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I know we get caught up in all the negative stuff with politics. But it's healthy to go positive sometimes. How can Trump work with Democrats in Congress on issues like Health Care, Immigration, Taxes, Current Wars, and so on? What kind of deals would you like to see on those issues? You can offer specifics on them if you want. Thanks.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
I know we get caught up in all the negative stuff with politics. But it's healthy to go positive sometimes. How can Trump work with Democrats in Congress on issues like Health Care, Immigration, Taxes, Current Wars, and so on? What kind of deals would you like to see on those issues? You can offer specifics on them if you want. Thanks.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
And...it is lower now than it has ever been.
In other words...Obama didn't raise it. And...corporate profits have never been higher.
Additionally, some corporations game the system and pay very little. Trump International comes to mind.
Let's just say that the need for lowering the corporate tax rate isn't clear.
I know we get caught up in all the negative stuff with politics. But it's healthy to go positive sometimes. How can Trump work with Democrats in Congress on issues like Health Care, Immigration, Taxes, Current Wars, and so on? What kind of deals would you like to see on those issues? You can offer specifics on them if you want. Thanks.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
And...it is lower now than it has ever been.
In other words...Obama didn't raise it. And...corporate profits have never been higher.
Additionally, some corporations game the system and pay very little. Trump International comes to mind.
Let's just say that the need for lowering the corporate tax rate isn't clear.
I didn't realize anyone was arguing that Obama had raised it. I was just saying it's an area that I think we could improve on by lowering rates and closing all the loopholes and exceptions that allow some to get away with paying less.
maybe one flat rate for corporations ,,,,,so no loopholes or deductions no bs ?I know we get caught up in all the negative stuff with politics. But it's healthy to go positive sometimes. How can Trump work with Democrats in Congress on issues like Health Care, Immigration, Taxes, Current Wars, and so on? What kind of deals would you like to see on those issues? You can offer specifics on them if you want. Thanks.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
And...it is lower now than it has ever been.
In other words...Obama didn't raise it. And...corporate profits have never been higher.
Additionally, some corporations game the system and pay very little. Trump International comes to mind.
Let's just say that the need for lowering the corporate tax rate isn't clear.
I didn't realize anyone was arguing that Obama had raised it. I was just saying it's an area that I think we could improve on by lowering rates and closing all the loopholes and exceptions that allow some to get away with paying less.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
And...it is lower now than it has ever been.
In other words...Obama didn't raise it. And...corporate profits have never been higher.
Additionally, some corporations game the system and pay very little. Trump International comes to mind.
Let's just say that the need for lowering the corporate tax rate isn't clear.
I didn't realize anyone was arguing that Obama had raised it. I was just saying it's an area that I think we could improve on by lowering rates and closing all the loopholes and exceptions that allow some to get away with paying less.
I'm with you. I guess I'm just overly sensitive to talk of lowering taxes on big corps. I'm afraid all that will do is increase the burden on the middle class.
maybe one flat rate for corporations ,,,,,so no loopholes or deductions no bs ?I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
And...it is lower now than it has ever been.
In other words...Obama didn't raise it. And...corporate profits have never been higher.
Additionally, some corporations game the system and pay very little. Trump International comes to mind.
Let's just say that the need for lowering the corporate tax rate isn't clear.
I didn't realize anyone was arguing that Obama had raised it. I was just saying it's an area that I think we could improve on by lowering rates and closing all the loopholes and exceptions that allow some to get away with paying less.
Well, some folks on this thread were able to agree on some issues. But i have to admit, most couldn't agree on anything. Too much angry shouting-down stuff. But I think once you start talking calmly and rationally, most folks realize they're closer to working something out, than they thought possible.
If you just talk at someone, nothing can work out. I really believe there are some Democrats who are willing to sit down with Trump. Good deals can be made. We gotta get past all this hate and negativity. It isn't good for the country.
Am I wrong....or haven't you been a fairly divisive presence here since you arrived?
Am I confusing you with someone else?
Yeah, i admit i've been very divisive in the past. I'm tryin to move away from that. Constant hate and negativity isn't good for anyone, or the country. I know it's more entertaining to be hateful on Message Boards, but i'm still gonna move away from it. Or i'll just stop coming here. Might be too much hate and negativity on this Board. Why subject yourself to that?
All good.
Campaign finance reform.
Massive infrastructure projects.
Prison/ criminal justice reform.
