Bad news for deficit hawks

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/polic...get-office

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Well, this explains how AOC will pay for everything she wants. Just keep printing!

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Well, this explains how AOC will pay for everything she wants. Just keep printing!

...except that Cortez isn't responsible for this round of reckless spending.

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Got to spend money to make money! Doesn't look like it will get much better...

https://fcw.com/articles/2019/01/06/debt...eider.aspx

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If this government doesn't stop writing itself blank checks, we might as well paint the White House red for its new owners.

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If this government doesn't stop writing itself blank checks, we might as well paint the White House red for its new owners.

It's a never ending vicious cycle that can't be stopped. If this shutdown taught us anything, it's that the government could probably stand to cut some waste without people even noticing. It will never happen though.

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If this government doesn't stop writing itself blank checks, we might as well paint the White House red for its new owners.

It's a never ending vicious cycle that can't be stopped. If this shutdown taught us anything, it's that the government could probably stand to cut some waste without people even noticing. It will never happen though.

The sheer number of very simple ways to eliminate the IRS is amazing. Unfortunately, TurboTax pays very good money to make sure those ideas never make it to committee.

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It's a never ending vicious cycle that can't be stopped. If this shutdown taught us anything, it's that the government could probably stand to cut some waste without people even noticing. It will never happen though.

The sheer number of very simple ways to eliminate the IRS is amazing. Unfortunately, TurboTax pays very good money to make sure those ideas never make it to committee.

We'll have something like the IRS for as long as the government collects taxes.
But we could have most people's income tax computed automatically.  The idea that we have to fill out a form, that the IRS then checks, is a big waste. 
The IRS could computer-generate a report showing what we owe/ what refund we should get, and give us a period to look it over and dispute it in case it's wrong.
That way, maybe only 1 in 10 of us even has to think about taxes, rather than all of us.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.

The sheer number of very simple ways to eliminate the IRS is amazing. Unfortunately, TurboTax pays very good money to make sure those ideas never make it to committee.

We'll have something like the IRS for as long as the government collects taxes.
But we could have most people's income tax computed automatically.  The idea that we have to fill out a form, that the IRS then checks, is a big waste. 
The IRS could computer-generate a report showing what we owe/ what refund we should get, and give us a period to look it over and dispute it in case it's wrong.
That way, maybe only 1 in 10 of us even has to think about taxes, rather than all of us.

I agree that people with simple taxes that consist of 1 or 2 W-2's would be pretty easy to automate, but things get a lot more complicated when dealing with stocks and real estate. Paul Ryan's "do your taxes on a post card" seemed to be on the right track, but that kind of disappeared like a fart in the wind.

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The sheer number of very simple ways to eliminate the IRS is amazing. Unfortunately, TurboTax pays very good money to make sure those ideas never make it to committee.

We'll have something like the IRS for as long as the government collects taxes.
But we could have most people's income tax computed automatically.  The idea that we have to fill out a form, that the IRS then checks, is a big waste. 
The IRS could computer-generate a report showing what we owe/ what refund we should get, and give us a period to look it over and dispute it in case it's wrong.
That way, maybe only 1 in 10 of us even has to think about taxes, rather than all of us.

I kind of agree to this agency proactive point of view. They should have a pretty good estimate as to what each person owes. They could provide that with a tracking number so that it could be entered into a automated system with any changes. It does get a bit more difficult when there are investments, sales, etc. Perhaps simplify the code even more to bolster this method.

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We'll have something like the IRS for as long as the government collects taxes.
But we could have most people's income tax computed automatically.  The idea that we have to fill out a form, that the IRS then checks, is a big waste. 
The IRS could computer-generate a report showing what we owe/ what refund we should get, and give us a period to look it over and dispute it in case it's wrong.
That way, maybe only 1 in 10 of us even has to think about taxes, rather than all of us.

I kind of agree to this agency proactive point of view. They should have a pretty good estimate as to what each person owes. They could provide that with a tracking number so that it could be entered into a automated system with any changes. It does get a bit more difficult when there are investments, sales, etc. Perhaps simplify the code even more to bolster this method.

At the end of the day, I don't think the Federal Government is really interested in eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and you also have to imagine there is serious lobbying going on from tax preparation firms as well. 

I look at this the same way if there was a cure for cancer discovered. Would it actually be allowed to see the light of day? Think of the amount of jobs lost and the impact on big pharm. 

Government is scary.

