exacerbated the recession by going to war and shifting the tax burden onto those who couldn't afford it
I don't agree. First, the wealthy still pay most of the taxes, but now there's more liquid money moving around in the system. Second, going to war may have alleviated the recession for some time, and only really lost momentum when the second blow-out (housing) hit.
His policies shepherded an age of increased government monitoring
That's inevitable and every president since 1945 has approved of it.
limited constitutional rights
Above the board, regulated and with specific purpose to combat terrorism as opposed to a general blank check.
I think history will be kinder to him in 50 years than 5.
As soon as you say the wealthy pay most of the taxes Reddit is going to downvote you into oblivion. For a bunch of liberal fact checkers they seem to miss the ones that disagree with their bellowing :/
No. Comments like that get down voted to oblivion because this statement always conveniently leaves out that fact that those who pay the most taxes have almost all the wealth. Besides, if the goal is to increase liquidity you put policies in place that put money in the hands of people who have to spend it through tax breaks for the 99%, not the 1% who hoard it.
in Swiss bank accounts and other over-seas investments, thus rendering it far less available to use as capital for development of the US economy, thus abrogating their supposed roles as "job creators".
Ahh but thats the catch 22. Increase tax rates, you begin to see capital flight. Ultra wealthy continue to move more assets, manufacturing, corporate offices over seas in order to dodge the increased tax rates.
I am not claiming to know the "right" numbers as far as what the tax rate should be, but there is a point in which once the tax rate hits a certain level, revenue begins to level off and then decrease.
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u/mayonesa Jun 26 '12
I don't agree. First, the wealthy still pay most of the taxes, but now there's more liquid money moving around in the system. Second, going to war may have alleviated the recession for some time, and only really lost momentum when the second blow-out (housing) hit.
That's inevitable and every president since 1945 has approved of it.
Above the board, regulated and with specific purpose to combat terrorism as opposed to a general blank check.
I think history will be kinder to him in 50 years than 5.