# Land of the Free? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566 "2002-12-13T18:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/81 "2002-12-20T02:21:13Z")
Susanann, I am afraid you are making no sense to me. Maybe you can explain. You said that the USA had higher taxes and laws and regulations _than other countries_. I challenged that and you do not admit you were mistaken but you fail to support your assertion and instead you ramble about how bad the US is. Sorry. I am not going to ramble around. The fact is that you have not been able to sustain _any_ of your previous assertions. Or show me how the US has higher taxes and laws and regulations. Either it is true or it is not true. I say it is not true and you do not know what you are talking about. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/82 "2002-12-20T02:27:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I think it is rather obvious that it is YOU who would prefer to live in Mexico. > > YOU are the one who seems to like the models of socialist governments. You are the ones making exuses for increasing government taxation and spending. **Susanann** , you are rambling all over the place and contradicting yourself. If I liked paying higher taxes why would I go to Mexico which has the lowest? You are making no sense. ---
**Author:** ![Susanann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ab992/32.png) [@Susanann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Susanann)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/83 "2002-12-20T03:11:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > \*\*Susanann, I am afraid you are making no sense to me. Maybe you can explain. You said that the USA had higher taxes and laws and regulations _than other countries_. I challenged that and you do not admit you were mistaken but you fail to support your assertion and instead you ramble about how bad the US is. Sorry. I am not going to ramble around. The fact is that you have not been able to sustain _any_ of your previous assertions. Or show me how the US has higher taxes and laws and regulations. Either it is true or it is not true. I say it is not true and you do not know what you are talking about. \*\* That is because you continue to evade the questions. You have not listed any other countries with numbers and with sources. I will repeat the same questions that you have continued to refuse to answer: Which countries have more total number of laws than in the US? Please list those countries with “more laws” passed and and which are currently in force than we now have in the United States, and please give us all the sources. Which other countries have passed more total number of laws, rules, and regulations, in the past 3 months, than has been passed in by local, state, and federal governements in the United States. List them. Also list those countries with more lawyers that in the Uinted States. The United States has over 600,000 lawyers [http://www.collegeboard.com/apps/careers/0,1462,14-053,00.html](http://www.collegeboard.com/apps/careers/0,1462,14-053,00.html), which countries have more? list them.\*( How many countries can YOU name which are more regulations and codes than the US? List them. What other countries have more required types of “licenses” than the United States? Which countries have more gun laws than the United States(I listed 20,000 gun laws with source, you have not not listed one single country which has more than 20,000 gun laws)? list them with sources. Which countries pay more in taxes than the $3 trillion dollars each year with another $6 trillion in defered taxes that Americans pay or owe? List them with sources. I gave the exact numbers, with sources, and you have failed to show any country which pays and owes more than 10 trillion dollars in taxes. As a “percentage of income”, which people of other countries pay less in total taxes, than they do for food, shelter, and clothing combined? list them. Which countries have an income tax law that has less pages than the current United States income tax law and IRS rules, rulings, and regulations? list them. Only after you answer these very basic questions, which relate to being “free”, can you then start to discuss this topic. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/84 "2002-12-20T03:27:07Z")
\>\> You have not listed any other countries with numbers and with sources. Um, ok. I must have been imagining things then. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2002, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/85 "2002-12-20T15:43:25Z")
Susanann, you are very deliberately playing dumb here and I have a feeling I’ll be seeing you in the pit very soon but, be that as it may, I’ll give it a last try. The fact that Americans _may_ pay 2 trillion in taxes is totally, 100% irrelevant. The rest of the world put together pays more than that in taxes. So what? What does that prove? Nothing! The only vaid yardstick is how much is taken in taxes as a percentage of what the country produces. Absolute numbers are meaningless in this context. **amarone** posted a link which shows very clearly Americans pay lower taxes than the people of almost any other advanced country. That proves your assertion was wrong. Do you have something to say about the information provided in that link? ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2002, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566/86 "2002-12-21T00:54:50Z")
susanann, [your presence is requested in the pit](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2749633#post2749633). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/land-of-the-free/142566.md?page=4)