Latest conservative drivel making the rounds

[DLine]

I have been sent this twice today already by some right wing friends. Obviously its an article some pundit is probably swearing by. I would like to respond. Was wondering what people on DU thought about it.

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http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/04/why_we_cant_tax_ourselves_out.html

[tularetom]

1. They try to snow you with numbers

But when you look at it a little closer and see buzzwords like "class warfare", "communists" and "socialists", you see that it's just the usual right wing crapola.

There are only two institutions in the US that can solve the present problems. One is the financial services industry and the other is the government.

The financial services industry won't lift a finger to solve it because they are making too much money off the situation just the way it is.

So the government must act.

[Cleita]

3. Best post this week on our deteriorating situation.

:thumbsup:

[CreekDog]

2. Well you gave the "drivel" a great big audience

without rebuttal.

:shrug:

[Skidmore]

5. +a gazillion.

We've had enough astroturf this morning to start the football game.

[DLine]

10. Seriously.....

I know Im not in the 1,000 post club here. But I have made enough I shouldn't have to defend myself. I simply wanted the opinions of those who are probably better at decyfering this stuff than me since I received it twice already its probably in every right wingers inbox by now.

[idlisambar]

6. The author focused just on those making 360K+

It would be interesting to see what the numbers would look like if you included 250K - 360K.

More importantly, the author is discussing only the income tax, not the capital gains tax. For the very wealthy the capital gains tax rate is the more critical number. During regular times and especially in boom times, capital gains are a huge contributor to revenue (less so in 2008 as the stock market happened to be in free fall). They are a big reason the final Clinton years were in a surplus.

And then there is the estate tax, and the rate of tax on dividends. The author is willfully ignoring a lot by just focusing on the income tax. This is a common tactic.

Still, the reality is that hiking taxes at other income levels would help a lot in closing the gap further.

[gratuitous]

4. Long on rhetoric, short on actual facts

I don't know anyone who's advocating for a 100% on income above a certain level, and Paul Ryan's proposal is a half-baked wet dream of Libertarians who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Not even the Heritage Foundation believes its own estimates, which Ryan relied on heavily for his dimwit proposal (they've tried to scrub their site of the most lame-brained stuff, but that's not how the internets work).

But he's spot-on when he's talking about a subject quite near to his heart and intellect: Gullibility. I have to give him that.

[CreekDog]

7. Do you have copyright to the article? Because you posted 100% of the article

:shrug:

available in full at the American Thinker blog.

[DLine]

8. Thats how I got it...

I received it as copy and pasted. I didn't know where it came from. I edited the post and added the link.

[louis-t]

9. An old saying comes to mind.

If you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.

[Orsino]

11. Dumbass article blaming the Democrats for largely agreeing with the GOP.

The author clumsily ignores the huge deficits that appeared as we cut, cut, cut taxes, and otherwise offers no useful information.

What in the article specifically struck you as worthy of reposting on DU?

[DLine]

12. Because today it seems to be part of every conservatives bible...

Sent to me in an email twice and just posted on another forum I visit today. Figured some DU responses would help me put together one myself.