I have touched on this topic on several occasions recently but I think the magnitude and frequency of things that have happened in the past 3-4 years that have eroded our collective trust have elevated this issue to a crisis level. Madoff.....the housing fiasco.......etc...etc... The first presidential candidate that comes along who can project a trusting image will win the election hands down. If the GOP wants to keep on keepin on with the same ol rhetoric they are missing out on a great opportunity because trust is not one of the GOP's strongsuit.. The "trust" factor will decide the next election......count on it.
The GOP will continue to get bogged down in the social issues like abortion rights and gay marriage, issues that are private and for the most part unenforceable legislation. Bachmann is already starting to get distracted by it. Party affiliation means less than nothing to me at this point. I'm looking for a leader.
Bachmann is going to be destroyed by social views IMHO. Also she just comes off badly with her whole founding fathers rants on slavery.
After witnessing just a few days of heavy exposure following her announcement of her candidacy, I have to agree with Terry. She is woefully unqualified for the rigors of a presidential race. IMO she peaked with her reply to Chris Wallace then began her long downhill slide.
I agree. She has a penchant for quick responses and statements that are often erroneous or ill conceived. With that said, Obama guessed his oldest daughter's age wrong yesterday...... where is that teleprompter when you need it? My dream ticket would be Rick Perry and Chris Christie. Two guys who can see the problems clearly and don't care who they piss off to fix them.
Obama is going to get a pass from the media on his gaffes. He could misspell potato and get away with it.
Most politicians get into trouble when they speak off the cuff about things that they are unprepared to talk about and/or have sketchy knowledge about the topic. Bachmann now that she is running will be vetted on everything she says and when she makes a mistake they (press) will pounce.
This election season is going to be fun, thanks to our prime time resident commentators, Gip and JO'Co. There are others here who also are very entertaining, but IMO Gip and JO'Co are the Chet Huntley and Walter Cronkite of the Skybox. I think I'll just sit back and enjoy the action. That expresses clearly the point I was trying to make about her being unprepared for the meat grinder.
More lies from Obama... Washington Examiner — At Wednesday’s Twitter Town Hall, President Obama claimed: “We actually now have the lowest tax rates since the 1950s. Our tax rates are lower now than they were under Ronald Reagan. They’re lower than they were under George Bush — senior or George Bush, junior.” This statement is false. According to The Tax Foundation’s Federal Individual Income Tax Rates History table, the top marginal tax rate is currently 35 percent. In 1992, under President George H.W. Bush the top marginal rate was 4 points lower than today’s rate at 31 percent. In 1988, under President Ronald Reagan the top marginal rate was 7 points lower than today’s rate at 28 percent. It is true, however, that tax revenues collected as a percentage of GDP are at historic lows. A February 7th Associated Press article did report, “Actually, as a share of the nation’s economy, Uncle Sam’s take this year will be the lowest since 1950, when the Korean War was just getting under way. . . . In the current budget year, federal tax receipts will be equal to 14.8 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, or GDP, the lowest level since Harry Truman was president.” But the AP went on to report that the recession and tax loopholes, not lower tax rates, were the cause of the revenue drop: “The poor economy is largely to blame, with corporate profits down and unemployment up. But so is a tax code that grows each year with new deductions, credits and exemptions.”
It's pretty simple. The lower the tax rate, the higher the tax revenue. And the inverse is true as well as people shelter income or hide it and the black market economy blossoms. The Dems do not understand this. The GOP says they do but are timid and concerned about their own pork barrel projects and re-elections to take bold action. It is estimated that businesses and some wealthy individuals keep trillions of dollars "off shore" becuase our business tax rates nad double taxation methods are so high and punitive. The Dems don't understand that either.
Much like water and electrical current, capital/money will always flow to where it is treated best, with least resistance and/or expectation of greater returns...... Where the tax and regulatory burden is high or where embedded cost structures prohibit adequate returns on investment, there will be outflows towards those areas with lesser burdens or the promise of greater returns...... If you create a material regulatory burden in the US, capital will flow overseas.....if you tax earnings on overseas profits upon their return to the US, the capital will stay overseas.....states with higher tax burdens, more difficult regulatory climates and/or higher labor costs will stand by and watch as investment capital, jobs and economic growth go elsewhere...... The idiots in this administration along with the entirety of that bloated mill-stone of a federal bureaucracy in Washington can lie and spin their way to election victories, the inevitable flows of investment capital, economic growth and job creation shall continue - like water going downhill - unabated towards the promise of greater reward......