We’re at a point where we would be better off as a nation paying a bit more in taxes

I actually really think that extra taxes would actually really help the country.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/03/opinion/nicholas-kristof-porsches-potholes-and-patriots.html

 

The road are definitely not great here! Ecuador actually has much better roads... The thing is, we have too many corrupt politicians to ever spend our tax money wisely. If they do raise taxes, they'll just fight about where to spend it and never get anything done. It's obvious we can't let the debt get any more out of hand!

 

That's the problem, both parties just blame the other party instead of fixing the real problem, using tax money wisely. Yes, we may have needed to get that money into peoples' hands as a part of the recovery but look what they did with it. Pay 10 people to hold slow signs on the side of the road, loans for carwashes, boardwalks etc. Where is the investment in technology so the US stays at the top, let's cut education spending so we can pay someone to hold a slow sign...

Raising business tax only hurts small businesses such as myself. Big business just uses loopholes and hides their money overseas with no penalty. I don't have resources to do that nor would it be economical at my size. It will only make the big business bigger since they don't have to follow the rules. They receive grants from our tax money, use our infrastructure to run their business... and that's all fine because they give money to law makers.

 

That is no doubt, paying extra taxes will save the country, there will be more money to help the country develop, even though it is not easy to convince people to pay more taxes.

 

I agree, but I think we should see taxes increased for the top 1% in our country rather than the middle class. The middle class is already overburdened financially with the slow economic growth and the increase in the cost of living as of late while the top earners in our country, like most big corporations, pay little to nothing in taxes while reaping huge sums of profits.

 

Absolutely!! We really need to stop the mentality that one group or another needs to be taxed differently, and start really looking at what our government is actually doing, and if in fact they are actually accomplishing anything. I would rather not "invest" my or other people's tax dollars in that losing proposition.

 

I'd just like to weigh in on this debate. I don't think that there is any need to increase the tax rates. In my opinion, the main problem is with the enforcement of the tax regime and the way the money that is being collected is spent. Like JR Irwing said, there is a unbelievable amount of money being wasted currently, and if those sources of waste can be eliminated, the taxes we pay will go much, much further. One example of government waste is the F-35 Jont Strike Fighter program (you can read about it here: http://www.occupylv.org/topics/f-35-joint-strike-fighter-one-trillion-dollar-boondoggle-too-big-fail ). One trillion- yes, with a T, has been spent on a weapon that does not do what it should. That one trillion, if invested in updating America's ageing infrastructure or if invested in green energy, would go a very long way.

Waste and enforcement are the major problems, not the tax rates.

 

I agree with that kay, I don't think more taxes will solve anything, the government needs to optimize the billions they already have and not demand for more.