Taxes... what do you think about them?

1. Military spending

Sorry, but this is always going to be necessary. Would it be nice to have world peace? Yes. Is it going to happen because one of the superpowers has disposed of its military? No. Countries go to war for bad reasons, but that doesn't mean a strong military isn't a necessity... at least until we have a global government a la Star Trek's Federation.

2. Healthcare

All civilized countries have a universal health care system. It saves billions, it helps productivity, and it balances society. As far as I'm concerned, it's a no-brainer... there is nothing good about the rich getting the best treatment and the poor being one illness away from homelessness.

3. Education

This is something where you can't just throw money at the problem and expect it to get better. You need to provide real incentives and take a more hands-on approach. But yes, I think education should be funded publicly... I also think that university should be free. Tuition costs are a huge barrier to social mobility... you can already see how much debt students have and there's still no guarantee of a job when they graduate. This is because the corporations want people to pay for their own training, so they can pick the superstars and let everyone else sink into debt oblivion. If they provided free training/education for high-demand areas we wouldn't be importing so much foreign labor. Of course, the corporations should be the ones paying for this... they've got the money, I promise. Some of these assholes make enough in one WEEK to put someone through 4 years of university... there is literally no reason for kids to be going into tens of thousands of dollars in debt just to end up working at a book store. If one thing didn't work out after graduation, then it wouldn't be such an unthinkable pain in the ass to switch into something related... because you would only have to worry about rent and food on top of your books and tuition.

4. Safety (Firefighter, police, etc)

I don't think that an increased police presence is ever a good thing. It's pretty much a given that wherever the police tend to patrol (probably minority/ethnic neighborhoods), there are always going to be more arrests, etc. At the same time the idea of vigilante justice is even more terrifying. Again, this isn't so much evidence that a police force in itself is a bad thing, just that it's not being managed properly.


5. Infrastructure (roads, bridges, mass transportation, the internet, etc)

Yes, we need roads and buildings.

6. Food

Sounds good.

7. Welfare

I support welfare completely. Even if there are people who 'are just lazy' (which I don't think is true... it's more like they've given up hope, don't believe in themselves and all of their available options are degrading)... it doesn't mean that just tossing people into the wind is going to be a good idea-- more like a recipe for a huge increase in crime and probably civil war.

8. Big gov't

Considering it's mostly a choice between more civil servants and the rich getting richer, I have no problem with big government. Politicians are probably overpaid but the rest of them are fine, and more power to them. I can't understand why people don't want others to have good government jobs... if they got rid of those jobs, you seriously think that other jobs would be created elsewhere? Where do you think all of this saved money is going to go? Into your pocket? LOL-- have you noticed that the corporations have been doing everything in their power to make sure they have as small a workforce as they can possibly manage? Have you noticed that the trend is to make their businesses more 'efficient' while doing everything they can to crush their competition?

9. The justice system

It's not perfect, but is anyone really expecting it to be? The idea that you can just trust everyone to 'be a decent person' is insane. If you let people do whatever they want, things will almost definitely fall apart. It would be like high school, except with guns everywhere.

Taxes are good... but only if the programs they're funding are being managed well and organized so that they can benefit everyone equally. Of course, this never really happens.

 

I think Texans are okay.

 

Uncle Sam spends about $1t more yearly than he collects in taxes so the deficit is financed by selling bonds. So far that hasn't affected creditworthiness on the world stage, much.

The best thing the .gov could do to stimulate the economy is borrow another $1t and return the now surplus tax revenue back to the middle class. Except the money would get diverted and never get into the hands of the needy.

Hell, the absolute best thing is to abolish taxes totally and 100% deficit spend. With no taxes the economy would go on a tear. But so would price inflation and there'd be other unintended consequences.