'Murica! (166 Viewers)
- Thread starter Fake Melo
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You mean you'll have other taxpayers pay those 2,15 euros so you can get the polemic 08/15 argument from a guy that probably didn't even watch the video 
A question for Americans:
You guys already pay a significant amount of income tax, what does your country provide to show for it? I mean correct me if I'm wrong here but in canada they pay comparable income tax rates and they have universal health care and subsidized education.
I mean most of you know I'm probably as right leaning as they get in this forum, but the way i see it, if I'm paying that much in taxes I'd like to see something to show for it.
That being said, if i were an American Ron Paul was probably the best candidate in the past few decades. I'd strongly be with someone that will push for reduced government spending, especially in areas like military spending where a bulk of the federal budget goes towards.
You guys already pay a significant amount of income tax, what does your country provide to show for it? I mean correct me if I'm wrong here but in canada they pay comparable income tax rates and they have universal health care and subsidized education.
I mean most of you know I'm probably as right leaning as they get in this forum, but the way i see it, if I'm paying that much in taxes I'd like to see something to show for it.
That being said, if i were an American Ron Paul was probably the best candidate in the past few decades. I'd strongly be with someone that will push for reduced government spending, especially in areas like military spending where a bulk of the federal budget goes towards.
2 main differences, use of deductions and state tax rates, as you know on top of federal some states in the US charge state tax in canada they do it by province, and in the north they tax a lot more at the state/province level. US also allows self-employed to use deductions to reduce taxable income.
More importantly, i dont think social/political model can be xeroxed so to speak. Small example to illustrate that both places are very different despite their similarities, canada is begging for people to migrate while the US sees migration as a problem for the most part.
More importantly, i dont think social/political model can be xeroxed so to speak. Small example to illustrate that both places are very different despite their similarities, canada is begging for people to migrate while the US sees migration as a problem for the most part.
TBH, nobody likes taxes. American taxes are among the lowest of civilized Western nations. But we complain about them being too high because, well, they're taxes. Which isn't to say they could be better managed or better optimized. Hellz yeah. But US taxes aren't that bad on a relative scale. One exception being that the US taxes citizens regardless of residence, unlike most other countries that will only tax income earned in-country.
What we get for it is another story. Mostly bureaucracy, like most taxes. A lot of debt payments/interest. Military and subsidies for the less fortunate, the ill, the poor, and the retired. Slap on some underfunded infrastructure, foreign aid, and that's about it.
As for health care, it's a mess. Our health care system is designed as a private payer denier system -- i.e., a huge number of people are employed with the sole purpose of refusing responsibility for a health care payment from one system to hoist it on some other institution. It's like going to a doctor's appointment, and you, the doctor, the nurse, the receptionist, etc., each have lawyers, and we pay these lawyers to argue over who covers what part of the bill. That's one of the major reasons the US health care system is dysfunctional, but there are others (another big one being no incentives to do things more cheaply).
What we get for it is another story. Mostly bureaucracy, like most taxes. A lot of debt payments/interest. Military and subsidies for the less fortunate, the ill, the poor, and the retired. Slap on some underfunded infrastructure, foreign aid, and that's about it.
As for health care, it's a mess. Our health care system is designed as a private payer denier system -- i.e., a huge number of people are employed with the sole purpose of refusing responsibility for a health care payment from one system to hoist it on some other institution. It's like going to a doctor's appointment, and you, the doctor, the nurse, the receptionist, etc., each have lawyers, and we pay these lawyers to argue over who covers what part of the bill. That's one of the major reasons the US health care system is dysfunctional, but there are others (another big one being no incentives to do things more cheaply).
I definitely agree with the point that social/political and even economic models should not follow a one size fits all approach, its definitely a lot more complex than that. However I still think the US taxes its citizens too highly for a country that does not provide universal health care and subsidized education. The fact that you have to pay taxes even when working overseas is also shocking for me. Aaron makes the important point that a large bulk of the money goes towards the military, and foreign aid(though I imagine this doesn't really represent a sizable percentage of the federal budget?) , and that's just a bad deal for an every day citizen.
Obviously, I'm not actually advocating universal health care and subsidized education, simply because I believe the state is inefficient, and as idealistic as those ideas sound, they are actually counterproductive, what I am advocating is less government spending, and subsequently less income taxes.
Not surprising at all, state run institutions are usually inefficient.
Ya, health care costs in the US are crazy, there's definitely something wrong with the system there.
Obviously, I'm not actually advocating universal health care and subsidized education, simply because I believe the state is inefficient, and as idealistic as those ideas sound, they are actually counterproductive, what I am advocating is less government spending, and subsequently less income taxes.
Not surprising at all, state run institutions are usually inefficient.
Ya, health care costs in the US are crazy, there's definitely something wrong with the system there.
The top quality education facilites are, but they're impossible to ever reach for the 98% of the population that isn't among the one most intelligent percent or the one most wealthy percent. For everyone else it's a broken system that leaves them indebted for large parts of their lives.
Similary, the US health care system works great for billionaires.
It's not about the elite, but the general population.
Similary, the US health care system works great for billionaires.
It's not about the elite, but the general population.
Do you guys have progressive tax system or what? So 40-50% for everybody or just those who earn more?