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I kind of agree to this agency proactive point of view. They should have a pretty good estimate as to what each person owes. They could provide that with a tracking number so that it could be entered into a automated system with any changes. It does get a bit more difficult when there are investments, sales, etc. Perhaps simplify the code even more to bolster this method.

At the end of the day, I don't think the Federal Government is really interested in eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and you also have to imagine there is serious lobbying going on from tax preparation firms as well. 

I look at this the same way if there was a cure for cancer discovered. Would it actually be allowed to see the light of day? Think of the amount of jobs lost and the impact on big pharm. 

Government is scary.

Yeah that is huge. We all know government will always spend more, never less. Heck, before I retired, the end of the fiscal year brought about panic and useless spending just so we could show that we would always need more, not less. "Quick, you have $1.5M and 24 hours!" It was happening before me and I'm sure it is still happening. Rediculous.

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The underlying issue with the budget has little to do with federal workers or tax simplicity, 70% of the budget is Social Security, Medicare/Medicaid, Defense Spending couple that with decreased tax revenue. Hard choices need to be made to really make a significant difference.

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Deficit? Debt? That's so 2008 - 2016.

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The sun's not yellow, it's chicken.

At the end of the day, I don't think the Federal Government is really interested in eliminating hundreds of thousands of jobs, and you also have to imagine there is serious lobbying going on from tax preparation firms as well. 

I look at this the same way if there was a cure for cancer discovered. Would it actually be allowed to see the light of day? Think of the amount of jobs lost and the impact on big pharm. 

Government is scary.

Yeah that is huge. We all know government will always spend more, never less. Heck, before I retired, the end of the fiscal year brought about panic and useless spending just so we could show that we would always need more, not less. "Quick, you have $1.5M and 24 hours!" It was happening before me and I'm sure it is still happening. Rediculous.

I can confirm that this is a thing among government contractors. My wife worked at a research facility that received a number of grants from the federal government, and the rules were practically written to encourage waste. If there was one penny left in the grant, they had to do a complete accounting of where every dollar went. If the grant was fully spent, no audit was needed.

That facility got itself a new coffee maker and a boatload of chairs every 6 months or so.

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But wait. I thought those big tax cuts were going to fix the deficit. What happened?

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Got to spend money to make money! Doesn't look like it will get much better...

https://fcw.com/articles/2019/01/06/debt...eider.aspx

Not when you're in a massive hole of debt. You can't spend money you don't have. It's time to stop spending and assess the entire budget. Some things are gonna have to get cut or else this country is gonna get repossessed by the Chinese.

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Got to spend money to make money! Doesn't look like it will get much better...

https://fcw.com/articles/2019/01/06/debt...eider.aspx

Not when you're in a massive hole of debt. You can't spend money you don't have. It's time to stop spending and assess the entire budget. Some things are gonna have to get cut or else this country is gonna get repossessed by the Chinese.

Our whole monetary system is based on spending money we don’t have! Stop believing everything you hear by the chicken littles. China holds a very small portion of our overall debt. Heck, Japan holds more of our debt than China. Most debt is some form of securities, not foreign. Ultimately, I do agree the spending needs to slow but that is not how a Dem controlled House works or our goverment in general unfortunately.

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But wait.  I thought those big tax cuts were going to fix the deficit.  What happened?

It’s called spending more than the revenue being brought in. Those tax cuts did in fact increase revenues but the federal budget is outpacing. Doubling Medicare/Medicaid in less than 10 years doesn’t help. The Dems control the house so we’ll see how spending goes. Hint...it isn’t going down!

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Not when you're in a massive hole of debt. You can't spend money you don't have. It's time to stop spending and assess the entire budget. Some things are gonna have to get cut or else this country is gonna get repossessed by the Chinese.

Our whole monetary system is based on spending money we don’t have! Stop believing everything you hear by the chicken littles. China holds a very small portion of our overall debt. Heck, Japan holds more of our debt than China. Most debt is some form of securities, not foreign. Ultimately, I do agree the spending needs to slow but that is not how a Dem controlled House works or our goverment in general unfortunately.

You're correct.
Debt is a monetary tool.
But there is still such a thing as too much, and having too much can cause inflation.
This level of deficit creation during low unemployment is going to create inflation.  It has already raised interest rates.  
The political donor class mostly loves high interest rates; more of them live off the fat of the land.  The ones who over leverage themselves like Trump did are more rare.  Trump wants low interest rates.  The people above him want high.

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My fellow southpaw Mark Brunell will probably always be my favorite Jaguar.