Back to the original topic, sort of. Is it legal to fish power wires or extension cords behind a wall? Also, do you guys charge for travel time to a job or is that built in to your hourly rates?

I don't want to get into the validity of the tax cut, I don't know, there are good reasons for tax cuts and equally good reasons not to have them. And I will be honest I don't think any one can say on any decision if it is/was good for the long/short run. The thing is you are mixing deficit and debt. Debt is a past deficit that we are still paying, deficit, means we cannot afford the life style in which we live (especially when it is constant). To go back to your two analogies
19% is the interest you pay on your credit card (since that does not look like mortgage, a bank loan or anything like that)and how much you need to pay back is your debt. The deficit is how much more you need to pay back the next time you look at the credit card statement.

If you look at your flat screen example. if the screen costs you 17K and you think not enough people are buying it at 20K so you will reduce it to 15K and by that make more money in total on less profit on each machine, then I definitely think you are having some problems with your math.

The question is not what to do with a surplus (profit), that both your examples insinuate, but that there is a deficit. The reason I brought up the debt, is that a big chunk of the cost is the interest payments on the debt, and so when interest rates double (i.e. to use your example move from3% to 6%) the government needs a lot more money

i.e. from [Link: publicdebt.treas.gov]
at 3% interest costs 197B a year if the interest rate was 6% you would need an extra 197B just to cover the extra interest. Also so far this year (from sept.30) the debt has grown by around 340B

The gov't has 2 hole cards. 1) It sets interest rates, so the debt would be a consideration 2) it prints money.

:-) if you think it is that easy....

A word on the old topic, I do not believe it is legal to fish extension cords thru the wall. When i sella plasma i usually have an electrician install a recessed outlet behind the screen. Just my 2 cents!

Now to taxes. Keeping tax rates low i feel is a fundamentally sound principle. It puts more $$ back in circulation. Our friends across the aisle, (the repub's) tout tax cuts as the be all end all. "The economy's slow, cut taxes. Got a cold, you need a tax cut." What this country needs is fairness in taxes. Poor folks and working class folks spend far more money than the rich. If you doubt me ask the folks @ walmart and best buy and home depot. This admin keeps saying " a rising tide lifts all boats" Well cutting taxes is one way to raise the tide. If its a fair tax cut. When you direct the majority of it to the biggest boats in the marina. Its not as fair. Another way to raise the tide is investing in public infrastructure. One of the things that is still driving this slow economy is the phenomonon of internet sales. Does anybody remember who funded the develpoment of the internet? thats right you and me thru tax investment.

Dawgz,

You're giving me a headache. My normally rational mind is short circuiting reading your threads. By definition, if you declare a tax cut, somebody that pays no tax is not going to see any benefit. This is not about the government deciding to give certain people money. Always remember that it is NOT their money, we the people earn it and give some to the people in gov't to provide certain services. If the gov't declares a 10% across the board tax cut someone who now pays $1,000 will pay $900. Someone that pays 0 will still pay 0, but the person that earns the higher wage is still paying a hell of a lot more. Now, if you're for the gov't collecting money and distributing it however they see fit, that is called Communism and has proven to be a very poor system for running a country.

Its never an across the board cut. If there was a flat tax system then your analogy would work. But there are many people and corporations who earn millions and pay zero taxes. (thats fed. income tax)Yet these are the same people who are bribing, i mean lobbying, our federal government for more tax cuts. Like the cuts on dividens and the inheritance tax. I certainly agree that tax revenue is our money. We are the ones reaping the benefits of the american system, taxes are the fare we pay for the ride. I simply feel that everyone should pay their fair share. If your riding in first class that ticket should cost a bit more. Sorry 'bout the headaches.

and if you go ask at the high end home theater stores, the places where a T-shirt costs over 100$.... they will say it is the rich people who spend the money there :-)

I agree poorer folks spend a larger percentage of their income on stuff.


but that was not what they decided to do


actually called socialism

Dawgz,
There is absolutely no reason for a company or person who pays no tax to lobby, much less bribe the gov't for tax cuts. If you pay no taxes a tax cut won't do anything for you. You can't pay less than zero (ok maybe with earned income credit). Also, nobody is saying that we shouldn't pay for the people that administer our system, but you have to quantify. How much is too much and at what point does it actually become detrimental? Also, with the current graduated tax system the higher income folks already pay a disproportionate amount. (by the way the liberal definition of "rich" is about $40k/yr, so when you support higher taxes you are not just soaking Bill Gates) One last thing, low income people may spend more at Walmart, but they don't spend more in general and they almost never hire employees therefore they are never able to create jobs.

I really didn't want to get into this but I feel that emdawgz1 should be backed up. Anyone who thinks that the biggest misuse of tax dollars is to welfare mothers are living in a Sean Hannity induced fog. Look at the deficit. New police state, missile defense, airline bailouts, corporate welfare, war on drugs, war on terrorism(let's battle an ideology and extremists weilding utility knives with more missiles). Meanwhile veterans benifits have been cut by 10 billion dollars, and those who have cashed in on trashing our economy and all confidence in the market, like Gary Wynek(spelling?) of Global Crossing and the good folks at Worldcom are getting little more than a slap on the wrist.(Gary Wynek was pardoned by John Ashcroft on Christmas Eve, think anyone was paying attention?Think his campaign contributions had anyting to do with it?) Tax cuts will not guarantee new investment. Until faith in the market returns and these greedy pricks go to jail, and the color coded fear machine is gone, people will not feel comfortable to invest. I haven't even ventured into the way politicians squander our money for personal privelages. I agree that our Tax dollars are being misused, but the little that goes to social programs is not what I'm concerned with. By the way, notice whats happening to state taxes?

Sure you can,just because you pay 0 in income tax doesnt mean you cant get a tax cut. These folks are out to exempt more of their money from taxes. i.e. the cut in capital gains, the cut in dividens tax, the cut in inheritance tax.



One

Ask yourself which would you rather have 5 customers spend 5000. dollars or 500 customers spend 500.00? That is what i mean. Sam Walton didnt become one of the richest men in the world selling to rich folks.
Low, moderate and middle income people is where the real dollars are. That is why a tax cut for these folksis better for the country. Their sales dollars create far more jobs, real wealth, than a few high end sales!

Why is it so hard to see? This is a Tax Cut Bill, NOT a Welfare Bill! If you pay taxes now, you will be required to pay less of them. If you have no tax liability now, you will continue in to have no tax liability (unless you begin to EARN more money). Tax credits (welfare) are already in place, such as the child tax credit and the earned income tax credit. These types of credit TAKE money from someone who EARNED it and give it to somebody that didn't. Tax cuts simply TAKE less money from somebody who EARNED it! President Bush has already passed this tax cut bill. If you really have a problem with it, go out and get involved in the proccess, rather than whining after the fact!

How would you do it?

Regarding dividend tax cuts: One of the big reasons a lot of companies don't pay dividends now is because of the tax on them, with the blessing of shareholders. Instead they chose to "reinvest" dividends. This is problematic, because it opens the door to mistated earnings, sometimes with the blessing of GAAP. That is why the market has become more gambling than investing, very few companies pay hard currency to their shareholders.