Political Hippo Circle Jerk - America, farg YEAH!

[rjs246]

Taxes.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. ranks 26th out of 30 developed countries in the amount of taxes its citizens pay as a proportion of gross domestic product.[/url]

[Sgt PSN]

the problem isn't the amount of money that tax payers are paying.  i think it's fairly common knowledge that we are a lightly taxed society in comparison to other counties.  it's what the gov't is spending wasting those tax dollars on that's the problem.   

i'd like to see where the us ranks among those 30 countries in terms of efficiency (if there's a way to actually measure it) when it comes to spending tax dollars.  i can't imagine that too many countries are as wasteful with tax dollars as ours is. 

[rjs246]

OK, so it isn't enough that we're already taxed less than the rest of the world, now we have to prove that the relatively small amount of money we pay is being used more efficiently than the rest of the world's tax money? What if it isn't being used as efficiently? Then what? Reduce taxes further as punishment to a naughty government, further damaging public programs and infrastructure?

I agree that the money isn't spent as efficiently as it could or should be. In fact the biggest thing about Obama's campaign that I liked was his promise to comb the budget and eliminate wasteful programs. It's a good idea and it's badly needed. My point is just that inefficiency isn't resolved by reducing funding.

[ice grillin you]

the problem is so much of america is filled with incredibly short sighted and semi retarded citizens that see a five minute nbc news "fleecing of america" piece and think the govt is one huge waste machine...instead looking all around every single second of every single day of their pathetic lives and seeing what they do get from tax dollars


there are no doubt some major areas where tax dollars need to be better used (such as universal health care and equal public schooling for children) but in general our govt for how incredibly big it is does a fantastic job

[rjs246]

I wouldn't even go so far as to gush about how great government is. I think that it overreaches in the wrong places and underreaches in places where it should be more involved. I think that it needs to be seriously improved with regards to efficiency and transparency from top to bottom.

What I don't think is that we should be wailing about paying taxes. Our tax rate is fine, if not a little on the low side. In some ways we get a lot for our money. In others we get too much or not enough. But the problem isn't with how much money we're paying into the system.

[Butchers Bill]

Taxes.

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, the U.S. ranks 26th out of 30 developed countries in the amount of taxes its citizens pay as a proportion of gross domestic product.

That article is so ridiculous I don't even know where to start.

[Sgt PSN]

OK, so it isn't enough that we're already taxed less than the rest of the world, now we have to prove that the relatively small amount of money we pay is being used more efficiently than the rest of the world's tax money? What if it isn't being used as efficiently? Then what? Reduce taxes further as punishment to a naughty government, further damaging public programs and infrastructure?

I agree that the money isn't spent as efficiently as it could or should be. In fact the biggest thing about Obama's campaign that I liked was his promise to comb the budget and eliminate wasteful programs. It's a good idea and it's badly needed. My point is just that inefficiency isn't resolved by reducing funding.

never even hinted at reducing or eliminating taxes.  much like you, i really bought into obama's plan to reduce wasteful gov't spending and i hope it's something he's able to follow through on.  i'm not an anti-tax guy.  i don't mind paying taxes at all.  i just want the people i'm giving my money to to use it in a responsible manner. 

[ATV]

[Sgt PSN]

why is malcom x accounting for 15% of gov't spending?

[Seabiscuit36]

I cant believe the Gubament pays Malcolm X so much for Reparations

[General_Failure]

That's not for Malcom X, it's for fixing broken images in Internet Explorer.

[Father Demon]

the problem is so much of america is filled with incredibly short sighted and semi retarded citizens that see a five minute nbc news "fleecing of america" piece and think the govt is one huge waste machine...instead looking all around every single second of every single day of their pathetic lives and seeing what they do get from tax dollars


there are no doubt some major areas where tax dollars need to be better used (such as universal health care and equal public schooling for children) but in general our govt for how incredibly big it is does a fantastic job

I find it hilarious that the guy here that gets paid from our taxes, yet spends more time on here than anyone else during his work day, is claiming that the govt isn't a huge waste machine.

It makes me laugh.

[ice grillin you]

it has waste...but it isnt a waste machine...its the best govt in the world by leaps and bounds

[rjs246]

OK, so it isn't enough that we're already taxed less than the rest of the world, now we have to prove that the relatively small amount of money we pay is being used more efficiently than the rest of the world's tax money? What if it isn't being used as efficiently? Then what? Reduce taxes further as punishment to a naughty government, further damaging public programs and infrastructure?

I agree that the money isn't spent as efficiently as it could or should be. In fact the biggest thing about Obama's campaign that I liked was his promise to comb the budget and eliminate wasteful programs. It's a good idea and it's badly needed. My point is just that inefficiency isn't resolved by reducing funding.

never even hinted at reducing or eliminating taxes.  much like you, i really bought into obama's plan to reduce wasteful gov't spending and i hope it's something he's able to follow through on.  i'm not an anti-tax guy.  i don't mind paying taxes at all.  i just want the people i'm giving my money to to use it in a responsible manner. 

Fine! Stop agreeing with me so much, smartguy.

[Tomahawk]

That's not for Malcom X, it's for fixing broken images in Internet Explorer.

I thought it was the spending on softcore pr0n