These areas can find bipartisan support.
Clean bills. No poison pills. Progress can happen.
I know we get caught up in all the negative stuff with politics. But it's healthy to go positive sometimes. How can Trump work with Democrats in Congress on issues like Health Care, Immigration, Taxes, Current Wars, and so on? What kind of deals would you like to see on those issues? You can offer specifics on them if you want. Thanks.
I think it's possible, if people just start thinking beyond childish retribution (the right) and childish obstruction (the left).
1. ACA - it's silly to repeal the ACA. It took some 15 months to come with an incredibly complicated plan with a lot of interlocking parts affecting Americans and industries across the country. We know there are problems with it. There were attempts to fix it that were blocked. Let's just have everyone - Dems, Pubs, Indies sit down and fix the damn thing. We know what's unpopular and what isn't working, but we also know that some things ARE working. So fix what's not working so we can move on to the next thing. Don't leave the country in uncertainty, worry and fear over this.
2. Immigration - EVERYONE agrees we need some form of comprehensive immigration reform. We've agreed on this since the Bush term, through the Obama term and into the Trump term - so lets do something about it. Instead of focusing on reversing Obama's EO on children of illegal immigrants being granted a stay, use that as a starting point. We can all agree there are certain immigrants that have contributed to this country but we can't be an open border state either. It seems to me that increased border security, a pathway to citizenship for certain groups of immigrants already here, a careful vetting of immigrants from countries where terrorism is rife, and a general overhaul to ease the bottleneck and reduce the amount of time it takes to process legal immigrants could become the foundation of a plan both sides agree on because both sides have wanted to do something about this.
3. Corporate tax overhaul - seems there might be something here both sides can work together on. I support reducing corporate taxes to encourage more business investment in our country and also simplifying it and removing a lot of the loopholes and deductions. A friendlier tax environment might encourage more community investment in our own country.
Those are three things I can think of.
Let's make sure we understand that taxes have never been lower than they are right now. Start from that understanding and good choices can be made.
Ok...so, I looked it up...
Does the U.S. have the highest corporate tax rate in the free world?
The rate in theory
We decided to focus on the countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, a group that includes most advanced, industrialized nations. That fits our bill for a proxy for "the free world."
Out of the 34 countries in the OECD, America ranks first with a 39.1 percent corporate tax rate, compared to an OECD average of 24.1 percent. The OECD figure is what’s called the statutory rate, meaning the base rate applied to corporate profits.
According to the Tax Foundation, two non-OECD countries -- the United Arab Emirates (55 percent) and Chad (40 percent) -- have a greater statutory rate than the United States. But the UAE is governed by a monarchy and Chad is a developing country, so we don’t think they would fit into the "free world" category Bolling used.
The rate in practice
PolitiFact, our sister site, has looked at several variations on Bolling’s claim and ruled them Mostly True almost every time. The reason for the "mostly" qualifier is that companies aren’t actually taxed at the statutory rate.
Tax deductions -- on health insurance, pensions, and investment returns, for example -- allow corporations to reduce the pool of taxable profits. So economists often look at what they call the effective tax rate, which experts have told us is just as valid a measurement of corporate tax rates as the statutory rate.
But whereas the statutory rate is relatively straightforward and uncontroversial, different, reputable organizations have published very different estimates of the effective tax rate that corporations pay.
The most recent estimate comes from the World Bank and International Finance Commission, which put the United States’ effective rate for 2014 at 27.9 percent. That’s second-highest behind New Zealand among OECD countries and 15th-highest among the 189 countries measured.
In 2011, the Tax Foundation published a survey of 13 prior estimates of the United States’ effective tax rate from 2005 to 2011. All 13 studies pegged the U.S.’s rate as above average, but none had the U.S. rate first overall.
Another 2011 study by the Congressional Research Service put the U.S. effective rate at 27.1 percent, slightly lower than the OECD average of 27.7 percent.
So according to this, our statuatory rate is the highest of any developed country, and our effective rate, while not highest - is higher than average.
When you have one side that wants more government at higher levels, and less freedom for individuals and States, and the other wanting less government at higher levels, and more freedom for individuals and States, then you have a rock/hard place situation.
Certain things there can be no compromise.
This is the same argument that the founders had. And..the guys who wanted a bit more government won. We are still winning. Slow but sure.
Anarchy isn't our style, guy. And you ought to be thankful for that. You'd get your lunch eaten.
