# How many Americans would vote for NO taxes? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 27, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771 "2008-10-27T15:24:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Punintentional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punintentional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punintentional)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/1 "2008-10-27T15:24:54Z")
There is all this talk about “he’s raising taxes, he’s lowering taxes.” How many Americans do you think would vote for a candidate that promised NO taxes for the next 4 years? ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/2 "2008-10-27T15:29:26Z")
On one hand, I like the theoretical of individuals deciding where and to what services their money goes. If I don’t use service X, I don’t want my tax money paying for it, etc. On the other, that would be a logistical nightmare, and I’d have a hard time voting for that guy – if for no other reason than because I don’t want to drop a dime everytime I pull onto the freeway. ---
**Author:** ![Desert\_Nomad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desert_nomad/32/177_2.png) [@Desert\_Nomad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Desert_Nomad)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/3 "2008-10-27T15:32:25Z")
In the current environment they could only do that by massive borrowing… unless they plan to shut down the military which would put all those people out of work… then it’d be borrowing but not as much. I would absolutely vote for a national consumption tax and no income taxes. Of course I am one of the few Americans that saves money (I do not have a car or a TV). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/4 "2008-10-27T15:33:01Z")
A few people would vote for it because they wouldn’t think about the consequences. The only people who would actually support the idea would be a few arch-libertarians who believe even services like the police and the court system should be privatized. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/5 "2008-10-27T15:33:26Z")
Lots, as long as the candidate did a lot of hand waving about where the federal budget money would come from. It’d probably help his case if he promised to hand out free stuff… lowering taxes while increasing expenditures seems to work out well for ones career. ---
**Author:** ![Punintentional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punintentional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punintentional)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/6 "2008-10-27T15:35:27Z")
Ok, thanks for answering why people would, or why people shouldn’t. Thanks again for readint he OP. I asked how many people you think WOULD vote for such a thing. Should this be in IMHO? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/7 "2008-10-27T15:36:22Z")
> [@](#): > > On one hand, I like the theoretical of individuals deciding where and to what services their money goes. If I don’t use service X, I don’t want my tax money paying for it, etc. On the other, that would be a logistical nightmare, and I’d have a hard time voting for that guy – if for no other reason than because I don’t want to drop a dime everytime I pull onto the freeway. The problem with that idea is you get stuck with a lot of free riders - people who’ll get the benefit of services other people paid for. If I, for example, refuse to pay any taxes for the armed forces, it’s unlikely that some foreign country will attack me personally. So I get defended for free by the military that you paid for. ---
**Author:** ![Punintentional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punintentional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punintentional)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/8 "2008-10-27T15:37:41Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > The problem with that idea is you get stuck with a lot of free riders - people who’ll get the benefit of services other people paid for. If I, for example, refuse to pay any taxes for the armed forces, it’s unlikely that some foreign country will attack me personally. So I get defended for free by the military that you paid for. Will i get a warning for “Junior Modding” for asking you to not derail my own thread, and actually ANSWER THE OP? ---
**Author:** ![footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9f8e36/32.png) [@footballisplayedwithyourfeet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/footballisplayedwithyourfeet)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/9 "2008-10-27T15:38:04Z")
I think even die-hard libertarians woudl concede that some form of security provider - be it army, police or both - is needed. This is also what the very liberatarian philospher Robert Nozick concludes (by describing how this would sort out itself when completely free individuals will try to ‘buy’ security) ---
**Author:** ![atomicbadgerrace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@atomicbadgerrace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/atomicbadgerrace)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/10 "2008-10-27T15:44:44Z")
> [@Punintentional](#): > > Will i get a warning for “Junior Modding” for asking you to not derail my own thread, and actually ANSWER THE OP? Will I get a warning for “Junior Modding” by suggesting that your posting of the OP in GD implies that it’s okay to debate the issue? If you didn’t want a debate, then yeah, I’d say you probably should have posted it in IMHO with “Exactly how many Americans do you think would vote for a candidate that promised NO taxes for the next 4 years?” Since you seem to want a numerical answer, hmm, I’ll go with 15% of Americans. Seems good to me. ---
