What percent of YOUR income are you willing to give up for government services?

What percent of your income are you willing to give up for the government to make your country more fair and more compassionate to every citizen no matter their circumstances. You know the things I am talking about:
1. Free Healtchare
2. Free Education
3. Free Food
4. Free Housing
5. Free Car Insurance (see Massachucetts)
6. Government Bailouts
7. Defending the world
8. Subsidizing illegal aliens healtchare, education, etc
9. Subsidizing foreign countries so they will be our friends
ETC... Feel free to add to the list.

So what percent of your INCOME are you willing to pay to take care of everyone? Of course, I only want to hear from people that actually have an income or plan to have one in the relatively near future.

Are you willing to give:
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?????????????????????????????????????????????

Personally, I do not think I should have to pay more than 20% for all taxes combined. You know.. Fed, State, Local, Sales Tax, Property Tax, etc.. I know I am dreaming, but hey that is twice what God even asks for.


[edit on 14-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

I guess that this would be a really bad time to point out that, currently, zero percent of your taxes go to funding any infrastructure or services. Our entire taxes are absorbed entirely by the interest on our debt.

All services and infrastructure that any of us enjoy are paid for entirely by taxes that are levied when we SPEND our money. I.E. Luxury Tax, Fuel Tax, Provincial or State sales tax, property tax, etc etc etc (there's like 100).

The chattel of the US government (the people) are used via their SSN, as collateral for loans from the IMF through the Federal Reserve. Each year, taxes are collected and sent as a whole to pay off debt, then new loans are issued. Loans are issued on the basis that the government has 300m tax payers who will help make a payment on the debt next year.

Welcome to America, the greatest ponzi scheme on earth.

reply to post by king9072


How long do you think it would take to pay off say 10 Trillion in debt if we went on a crash spending diet?

Originally posted by grapesofraft
reply to post by king9072

 

How long do you think it would take to pay off say 10 Trillion in debt if we went on a crash spending diet?

Since the inception of the federal reserve, no matter what our debt has ever been, it is technically an impossible thing to pay off for any amount.

This is due to the fact that the debt is created on top of what is loaned to begin with, so there is never any money to actually pay the debt off... only the principle.

It's like this, say I create King dollars.

Today I loan you 100 king dollars, and say you will pay 10% interest. So now you owe me 110 king dollars.

Now, I am the only person who gives out king dollars, and your my only client. So if you are able to round up every king dollar, you can pay off the 100 that you owe me, but you can't pay my interest.

So I loan you 1000 king dollars, and again with 10% interest. So now, theres a total of 1100 king dollars, but on top of that there is 110 king dollars of interest. No matter what, you can never pay the interest off cause the money to pay it never existed.

In essence, it's permanent debt, and ultimately enslavement. This is the system we live in, and every tax paying member of our society is a slave they just aren't aware of it, even when 30% of their paycheck disappears to pay for nothing.

I would be willing to give up a number between 0 and 0!

Why exactly do I need to pay for services I may never use or need?

Why exactly do I have to pay for others who may need and use these services but never contribute monetarily to this themselves for various reasons beyond their, the government or my control?

Why do I have to be my brother's keeper?

Why does my brother have to be my keeper?

When it does come to helping others afford services or goods that they might not afford, why is it I can not charitably choose who I wish to help and why.

Why do we live in a world where being enslaved to a taxing process of forced surrender because of a percieved scarcity and need that is not always genuine is preferred to one where people whose success and abundence is simply encouraged not to let it go to waste through a charitible process of 'electing' voluntarily to help one's fellow man?

0 is what I have to give to the government, to a friend or a loved one...EVERYTHING...

reply to post by king9072


i wouldn't mind paying a proportionate amount of tax to income if the money actually went to help build infrastructure.

reply to post by whycantweknow


Well what percentage would that be? How much of your income are you willing to give up?

I give nearly 50%, I think it's 46 or 47.. half for all intents and purposes.

We get health care, subsidized post-secondary, welfare for those who need it, allowance for childcare including daycare in most places, subsidized vehicle insurance, employment insurance, paid leave for new parents (both), guaranteed minimum income for seniors, old age pension, veterans allowance and pension, tax refund on purchase of your first house.. etc.. etc.

There's hundreds, if not thousands of seemingly random things you can get the Canadian government to help you pay for or get into if you know what you're looking for.

I'd be willing to take a tax increase if the government would invest in the big telecom companies and make broadband a basic utility like power/water/sewer/gas. I think something like that would better the country as a whole; though I have broadband, everyone else should too. There's actually a town near me that made fiber to home part of municipal taxes, so everyone gets a fiber line of their own - created tons of jobs in the process.

I wouldn't mind subsidized gas if they cut the price in half and it never changed.

There is a problem with your question regarding the following items you mentioned:

1. Free Healtchare
2. Free Education
3. Free Food
4. Free Housing
5. Free Car Insurance

Nothing is free. What makes you think they are or would be free?
The government does not grow money from trees. The government does and would fund all these services by collecting more and more taxes from my hard earned work.

reply to post by WhatTheory


LOL, great point. I thought about putting the FREE in quotes, but then I had an ADD moment.

You are correct nothing is free, hence more taxes to pay for it. More taxes from you and me and everybody else, but the people that do not work. How perfect!

But what % are you willing to give in overall taxes? What number is the top percent you would pay for government? What is enough?

[edit on 14-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

reply to post by ZombieOctopus


Wow you are a glutton for punishment, in my opinion. You already give half but you would give more so that everybody had free broadband. Your government must love you.

How are you not mad as hell at them taking half? You dont mind working 6 months of every year of your life just to pay taxes?


[edit on 14-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

reply to post by grapesofraft


I think the net is critical today for communication and education, just as important as any other essential service.

