The poll is still active. Vote now. The exact question asked is:
- "What would you do first to balance the budget?"
And as of right now 74% say 'increase taxes on the wealthy' up from 61% when the article was written.
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Thoughts on the Obama tax bill from April...
I would have no objection to the 2-year extension had it been paid for - balanced by commensurate cuts in federal spending. The Pentagon would be a good place to start. But there were no spending cuts. Congress couldn't find the guts. So the tax cuts should have been allowed to expire.
The 2-year increase to the deficit because of the extension will be approximately $700 billion, about the price of TARP. The easy fix, that won't hurt anyone but the military, is to cut the Defense budget by 50% over the next 5 years.
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Thoughts on the Obama tax deal are here...
Excerpt:
It's an $858 billion, 2-year pop to the deficit, mostly from the tax cuts not expiring. You want tax cuts? Then cut spending. Make the Pentagon war machine your first target. The deficit is completely out of control, the national debt just hit $14 trillion, and borrowing costs are headed higher. The Helicopter was grounded after the deal was announced, as the blades were straight busted. Bond vigilantes went nuts. Treasuries were annihilated. Russia, China and Japan were likely heavy sellers. B-52 noticed and freaked out silently for hours in his secret room at the Fed, where he keeps the chronic for the really bad moments. Think about it. Everything Bernanke had gained from QE2 in terms of lower rates was wiped away in 4 short days.
Who is the Ben Ber-Nank to think he can predict the sovereign debt tipping point. It'll just appear one day, and he'll be rightly screwed. Ask Greece, Portugal, and Spain if they saw it coming. Yeah, we print our own money. So what. The world is already on Zimbabwe watch and Ben shot his load last month. My mom is on Zimbabwe watch, for chrissakes. She's 71 and paying attention because of all the money printing she's been hearing about during commercials for Dancing With Palin. Wise up fools, $100 billion per month of Treasury suckage won't do jack against pissed-off bond vigilantes. When they're done pounding the Eurozone, we're the next target. Bernanke and his legacy will be swept away by an avalanche of selling, leaving him 30 feet under, with his helicopter out of commish, buried next to his 'I am not a money-printer' ass.