat tax on income - no deductions - 10% or whatever on your income (earned or unearned). The more you make, the more you pay.
                      Be Yourself. Everyone Else Is Taken!
                      ~ ~
                      Kaʻonohiʻulaʻokahōkūmiomioʻehiku
                      Spreading the virus of ALOHA.
                      Oh Chu. If only you could have seen what I've seen, with your eyes.

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                      • #12
                        Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                        I have wondered for a while what would happen if all debts were payed

                        Who would end up on top of the heap?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                          Originally posted by Kaonohi View Post
                          A nice idea, but a bit unfair.

                          I have net assets of about that much, but half of that is my home. I could not come up with $20,000 without forfeiting my house. (or refinancing, though I could not pay off because I'm disabled).

                          I think a better idea is a flat tax on income - no deductions - 10% or whatever on your income (earned or unearned). The more you make, the more you pay.
                          A rich person saying it's unfair because it would inconvenience them - why am I not surprised?
                          May I always be found beneath your contempt.

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                          • #14
                            Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                            So who should pay more to bring the balance down? Last night, I think on Independent Lens, an explanation of who holds the wealth was given. I cannot remember the exact source I was watching, but I did find the same info online:

                            Today the wealthiest 400 Americans own more wealth than the bottom half of America - 150 million people.
                            So, grouped, 400 people have wealth surpassing 150 million others.

                            And how about this on inheritance and estate taxes:

                            According to a study published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland, only 1.6% of Americans receive $100,000 or more in inheritance. Another 1.1% receive $50,000 to $100,000. On the other hand, 91.9% receive nothing (Kotlikoff & Gokhale, 2000). Thus, the attempt by ultra-conservatives to eliminate inheritance taxes -- which they always call "death taxes" for P.R. reasons -- would take a huge bite out of government revenues (an estimated $253 billion between 2012 and 2022) for the benefit of the heirs of the mere 0.6% of Americans whose death would lead to the payment of any estate taxes whatsoever (Citizens for Tax Justice, 2010b).
                            The average hard working Joe takes a beating. The super-rich are pampered.
                            Now run along and play, but don’t get into trouble.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: How to pay off the National Debt Now

                              Another reason to tax estates is that we really do not want to have an aristocracy here; a class of idle vastly wealthy who control the economy, the politics, and the lives of millions, tens of millions, of citizens. The revolution was all about throwing off aristocracy, we should not have an economic aristocracy any more than a royal aristocracy.

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