**Author:** ![Punintentional](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9de0a6/32.png) [@Punintentional](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punintentional)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/11 "2008-10-27T15:46:05Z")
> [@atomicbadgerrace](#): > > Will I get a warning for “Junior Modding” by suggesting that your posting of the OP in GD implies that it’s okay to debate the issue? If you didn’t want a debate, then yeah, I’d say you probably should have posted it in IMHO with “Exactly how many Americans do you think would vote for a candidate that promised NO taxes for the next 4 years?” > > Since you seem to want a numerical answer, hmm, I’ll go with 15% of Americans. Seems good to me. Thanks for your answer. Im reporting it to a mod to move to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/12 "2008-10-27T19:45:19Z")
> [@](#): > > Will i get a warning for “Junior Modding” for asking you to not derail my own thread, and actually ANSWER THE OP? Unless your real name is Creative Loafing Media, I’d say you have no claim to own this thread. So all of us have just as much right to post as you do. If you go back and read, you’ll see I did my my best effort to ANSWER THE OP in my first post. (It was, quite frankly, not a question that lends itself to a precise answer.) Having done my duty to the OP, I felt I was free to respond to other posters. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/13 "2008-10-27T20:14:55Z")
I’m reminded of this exchange : > [@](#): > > John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is – > > Tyrone: 27%. > > John: … you said that immediately, and with some authority. > > Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That’s crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population. > > John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification? > > Tyrone: Hadn’t thought about it. Let’s split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification – either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy. > > John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US? > > Tyrone: Does that seem wrong? > > John: … a bit low, actually. Now, I wouldn’t be as precise as “27%”, but I think you could find close to that much support. Because there’s enough people who are ignorant, gullible, crazy, and/or fanatic enough to support such a self destructive course ( or nearly any other ) and either not realize or not care about the consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/14 "2008-10-27T21:28:39Z")
There’s no real answer of course, but I’d be willing to bet if a legitimate national polling organization designed a survey around testing the concept, it would find roughly 50% would support it in theory. I base this on the famous [Gallup Poll](http://books.google.com/books?id=d52OVwT_6PYC&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=%22Bill+of+rights%22+poll&source=web&ots=-udMr88tFS&sig=L9QCEfopdFyEvj-66SoRqLPA5lQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA192,M1) that found disapproval of various sections of the Bill of Rights ranged anywhere from 25% to 2/3rds. Of course there’s also basic ignorance of economics. I can see the commercials now. “We’ll cut your taxes to ZERO! We’ll maintain all your services! How can we do it? VOLUME!!!” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/15 "2008-10-27T21:54:35Z")
I have a few former bosses who would support such a candidate. No question about it. ---
**Author:** ![hobscrk777](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a6a055/32.png) [@hobscrk777](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hobscrk777)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/16 "2008-10-28T00:40:18Z")
Damn near everyone I know would vote for no taxes. And that’s depressing. > [@kunilou](#): > > There’s no real answer of course, but I’d be willing to bet if a legitimate national polling organization designed a survey around testing the concept, it would find roughly 50% would support it in theory. I base this on the famous [Gallup Poll](http://books.google.com/books?id=d52OVwT_6PYC&pg=PA192&lpg=PA192&dq=%22Bill+of+rights%22+poll&source=web&ots=-udMr88tFS&sig=L9QCEfopdFyEvj-66SoRqLPA5lQ&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=3&ct=result#PPA192,M1) that found disapproval of various sections of the Bill of Rights ranged anywhere from 25% to 2/3rds. Thank you for posting this. When I read that first paragraph, I literally sat here saying “Hoe…Lee…Shite…” Talk about an eye-opener. ---
**Author:** ![Paladud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Paladud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paladud)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/17 "2008-10-28T00:42:23Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > A few people would vote for it because they wouldn’t think about the consequences. The only people who would actually support the idea would be a few **arch-libertarians** who believe even services like the police and the court system should be privatized. I think the term you’re looking for is “anarchists.” Please try again 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/18 "2008-10-28T00:57:01Z")
Off to **IMHO**. (We’ll see how long it can stay there.) [/Modding] ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/19 "2008-10-28T01:46:37Z")
I wouldn’t vote for a liar. Oh, wait! I have already, every 4 years since 1984! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771/20 "2008-10-28T02:57:24Z")
> [@Paladud](#): > > [QUOTE=Little Nemo] > A few people would vote for it because they wouldn’t think about the consequences. The only people who would actually support the idea would be a few arch-libertarians who believe even services like the police and the court system should be privatized. I think the term you’re looking for is “anarchists.” Please try again 🙂 [/QUOTE] As the phrase goes, libertarianism is the anarchy of the Right. The anarchy that thinks all rights and power should go to the biggest bank accounts - which is what you’d get with a privately funded “legal system”. What judge is going to rule against the guy who pays him ? What cop is going to arrest the guy who owns the police department ? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-americans-would-vote-for-no-taxes/469771.md?page=2)