Autopilot spending devours the government's budget

[rambot]

Did you know that the Federal Government still collected an increasing amount of revenue every year, despite the Trump tax cuts on individuals income taxes?

When I think about corporate taxes, I consider whom actually ends up paying the costs for those corporate taxes. Business and corporation inevitably passes on the costs of their taxes onto the customers and consumers of the goods or services provided by those businesses and corporations.

I can understand the logic there. But I'd BET you dollars to donuts that if corporate taxes were halved, you'd see ABSOLUTELY no change price and HUGE increases in stock buybacks.

 

[Nithavela]

Autopilot spending is the real debt-ceiling culprit

OPINION | Pay-as-you-go schemes can work only as long as enough people are paying into the system.

thehill.com

A Blueprint for Balance

Which takes up a greater percentage of the federal budget — national defense or entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare? Even if you picked the right answer (entitlements), you may be surprised by the gap between the two. National defense accounts for 16 percent of the federal budget...

www.heritage.org

Autopilot Spending Devours Budget - Federal Budget in Pictures

Autopilot spending makes up more than two-thirds of the budget and is growing rapidly.

www.federalbudgetinpictures.com

Nice to see you finally getting around to taking Trump to task for his governments' spending.

 

[Nithavela]

I can understand the logic there. But I'd BET you dollars to donuts that if corporate taxes were halved, you'd see ABSOLUTELY no change price and HUGE increases in stock buybacks.

Layoffs for workers and bonus packages, too.

 

[rambot]

Layoffs for workers and bonus packages, too.

I honestly and truly don't think Conservatives notice when things like that happen.

 

[Nithavela]

I honestly and truly don't think Conservatives notice when things like that happen.

The human mind has strong mechanisms to protect itself from cognitive dissonance. That's not exclusive to conservatives, many liberals also willfuly overlook things.

 

[rambot]

The human mind has strong mechanisms to protect itself from cognitive dissonance. That's not exclusive to conservatives, many liberals also willfuly overlook things.

Oh...guaranteed.

Everyone has blind spots; I imagine that politically, they lean certain ways depending on the subject.

 

[Vambram]

Government spending has been increasingly going out of control for decades. The fault lies within the hands of the politicians for both political parties for the last few decades. Therefore, because the politicians are elected by "we the people", the American voters are also to blame. As Americans, we must make the difficult and hard choices to actually CUT the annual deficits in our federal budgets, as well as do whatever it takes to REDUCE the exponentially growing amount of our government's National Debt.

 

[Vambram]

I can understand the logic there. But I'd BET you dollars to donuts that if corporate taxes were halved, you'd see ABSOLUTELY no change price and HUGE increases in stock buybacks.

I disagree.
I believe that if Corporate taxes were halved, then there would be decreases in prices. Corporations would reduce their prices in order to attempt to try to make themselves a more affordable option for their consumers.

 

[Vambram]

BOTTOM LINE
We can afford whatever we want to afford for whatever goals we wish to spend. As a country, we need to decide on goals. We have decided that leving more income for the richest among us so that they can buy their yachts and pay their dog walkers is more important than using government money to provide the middle class with a living wage for those working full time or more than full time. We do deem to accept that the veryu poor should be provided for, except for the obvious deficiencies in medical care, education and public transport.

I believe that the bottom line is that the leaders of the parties in the federal government have been racking up annual deficits and escalating higher and higher our National Debt for FAR TOO long. The interest payments on the National Debt is exorbitantly high. We cannot spend our way out of these problems. We cannot simply grow our economy fast enough to make a real difference with those problems of Debt and deficits. Real changes and cuts in the federal budget are going to have to be made....... in each and every part of the federal budget.

 

[Nithavela]

I disagree.
I believe that if Corporate taxes were halved, then there would be decreases in prices. Corporations would reduce their prices in order to attempt to try to make themselves a more affordable option for their consumers.

More affordable than what? Their competitors who also don't lower their prices.

 

[rambot]

The free market in the US is SOOOO successful, the government needs to spend ALMOST 4 billion dollars to keep starving people from eating the rich.

 

[Vambram]

The free market in the US is SOOOO successful, the government needs to spend ALMOST 4 billion dollars to keep starving people from eating the rich.

What, specifically, are you talking about?

 

[rambot]

I disagree.
I believe that if Corporate taxes were halved, then there would be decreases in prices. Corporations would reduce their prices in order to attempt to try to make themselves a more affordable option for their coconsumers.

Well greedflation is a studied and proven event over thr last couple years.

Have they reduced those prices at all? I know they haven't in Canada. All while making record profits.

I think you have more hope in the concept of a "free market" (assuming there really IS a free market) than greed while I think greed will runaway with it.

 

[Arcangl86]

I disagree.
I believe that if Corporate taxes were halved, then there would be decreases in prices. Corporations would reduce their prices in order to attempt to try to make themselves a more affordable option for their consumers.

What are you basing that belief on? There were major corporate tax cuts only a few years ago and there was no effect on prices.

 

[iluvatar5150]

What are you basing that belief on? There were major corporate tax cuts only a few years ago and there was no effect on prices.

Massive waves of stock buybacks also point to the fallacy of that assumption. As anti-minimum-wage folks are wont to point out, where did that cash come from other than their customers' pockets?

 

[Vambram]

What are you basing that belief on? There were major corporate tax cuts only a few years ago and there was no effect on prices.

I recall that there was indeed an effect on prices. I also recall that those tax cuts helped to lead to higher wages from my employer.

 

[Arcangl86]

I recall that there was indeed an effect on prices.

Your recollections don't match the data. If prices had indeed gone down, it would have shown as deflation. I can't find any data at all indication that the TCJA had any effect on the cost of living.

I also recall that those tax cuts helped to lead to higher wages from my employer.

The data does show a modest increase in wages after the TCJA, but it was just that, modest. It averaged about $750 per year per worker. At the cost of blowing a massive hole in the budget.

 

[Vambram]

Your recollections don't match the data. If prices had indeed gone down, it would have shown as deflation. I can't find any data at all indication that the TCJA had any effect on the cost of living.

The data does show a modest increase in wages after the TCJA, but it was just that, modest. It averaged about $750 per year per worker. At the cost of blowing a massive hole in the budget.

How could it blow a massive hole in the budget when revenue collected by the Federal Government increased? Also, let's not forget that those tax cuts helped enable significant national economic growth.
I also recall gas prices very significantly decreasing big time during the Trump presidency. As you know, gasoline prices are a very significant part influencing the national costs of goods and services.

 

[iluvatar5150]

How could it blow a massive hole in the budget when revenue collected by the Federal Government increased?

Because spending increased by more than that, which it's obviously going to because the country and the economy get bigger every year. More people == more government services == more spending.

Also, let's not forget that those tax cuts helped enable significant national economic growth.

No, they didn't.

I also recall gas prices very significantly decreasing big time during the Trump presidency.

No, you don't recall that. The red lines I drew on this chart mark (as closely as I could freehand them) the bounds of Trump's term in office. Gas prices didn't tank until covid shut everything down, and even then, rebounded about to where they were when he started.

Gas Station Price Charts - Local & National Historical Average Trends - GasBuddy.com

Compare gas and crude oil prices over time for the US Average, Canada Average, and your hometown. View charts for the past month to 10 years.

www.gasbuddy.com

As you know, gasoline prices are a very significant part influencing the national costs of goods and services.

They also have virtually nothing to do with tax cuts or most other federal policies.

 

[Vambram]

According to your graph, gas prices are still waaay above where they were before 2020.