Yes, we could do it as a complex tax code where we all have to pay a tax prepairer to do all the complex accounting for us to figure out how much we pay. Or, we could get the exact same result, by paying a flat income tax that can be calculated like social security as a payroll delduction, and just have the government write an equal sized check to everyone. We could in fact totally eliminate all need to fill out end of the year tax forms. The math works out to be the the same, but the second way is far simpler, and offeres many advantages, like the elimination of totally pointless work like tax preperation, and eliminate the many loop holes that people use to cheat the system, or which they fail to take advantage of to get the tax breaks they deserve. It also greatly reduces the number of people the government must hire to keep track of the complex tax laws and to police the system to reduce cheating.

I am so sick of hearing the tired phrase that corporate CEOs are smart. They are not smart; they are ruthless and greedy--often mistaken for intelligence in the conservative world/playbook.

If they were smart, they would bring their money back to the US where it belongs, pay their fair share of taxes, start the hiring at living wages, stop attacking their customers' wallets with ever higher prices while lowering/stagnating their income, and get things going again. "Smart" CEOs would see that the eventual chokehold they have on the economy is strangling their SOLE source of profit.

The corporations have ALL the money. They are the only ones that can get the economy moving again. We don't have money trees in our backyard. The depressed/oppressed worker/consumer cannot spend what he/she doesn't have--only the entitites with ALL the money can do that.

And if they were "smart," they would learn from ancient Rome, whose downfall can be attributed the conservative wealthy class who used the government for their own selfish purposes (sound familiar?) and stopped maintaining the empire because the wealthy wanted to keep all their gold (sound familiar?).

employed/well-paid workers = monied consumers = long-term business profit = strong economy = strong country

Wendalore, I strongly disagree. I think it is you who are failing to understand the significance of this Walmart problem. Until maybe six or seven years ago I shopped there too, and frankly, I saw very little savings from their prices. And of all the stores around here who made a habit of ripping off customers at the cash register (like charging for two items you only bought one of, or charging the regular price instead of the advertised sales price and banking on customers not noticing the discrepancy), Walmart was the very worst. I was constantly catching "mistakes" at their cash registers that were always in Walmart's favor. I never let 'em get away with it. As I said to one of the cashiers while correctiing one of these (ahem) discrepancies: I'm all for contributing to worthy causes when my budget allows; it's just that the Walton family's ill-gotten fortune isn't one of those things I happen to consider donation-worthy. Not on MY nickle anyway.

The Waltons are one of the richest families on the planet, yet they are too stingy to pay a decent wage to their workers. They're so stingy, they make sure to give workers plenty of training and advice on how to apply for welfare benefits! So we the taxpayers get to pay for Walmart employees' food stamps and healthcare and other government aid, thus subsidizing Walmart's exploitative policies. You call that a bargain?! These disgusting oligarchs also are guilty of wage theft, forcing employees to work overtime without compensation. Walmart even had the audacity to beg customers for charity donations this past holiday season, just so their underpaid, overworked "associates" could buy Thanksgiving turkeys for themselves and their families. Walmart refuses to pick up the tab for reasonably safe working conditions in their factories, costing the lives of thousands of workers in their foreign sweat shops in recent years. Been watching the news, Wendalore?!! Yeah, some bargain. And I can tell you from experience, their stuff ain't that cheap. Walmart makes tons of money by exploiting and abusing poor folks, here and abroad. Companies like that have no right to even exist. In a truly civilized world, companies like Walmart would not be allowed to exist. Everyone would be fairly compensated for their hard work and no one would have reason to bitch about paying a fair price for the goods & services they need.

Why should all these people have to do without the benefit of a decent wage, and/or suffer and die, just so YOU can save a buck or two?! - Aliceinwonderland

I have to agree with Alice on this one. However I don't have the time to get bogged down in a quagmire. Therefore, I'm baling early tonight. Good night all!!

Kend, need I remind you? This isn't your country. Your grandchildren don't live here. Go fight your own battles and leave us to ours. - Alice I.W.

Thanks Wendalore finally someone who is sick of hearing about Walmart as much as me. Now if we could also do something about the whole gay marriage thing. What does it matter to anybody if someone else wants to get married.

Alice No I never get bored of trying to help the left see the light. so talking about the massive debt the US is creating is important to me. I myself could never feel ok about leaving my grandchildren that burden. If it's ok with you I guess I just have to keep fighting for your grandchildren I guess.

Kend, don't you ever get bored with these same dead-end talking points?! You're like an old phonograph record that skips back and repeats itself again... and again... and again...

No money in the U.S. for things like roads, bridges, schools or high-speed rail? Really?! What a crock. Try lumping together the cost of all these dumb-ass kleptocratic wars with the cost of fossil fuel subsidies, tax breaks for corporations and billionaires, the so-called "war on drugs"; not to mention this expensive-but-useless, paper-pushing bureaucracy behind our "uniquely American" pay-or-die healthcare system... and voila! That's all the money we need, for all those things and more.

I get very tired of your posts, Kend, because your arguments are so redundant and so bloody asinine. Sometimes when I see your name, all I can do is groan, heave a big sigh and skip over to the next post. - Aliceindunderland

Of course I was just being sarcastic about thoms stats. chuck. There is no weakness in his numbers it, to me, it is a stupid comparison. you do know when the government spends money on make work programs tax payers have to pay it. The US has the highest debt per person in the world Already.

No Mark we pay for the resourses then the dictator steals it from his people. Let's not forget many many employees have had great careers at Walmart And many pensioners stocks have given them a good retirement. Yes 20% Germanies power is solar but the other 80 % is coal now instead of nuclear there carbon footprint went down but the carbon footprint went way up in Eastern Europe somewhere. Except hurting a few birds. They are slaughtering thousands.

'dianhow"- I'd bet $$ some of the homeless have college degrees. I'll bet even some skilled jobs have been outsourced from this grrrreat country of ours. I'll also wager that many minimum-wage jobs here are occupied by educated people who can no longer find the kinds of work they were trained in. - Aliceinwonderland

Kend -- You really need to show the weakness of Thom's statistics. You just give us your opinion that it is harder to get into Harvard, than it is to get a job at Walmart. I assume everyone knows that it is harder to get into Harvard. Avoid alzheimers and point out the weakness in Thom's numbers.

I thought it was interesting on Bill Maher's show when someone stated the US govt gets a 60% return on their investments (investments is what right wingers call wasteful spending). The right winger on Bill's show called the 60% return awful. Meanwhile, everyone worships Warren Buffet and his 13% annual return. My favorite example of the extra-ordinary return that the govt gets on their investments is the change from losing 700,000 jobs a month (and getting worse each month) to gaining 200,000 jobs a month. This gain has been going on now for 5 years in spite of republican obstructionism. This repug obstructionism included every republican governor cutting governtment jobs in his state.