Tax increases help the economy how?  More money to the government, less disposable income.  Oh yeah, the government will give us everything we want and need. 

I forgot, send me to re-education camp.

BTW...long time reader, first time commenting.

"Well, I think that there's no doubt that letting the Bush tax cuts on the top 1 percent lapse would not have, I think, a significant impact on the economy, but would bolster our fiscal situation," Obama said.

Wow, either he is a dolt or deceiver. Is he really that economically challenged to realize the purpose of taxation is to put a brake upon the economy or is he talking out of both sides of his mouth? 

bolster our fiscal situation

Bolster whose fiscal situation?  The economy or the federal budget?  Certainly not the economy, as anyone who knows anything about economics realizes when you (government) take money from the individual there is less of it to invest or spend, hence resulting in a decrease in the GDP. 

letting the Bush tax cuts on the top 1 percent lapse

So is he saying he is only going to allow the top 1% to not have the Bush tax cut and let the rest of us keep it or is he saying that the Bush tax cut only benefits the top 1%?  Yeah, right to both, I'll believe that when pigs fly.  No one could possibly be this obtuse.

Hanlon's Razor: Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. dscott's corollary: The line between malice and stupidity is called depraved indifference.

Never mind facts and critical analysis, I promise to govern based on how people feel.  Wow, I'm truly inspired. <sarc off>  What planet does this guy come from and how can so many people buy into his empty rhetoric?  When more of my take home pay is taken and redistributed  I may "feel" like investing elsewhere.  What will Obama say when he is confronted by real technical economic definitions?

Wants to raise taxes? I bet he's fairly itching to raise taxes. Because that's what liberals do...that, and spend money...

On ending the year 2000.. just to refresh the memory of the "I don't and never did want to know press:"

We were heading into a recession.

The Nasdaq was down 58% from it's March 2000 high.

$ 8-10 Trillion in equity was being lost.

Millions of Americans would loose their life savings and their children's college fund.

The wealth gap - between the very rich and the worker had reaced a level not seen since in 60 years.

The job market had dried up.

Most econonomic stats were, and had been heading south all year long.

Illegal immigration was on the rise.

Millions (about 9 million more) had become uninusred than when Clinton was elected - let's call this "Hillary Care."

The corporate and accounting fraud that helped fuel the bubble economy had come unglued. Many would go to jail.

The 9/11 plan was almost completed after several years of planning.

The CA energy crisis - well, the media thought it was a crisis, but after more than a half a year of it, they were relieved that soon they could blame it all on Bush.

Millions of Americans were starting to loose their jobs because of the collapse of the bubble economy.

Hundreds of companies were closing their doors.

As a result of all of this, federal and state tax revenue would be slashed - why?  Bonuses would disappear, folks loosing their jobs would loose their taxable income, corporate profits would go to zip. Over the next 3 years a $trillion in tax revenues would be lost thrusting the budget into deep deficits. The the Bush tax cuts and Iraq war costs added slightly to this, but only at the end of the shift to deficits.

Clinton's ole buddy from Indonesia (via their friendship in Ark), and a staple in the Clinton White House, was soon to receive the largest fine ever handed out by the US Department of justice for Campaign fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. 

And in Africa, where the promise of Never Again had been heard following Rwanda, millions of lives were being taken in the DR Congo in a conflict that began in 1998, Darfur was heating back up, Sierra Leone and the Ivory Coast had left their trail of blood, and the Global Aids pandemic continued unabated, until, well, until about when George Bush decided to commit the by far largest funding ever proposed.

I think I'm going to tear up. We need change - back to the criminality and the complacency and the corporate greed of the Clinton years. 

"Even when the economy looked like it was doing well on paper and Wall Street was flush with cash, people feel that they're working harder for less."

Stop with the damn generalizations!  If people feel that they're working harder for less they should probably change jobs! 

This is from Neal Boortz's "The Democrats' Secret Plan for America."

On the subject of taxation, he says (emphasis added) their goal is to:

Remove a majority of voters from responsibility for income taxes [......] The idea is simple. Using "refundable" tax credits and deductions and such ideas as the fraudulent Earned Income Tax Credit the Democrats are working to shift the entire burden for the payment of federal income taxes onto a minority of US taxpayers. Right now the top 50 percent of taxpayers pay almost 96 percent of the taxes. The Democrats are close to their goal. When the majority of voters have no federal income tax liability it will be almost impossible to pass any meaningful tax cuts – and further tax increases will be a piece of cake, especially if the taxes only affect those to be considered to be rich. Through this ploy the Democrats plan to create a defeat-proof socialist congress.

Doesn't this sound like where the Democrats are trying to go?

"We contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is
like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
-- Winston Churchill

"Even when the economy looked like it was doing well on paper and Wall Street was flush with cash, people feel that they're working harder for less."

Sweet merciful crap, what a lightweight! Can anyone name any period in the history of the world where someone doesn't "feel" they were working harder for less?

Maybe "some people" feel that way because they've been raised with a sense of entitlement, thanks to the kind of idiot economic bromides that Barack is peddling now. I guarantee those people are doing better now than they would be if there was an actual recession, Barry. 

Instead of debating Hillary and John Edwards, why don't we stage a debate between Obama and Thomas Sowell. He might actually win a primary because Sowell would make him cry on national TV.

Better yet, instead of debating each other shouldn't ALL the candidates be interviewed by actual experts on economic and national security issues.

I would love to see any of these candidates from either party on TV being grilled by Sowell and Tommy Franks. Any candidate who came out looking good would probably deserve to be president.

What do you guys think?

"an endorsement of communism is an endorsement of slavery"

Raising taxes to lower other costs - how exactly will that help? Isn't it just a shifting of expenses from one area to another?

Why is it that none of these political pundits are wise enough to understand that a flat-tax system would not only eliminate all of these "loopholes," but actually lower taxes for most people and gain larger income for the government at the same time?

Oh, I'm especially happy (note the sarcasm, please) to think about even *more* tax dollars going to provide free insurance to people, should the liberal party win. I don't have any insurance, I'm 100% against insurance, and I certainly would never even dream of taking the people's money to cover my expenses.

It is becoming more and more like Brave New World - "Everyone works for everyone else. We can't do without even one."

I'm awfully glad I'm a Beta...