No one enjoys giving up half their earnings, but the benefits reach back to everyone in the end. Everyone should get to go to university or college and make something of themselves. If everyone had an education there would be more employers, more innovation, more jobs and thereby creating a better place to live. Same goes for medical coverage and the rest.

What good is living in a castle surrounded by slums and inhabited by idiots?

We don't really take the same view of the government here.. it's not some evil entity bent on enslaving the masses for it's own purposes; it's all of us.

reply to post by ZombieOctopus


Wow you are baffling to me. I am not saying you are wrong, but just totally opposite of my thinking. I dont know if I think the government is out to enslave me, I just dont think they should be allowed to redistribute my wealth. They didnt work for it. I dont mind paying a little for some things such as defense, police, courts. I just dont see how they have a right to force me to subsidize everybody elses needs, wants, and desires.

If I want to help people, then I should be able to use my money to help them how I see fit.

So what percent would be too much taxes for you? 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%? Or would you give it all if they could make everyone even? I am just curious, not making fun or anything.

[edit on 15-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

Nothing at all..... I work on the water 9 months a year so please tell me how these services help me. Why should I also pay a percentage of my income. A percentage is total BS and the welfare scum will end up paying nothing like usual. Why on earth do people settle for this crap because I am not going to. The government needs to collect a stinking levy tax that everyone pays 1000 dollars a year just for being a citizen. They also need to collect sales taxes and tolls on roads to collect income. Another point if the government would issue its own currency We wouldn't have to have so many taxes because then it could charge us interest on the loans we recieve. So why on earth are You acting like a sheeple because our constitution says We are all created equal and should all be treated the same. As far as welfare they need to cut that out completely because its a failure and it encourages foolish behavior. If there was no welfare the woman on it would take the pathetic men to court for child support and win. Why on earth should I whom am working my tail off to take care of my child have to pay for this loosers child. Another thing if there was no welfare maybe these woman would acquire some morals and would only screw around with WINNERS instead of loosers.


You heard me right people if You are a father and You don't support Your children YOU ARE A LOOSER and You deserve to be working on a plantation.

reply to post by jkm1864


A star for you. You must be my long lost relative . Your point is correct, why if we are taking care of our families should we also have to give less to our families to pay for others.

Yep, we Americans are funny bunch...

We would all like to live in civilized society but no one wants to pay for it.

Like civilized societies grow on trees or something...

And then we have balls to say that we are the best nation in the world.

Best my ass.

It is no surprise that rest of the world see us as bunch of heartless, self centered and armed to teeth war obsessed religious red neck freaks who think that big boobs, American football, Doritos and beer are everything the real man will ever need...

reply to post by 5thElement


Do you know how we got to be at the top of the food chain? It was because we went for about 150 years before we started taxing and regulating the living hell out of everyone.

Have you ever listened to why people build businesses in China instead of the USA? It is because they are the most Captialist Friendly nation on Earth. They do not over tax, the do not over regulate, and they do not expect companies to pay people who do not work hard.

It is not about being selfish. It is about succeeding and being your best. Nobody said we would not help out others if they lowereed taxes, we just said we would have a choice.

No government should be in the business of redistributing wealth... which is basically punishing the successful and rewarding the foolish.

By the way, what percent are you willing to pay?


[edit on 15-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

Originally posted by grapesofraft
reply to post by ZombieOctopus

 

Wow you are baffling to me. I am not saying you are wrong, but just totally opposite of my thinking. I dont know if I think the government is out to enslave me, I just dont think they should be allowed to redistribute my wealth. They didnt work for it. I dont mind paying a little for some things such as defense, police, courts. I just dont see how they have a right to force me to subsidize everybody elses needs, wants, and desires.

If I want to help people, then I should be able to use my money to help them how I see fit.

So what percent would be too much taxes for you? 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%? Or would you give it all if they could make everyone even? I am just curious, not making fun or anything.

[edit on 15-6-2009 by grapesofraft]

Well first we have to separate wants and desires from essential services and what should be established as essential.

Here essential services constitute things like having somewhere to live, being able to eat, have an opportunity to go to some form of post-secondary institution, have unlimited access to the health care system.

Then there are subsidized programs and services which are things the vast majority of people will need at some point in their life such as; old age pension, minimum income for seniors, disability/unemployment/vehicle insurance, paid leave for new/expecting parents, etc, etc.

Out of all the major ones, the only one I don't see myself taking advantage of in my lifetime is government paid housing, welfare and hopefully I'll retire without needing financial support.

Like I said, I would pay for internet connectivity as an essential service, maybe subsidized gas, not much more than that.. Once you get much over 50% you'd have to expect subsidized housing for everyone.

The more taxes you pay, the less disparity you have in society but everyone also has less overall; "less" being a relative term. Giving half, there is still a wide range but nothing like America where it seems like you've either got a Porsche or a bike.

I'm about at my taxation limit unless I'm getting like 25% of my house paid for or 50% off a new vehicle. I'm fine with where it is, I wouldn't change it.

Originally posted by grapesofraft
No government should be in the business of redistributing wealth...

Why not ?

Originally posted by grapesofraft
...which is basically punishing the successful and rewarding the foolish.

So, how do you measure your own success? Lol. By amount of money you have ?

Originally posted by grapesofraft
By the way, what percent are you willing to pay?

Why is that even important ?

Your question sounds like if you were asking: How much your fellow Americans are worth to you?

I would ofcourse pay whatever it takes for everyone to have a worthy life.

To get every depressive person back on they're feet.

To get every ill cured. etc erc

Why wouldnt i ?

No TV, Car or house is big enough to mean more to me than the wellbeing of my fellow humans. Also i believe that a society functions alot better as a whole when everybody is happy and not rejected.

[edit on 15-6-2009 by JustAThought]