The US should RAISE taxes

[Belthus]

So it has nothing to do with all the restrictions placed on buisnesses that make them hire thousands of overseas workers instead of having them here? Ok, thats good to know.

No, it doesn't. Firms going overseas is primarily the result of an overly strong dollar, which hurts domestic production. Deficits weaken the dollar so you should be happy on that account.

Republican propaganda keeps pointing at supply side factors, but they are not responsible for the state of the economy. The problem is inadequate demand. Businesses will not start hiring until after sales pick up. Sales won't pick up until people have money in their pockets (i.e., jobs). See the problem? Someone has to start the ball rolling. Government is in the best position to do so.

[BluePriest]

No, it doesn't. Firms going overseas is primarily the result of an overly strong dollar, which hurts domestic production. Deficits weaken the dollar so you should be happy on that account.

Republican propaganda keeps pointing at supply side factors, but they are not responsible for the state of the economy. The problem is inadequate demand. Businesses will not start hiring until after sales pick up. Sales won't pick up until people have money in their pockets (i.e., jobs). See the problem? Someone has to start the ball rolling. Government is in the best position to do so.

So let me get this straight, we need to tax more because people arent paying enough money, but we also need to give people more money because they dont have enough. Correct? Thats really what it sounds like to me.

Also

http://www.billshrink.com/blog/6741/12-reasons-companies-outsource-operations-overseas/

Seems the first few reasons are due to restrictions here in the US that make it it more smart to outsource

[Neopergoss]

*snip*

So let me get this straight, we need to tax more because people arent paying enough money, but we also need to give people more money because they dont have enough. Correct? Thats really what it sounds like to me.

Also

http://www.billshrink.com/blog/6741/12-reasons-companies-outsource-operations-overseas/

Seems the first few reasons are due to restrictions here in the US that make it it more smart to outsource

Actually Belthus never claimed we need to tax people more. Here is what he did say about taxes:

The deficit is not a problem at this time. Core inflation is low, and commodity price increases are unrelated. Raising taxes at this time would contract the economy. Reducing unemployment should be the top priority.

At some point, taxes should be revised (in order to keep inflation in line, not to balance the budget). The wealthy and corporations should pay more, and the middle class should pay less. A progressive tax system acts as an automatic stabilizer, taking more money out of the economy when inflation is heating up and taking less out during recessions.

Also, I suspect that companies going overseas is not the root of the problem. As Belthus said, it's inadequate demand.

[Belthus]

Is government debt a bad thing? Only if you dislike economic growth and jobs.

The Federal Budget is NOT like a Household Budget (http://www.rooseveltinstitute.org/new-roosevelt/federal-budget-not-household-budget-here-s-why) [emphasis mine]:

With one brief exception, the federal government has been in debt every year since 1776. In January 1835, for the first and only time in U.S. history, the public debt was retired, and a budget surplus was maintained for the next two years in order to accumulate what Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury called “a fund to meet future deficits.” In 1837 the economy collapsed into a deep depression that drove the budget into deficit, and the federal government has been in debt ever since.

Since 1776 there have been exactly seven periods of substantial budget surpluses and significant reduction of the debt. From 1817 to 1821 the national debt fell by 29 percent; from 1823 to 1836 it was eliminated (Jackson’s efforts); from 1852 to 1857 it fell by 59 percent, from 1867 to 1873 by 27 percent, from 1880 to 1893 by more than 50 percent, and from 1920 to 1930 by about a third....

3. The United States has also experienced six periods of depression. The depressions began in 1819, 1837, 1857, 1873, 1893, and 1929. (Do you see any pattern? Take a look at the dates listed above.) With the exception of the Clinton surpluses, every significant reduction of the outstanding debt has been followed by a depression, and every depression has been preceded by significant debt reduction. The Clinton surplus was followed by the Bush recession, a speculative euphoria, and then the collapse in which we now find ourselves. The jury is still out on whether we might manage to work this up to yet another great depression. While we cannot rule out coincidences, seven surpluses followed by six and a half depressions (with some possibility for making it the perfect seven) should raise some eyebrows. And, by the way, our less serious downturns have almost always been preceded by reductions of federal budget deficits.