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Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:33 pm
by bedub1
Politicians lie all the time, and I'm getting tired of it. They say "nobody would raise taxes in a horrible economy" during the elections, and then they get elected and try to pass laws repealing initiatives the public passed(which require 2/3rds majority to pass tax hikes) so they can raise taxes. I believe the punishment for this should be prison. What do you think? Should politicians lying in general be punishable by jail/expulsion/etc? Is our only course of action to vote them out of office the next election? But then they will say sorry for their past, they will lie to us about how they will do what they want, we will believe them like the sheep we are, and they will get back into office, and do it all over again....
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:36 pm
by Snorri1234
I'm confused. Why wouldn't anyone raise taxes when the economy is doing bad?
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:36 pm
by rockfist
Waterboard those fuckers until they speak truth.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:39 pm
by Neoteny
Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:41 pm
by Phatscotty
bedub1 wrote:Politicians lie all the time, and I'm getting tired of it. They say "nobody would raise taxes in a horrible economy" during the elections, and then they get elected and try to pass laws repealing initiatives the public passed(which require 2/3rds majority to pass tax hikes) so they can raise taxes. I believe the punishment for this should be prison. What do you think? Should politicians lying in general be punishable by jail/expulsion/etc? Is our only course of action to vote them out of office the next election? But then they will say sorry for their past, they will lie to us about how they will do what they want, we will believe them like the sheep we are, and they will get back into office, and do it all over again....
I think a few more tea party candidates can break the cycle.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:42 pm
by Night Strike
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:53 pm
by pimpdave
Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:53 pm
by stahrgazer
bedub1 wrote:Politicians lie all the time, and I'm getting tired of it. They say "nobody would raise taxes in a horrible economy" during the elections,
Obama never said that; he said during his entire campaign that we need to go back to Reagan rates, which worked, by repealing the extra breaks and incentives Bush gave the uber-rich or those who can afford a little more. He said repeatedly there's no way we can NOT raise taxes but pull ourselves out of the deficit we were left...and that was before the full crash that added to the deficit, where ppl were losing their retirement and their jobs while the CEOs were raking in hundred million dollar bonuses.
Small businesses get to keep the tax incentives, and he's working to give them more incentives, like the gov't paying 100% for a short while, for single parents and the elderly to get employment... the businesses that hire them are getting their full salary reimbursed. It's true, I know a few ppl who've gotten work that way in recent weeks.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 7:57 pm
by bedub1
stahrgazer wrote:bedub1 wrote:Politicians lie all the time, and I'm getting tired of it. They say "nobody would raise taxes in a horrible economy" during the elections,
Obama never said that; he said during his entire campaign that we need to go back to Reagan rates, which worked, by repealing the extra breaks and incentives Bush gave the uber-rich or those who can afford a little more. He said repeatedly there's no way we can NOT raise taxes but pull ourselves out of the deficit we were left...and that was before the full crash that added to the deficit, where ppl were losing their retirement and their jobs while the CEOs were raking in hundred million dollar bonuses.
Small businesses get to keep the tax incentives, and he's working to give them more incentives, like the gov't paying 100% for a short while, for single parents and the elderly to get employment... the businesses that hire them are getting their full salary reimbursed. It's true, I know a few ppl who've gotten work that way in recent weeks.
I didn't mean Obama although I'm sure he has his own examples too.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:04 pm
by karelpietertje
raise our taxes and we'll raise our axes!
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:04 pm
by Phatscotty
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:08 pm
by rockfist
Snorri1234 wrote:I'm confused. Why wouldn't anyone raise taxes when the economy is doing bad?
I'm at a loss for words...
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:09 pm
by strike wolf
Wait is this supposed to be news?
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 8:39 pm
by john9blue
Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Neo always knows best.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 9:37 pm
by Phatscotty
john9blue wrote:Neoteny wrote:Also, truth serum and military tribunal.
Neo always knows best.
He still reminds the republican (that he knows of) at work about Quayle misspelling potato
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 10:07 pm
by THORNHEART
Lol I enjoyed the comment about Obama and Reagan....could two men possible be more different?
Obama is a liar for one...and a utopian...
Reagan kinda saw things more realistically.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Tue Feb 09, 2010 11:12 pm
by joecoolfrog
THORNHEART wrote:Lol I enjoyed the comment about Obama and Reagan....could two men possible be more different?
Obama is a liar for one...and a utopian...
Reagan kinda saw things more realistically.
Reagan lied to Congress several times, he could easily have been impeached over the Iran - Contra affair.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Wed Feb 10, 2010 12:22 pm
by Woodruff
THORNHEART wrote:Lol I enjoyed the comment about Obama and Reagan....could two men possible be more different?
Absolutely they could. There is a LOT about Obama and Reagan that's similar.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:45 am
by Doc_Brown
I thought we settled during the Clinton administration that it was not an impeachable offense for the President to lie to the American people. Or is it only when he's under oath that he's allowed to lie?
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 10:54 am
by pimpdave
Well, actually, genius, Clinton was impeached. He just wasn't removed from office.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:13 am
by Doc_Brown
pimpdave wrote:Well, actually, genius, Clinton was impeached. He just wasn't removed from office.
Agreed. The senate refused to convict him. I should have worded that last post differently. I think most people assume that impeachment necessarily involves removal from office, but that's not always the case. Maybe I should have said that "lying to the American people is no longer a criminal offense." Clinton was impeached (read: "indicted") for committing perjury, but the Senate determined that his offenses did not constitute "treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors." Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for correcting me!
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:51 am
by rockfist
If lying in an of itself were a crime all Democrat polticians would have to be mimes, which would be amusing and still would've got them elected in 2008.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:32 pm
by Snorri1234
Trickle-down economics is bullshit. In order to get out of a bad economy the government needs to spend. Spending without getting more taxes is bad for your national debt which you guys are all complaining about.
Raising taxes on the very rich really isn't bad for the economy. Money needs to be circulated, and if you're rich a lot of your money doesn't circulate enough.
Honestly, the only way you can be against taxes on rich people during poor times is if you believe the government simply burns the money they get.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:38 pm
by max is gr8
Night Strike wrote:No wonder why you don't live in the real world. A poor economy already means that most businesses aren't doing well. Adding more taxes on the businesses cuts off even more of their profits, which means they have to start cutting costs (jobs) to stay afloat. Adding more taxes to individuals mean even less money for the people to spend on goods and services, so the economy stays poor.
Which is why some countries run their corporate tax on profits only. So there's no reason to cut jobs.
Re: Politicians Lying to the public
Posted: Thu Feb 11, 2010 1:57 pm
by Snorri1234
max is gr8 wrote:Night Strike wrote:No wonder why you don't live in the real world. A poor economy already means that most businesses aren't doing well. Adding more taxes on the businesses cuts off even more of their profits, which means they have to start cutting costs (jobs) to stay afloat. Adding more taxes to individuals mean even less money for the people to spend on goods and services, so the economy stays poor.
Which is why some countries run their corporate tax on profits only. So there's no reason to cut jobs.
Uh, that's the case for the US too I believe. Corporate tax is taken from the profits. If a corporation isn't making profits, I fail to see why it would be paying taxes. Seems a bit weird to me actually, arguing that a tax on the profits means a company has to cut costs.
You could argue it lowers the potential for growth as less of the profit can be invested in the company, but man you have a pretty low amount of taxes so that would seem silly.
