To pay now, or pay more later'? That is the question!?

Question

Is it better to tax wage-earning Americans to pay for the war in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq, or continue to borrow money from China....money we gave them in exchange for their junk....or simply raise taxes? If you raise taxes you pay once...if you borrow, you have to pay back with interest. I'm inclined to give up on both of these wars and neither tax OR borrow, but I'm sure a lot of you contributors have your own thoughts on the subject. Let's share! Give some good reasons!

Answer 1

The problem you raise is an ethical issue, not just a financial issue.

Displacement of risk that is pushing the REAL cost of a problem off onto someone else is not new, but the consequences have become more and more serious.

All those who thought the Bush tax cuts were so great were ignoring the borrowing.  We'll be paying for those tax cuts after many boomers like me retire, and the bill will be left to our children, and perhaps even our grandchildren.  This is profoundly wrong.  This short-sightedness isn't what built this country, but it may well be its undoing.

I have already begun to hear complaints that the Dems will increase the taxes.  What did people expect?  If this were credit card debt, we would expect to have to cut back on new purchases, pay off what we owe, and quit borrowing at some point.  The national debt is no different.  We need to increase the income, reduce the expenses, and stop the hemorrhage of financial treasure to foreign powers.  We are nearing the point where punishing our children with our own profligacy while we ignore the real cost  is going to be impossible to avoid.

Answer 2

Neither.  I'll be retiring and you can pay for me.  My money went to Iraq and Halliburtin....oh, well, too bad.

Answer 3

Sir, you have a lot to learn.  The solution is to reduce government spending.  We spend more on education than the entire military, and we spend more on welfare than education.  New Jersey spends twenty thousand dollars per child per year and they are really getting good at turning the students into ignorant communists who hate their country.  My ex wife and I have rarely agreed on anything, but since we pulled our fifteen year old daughter out of her drug infested communist indoctrination center called a public school she has become herself again and is actually learning math, science and all the critical academic subjects.

Answer 4

try cutting down on ridiculous government spending on over inflated pork projects and we wont need either of the suggestions because of these projects is the reason Bush vetoed the farm bill we need the farm bill not the personal pork projects

Answer 5

What the US should do is first cut down on spending.  Also work with the generals and experts to improve Iraq-Afghanistan wars.  We need to develop good plans and hopefully improve the two nations and be able to cut down our troop levels.  But we must do so cautiously and with benchmarks and guidance of the generals.  Then, as we do that, we should stop the Bush tax cuts.  The ones for the rich need to be discontinued.  I don't have much of problem with the ones for the middle class.  Once we eliminate those tax cuts, we can inc. revenue. hope we do this.

Answer 6

How about our government cut down on giving away so much money to other countries. Also, start making the oh so wealthy Iraq pay for this war from this day on.

And yes, I see more taxes coming.....but.....if they tax the wealthy, they basically get it back by raising prices or laying off employees......etc.....

Answer 7

I would like to see us pull out of Iraq, however if our choice was only between tax and borrow, I think that it depends on the economy at the time.  I think that if our economy is suffering, the government should borrow money with the expectation that we would increase taxes in the near future to pay that money back.

It's basic economics that if you have a family there are times when it's acceptable to borrow money during temporary hardships, but once you are able to, you pay off your debts and start investing money.  We would be smart if the US government was required to invest a certain percentage of their income.

I think that because of the growing gap between the rich and poor, that it is generally better to place a larger tax on successful businesses.