Keep in mind, of course, that most other developed nations have programs like a national healthcare system that eats up a large part of the budget… And remember that on the surface it may appear that we are lightly taxed. But do other countries asses ridiculous taxes such as “bed” taxes on hotel rooms? Sales taxes for every non-food product you purchase? Property taxes for the privilege of owning a home? “Dining in” taxes for every meal I eat out? Not to mention “luxury” taxes on big-ticket items, “entertainment” taxes for every concert or baseball ticket purchased, “auto” taxes for each car you own, etc. etc. etc.
In any event, my biggest bitch is HOW Congress spends our hard earned money. They throw billions of dollars around like it’s so much change. Just about every governmental program ends up being a poorly managed, bloated, labyrinth whose main purpose is NOT to service the American people but rather to obtain more funding for itself.
Congress had to pass a line item veto privilege for the President (which will ultimately be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court), because they can’t discipline themselves enough to pass a piece of legislation without throwing in $100 million worth of unrelated pork barrel bullcrap into it.
[[“First of all, Lisa, you should be aware that Americans are about the most lightly taxed developed country in the world.”
Keep in mind, of course, that most other developed nations have programs like a national healthcare system that eats up a large part of the budget… ]] PunditLisa
True (although seemingly irrelevant under the circumstances) – of course, the people in those counties love their govwernment health insurance, too.
[[And remember that on the surface it may appear that we are lightly taxed. But do other countries asses ridiculous taxes such as “bed” taxes on hotel rooms?]]
It is not just on the “surface” that the US is relatively lightly taxed.
[[In any event, my biggest bitch is HOW Congress spends our hard earned money. They throw billions of dollars around like it’s so much change. Just about every governmental program ends up being a poorly managed, bloated, labyrinth whose main purpose is NOT to service the American people but rather to obtain more funding for itself.
Congress had to pass a line item veto privilege for the President (which will ultimately be ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court), because they can’t discipline themselves enough to pass a piece of legislation without throwing in $100 million worth of unrelated pork barrel bullcrap into it. ]]
I am no fan of how the budget gets porkacized, but the reality is that pork, and “waste, fraud, and abuse,” and all the Great Society social programs together are virtually irrelevant to the level of federal spending. The vast majority of the federal budget goes for four things – defense, Medicare, Social Security, and interest on the National debt. Defense has already been cut deeply, and the interest on the debt cannot (honorably or wisely, at least) be avoided.
That leaves deep cuts in Medicare and SS – try that and then tell me how much people think they get from the government.
Some of them, but probably not most. Example: What about the SEC, Fed. Reserve, et al. ? Oughta be taxes on capital gains to fund the mechanisms which manage & enforce the entire investment mechanism, no ?
Poorly-managed labyrinth ? Remember, unlike the private sector, the government is managing for no errors and all “clients” (for lack of better phrasing). Say the EPA sees a pond filled with chemical scum. They have to go through 65 kinds of hoops to address the problem and research it, figure out what to do, whom to correct… and when the small business that dumped goes south, since the cost of waste wasn’t figured into their profit margin, another small business knuckles under to overburdensome gov’t regulation, another congressional investigation into the facts is initiated, EPA back-tracks to prove its methods and case, politician Jones sees abuse, and Poof ! new “Hoop #66” is soon born.
It’s easier to manage for the common denominator (“You don’t like our right-handed scissors ? Go buy somewhere else”).
Sorry, that last bit’s off-track… couldn’t let that stand. [Wrote it as briefly as I could; any debate, start a new thread.]
“Proverbs for Paranoids, 3: If they can get you asking the wrong questions, they don’t have to worry about answers.”
Small nit: The SEC is more than self-funding. It collects fees (quite reasonable ones, as it turns out, but don’t tell the Securities Industry Association that I said so) from broker/dealers, companies that float public securities, transfer agents and others. The current battle the SEC and the industry are waging in Congress is to allow the Commission to “keep” more of the revenue it generates to improve enforcement and inspection activity. To “manage & enforce the entire investment mechanism,” email your Congressman and say “I want a stronger, more robust SEC!” Other departments could self-fund if the government had any sense. The FAA, for example.
Another small nit: The Fed might be also independent of the normal taxing mechanism. IIRC in most years it takes no money from Congress at all. In fact, some in the Congress want more control over the piggy bank the Fed makes from foreign exchange operations, coupon passes, etc.
Manhattan: thanks for the correction. I could pretend that I was responding to earlier posts calling all fees & such “hidden taxes”… but I won’t. I suppose though that the other agencies involved in the regulation/enforcement (FBI, et al…) count, but your point is well taken.
