We could support ourselves from the taxes we pay
- Thread starter chinaco
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Looking at our total tax bill as an expense.... DW and I could live well off of the taxes we pay.
What I want to know is which non-working middle-class family am I supporting?
More likely you are paying for a $500Billion dollar war that nobody needed.
dex
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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The 2007 budget is 2.7 Trillion - a number hard to understand.
two thousand, seven hundred billion?
So pick something you like or don't like and say you partially paid for it.
Like kids? Head Start
Don't like debt - interest on the debt.
Imagine if 9/11 never happened - we would be paying down the national debt and the financial future would look great.
It would be great if there was a way to figure out how much we have spent throughout the economy since 9/11 on all activities it caused.
two thousand, seven hundred billion?
So pick something you like or don't like and say you partially paid for it.
Like kids? Head Start
Don't like debt - interest on the debt.
Imagine if 9/11 never happened - we would be paying down the national debt and the financial future would look great.
It would be great if there was a way to figure out how much we have spent throughout the economy since 9/11 on all activities it caused.
travelover
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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There is already another thread on this...
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/al-queda-bankrupting-us-28164.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/al-queda-bankrupting-us-28164.html
bssc
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Think of the nice highways that you are paying for. Or perhaps the Smithsonian or the National Weather Service.
ScaredtoQuit
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The myth that all of our tax dollars go to no-good loafers and good-for-nothings is one that has always grated on my nerves. Certainly, there is a certain percentage of these recipients who have learned how to "work the system", but by no means does it have a significant impact on the overall Federal budget.
If you take a look at what was actually spent by the Federal Government during the 2006 fiscal year, you will see that the portion of tax dollars devoted to subsidizing the poor is actually very small. The following information was gleaned from actual Federal documents which are available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/pdf/hist.pdf.
Total
Spending Pct of
(In $MM) Total
Training & Employment 7,199 0.3%Unemployment Compensation 33,814 1.3%Housing Assistance 38,295 1.4%Food & Nutrition Assistance 53,928 2.0%Other Income Security 123,552 4.7%Other 2,398,647 90.3% Total Expenditures 2,655,435
I was unable to determine what "Other Income Security" is but even with this amount included, the total spending for social services is less than 10% of our overall spending. If you discount this category it's more like 5%.
If you feel compelled to blame someone for your taxes being out of control, I'm afraid you have to find some other culprit besides poor people.
If you take a look at what was actually spent by the Federal Government during the 2006 fiscal year, you will see that the portion of tax dollars devoted to subsidizing the poor is actually very small. The following information was gleaned from actual Federal documents which are available at http://www.gpoaccess.gov/usbudget/fy08/pdf/hist.pdf.
Total
Spending Pct of
(In $MM) Total
Training & Employment 7,199 0.3%Unemployment Compensation 33,814 1.3%Housing Assistance 38,295 1.4%Food & Nutrition Assistance 53,928 2.0%Other Income Security 123,552 4.7%Other 2,398,647 90.3% Total Expenditures 2,655,435
I was unable to determine what "Other Income Security" is but even with this amount included, the total spending for social services is less than 10% of our overall spending. If you discount this category it's more like 5%.
If you feel compelled to blame someone for your taxes being out of control, I'm afraid you have to find some other culprit besides poor people.
ScaredtoQuit
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Sorry. I tried to copy a table from an Excel spreadsheet, but it appears that this software does not support tables. Here's that table again
Training & Employment 7,199 0.3%
Unemployment Compensation 38,295 1.3%
Housing Assistance 33,814 1.4%
Food & Nutrition Assistance 53,928 2.0%
Other Income Security 123,552 4.7%
Other 2,398,647 90.3%
Total Spending 2,655,435 100.0%
Training & Employment 7,199 0.3%
Unemployment Compensation 38,295 1.3%
Housing Assistance 33,814 1.4%
Food & Nutrition Assistance 53,928 2.0%
Other Income Security 123,552 4.7%
Other 2,398,647 90.3%
Total Spending 2,655,435 100.0%
DougViages
Recycles dryer sheets
"Tax Freedom Day" measure says 1/3 of income goes to tax
Taxes are taking 1/3 of all income in the US, according to the Tax Freedom Day measurement. The "day that you stop paying your taxes each year" bounces around May 1st annually. A couple of truths:
1. Governments have numerous incentives, regardless of the party affliation, to expand their reach, power, and revenue.
2. Once government has entered an area of the society, it is nearly impossible to get them out of it.
3. Our taxes are actually significantly less then those levied in W. Europe.
4. The real questions: How much do we want governments to do, and how much should we "pay" for it? Whose money is it really? (We earned it, what makes it the governments to take from us.)
Taxes are taking 1/3 of all income in the US, according to the Tax Freedom Day measurement. The "day that you stop paying your taxes each year" bounces around May 1st annually. A couple of truths:
1. Governments have numerous incentives, regardless of the party affliation, to expand their reach, power, and revenue.
2. Once government has entered an area of the society, it is nearly impossible to get them out of it.
3. Our taxes are actually significantly less then those levied in W. Europe.
4. The real questions: How much do we want governments to do, and how much should we "pay" for it? Whose money is it really? (We earned it, what makes it the governments to take from us.)
Fireup2020
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I am suprised the "other" number is so low!
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Of the three main divisions in our family budget -- taxes, savings, and spending -- taxes are the largest. Last year, our combined federal and state income taxes, local property tax, sales tax, SS and Medicare taxes exceeded 35% of our income.
I was hoping they would name a highway overpass for me in recognition of my contribution.
I was hoping they would name a highway overpass for me in recognition of my contribution.
We'd have a retirement community on Mars by now.
For many years we sent more to the Feds than we spent ourselves. Was never very happy about that.
tryan
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I'ld be happy if it was ONLY 1/3 ... but by the time all the "little" taxes (property, sales, tobacco, alcohol, gas, excise, tolls, license fees, luxury ......) get added in it's closer to 1/2.
ziggy29
Moderator Emeritus
As far as taxes go, don't forget that if you didn't earn the income OR pay the tax, you'd need more after-tax income than you have now because you'd need to pay for at least some of the things taxes are providing.
I'm not defending the current levels of taxation per se, but just keeping things in perspective. For almost all of us, at least *some* of the taxes we pay offset some of the costs we would otherwise have if we didn't pay for them through taxes. We may not get a dollar in "value added" in return for every dollar of tax paid, but it's not zero, either.
I'm not defending the current levels of taxation per se, but just keeping things in perspective. For almost all of us, at least *some* of the taxes we pay offset some of the costs we would otherwise have if we didn't pay for them through taxes. We may not get a dollar in "value added" in return for every dollar of tax paid, but it's not zero, either.
lazygood4nothinbum
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how do we repay all those who died so that we might have private property rights today? how do we justify contructing a society which excludes the likes of the mentally ill or takes advantage of the less intelligent? laissez-faire or redistribution of wealth? what is the cost, what is the value of compassion?
free4now
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I just read that the government is spending $250 million on administrative expenses to make sure gun sellers know who is mentally disabled, in a vain attempt to prevent Virginia Tech from reoccuring:
House Tempers Background Checks for Guns
So that's about $1 from everyone living in the USA. When I was working and cashing stock options my share would have been much more, but one of the satisfactions of being FIREd is knowing that my share of such reactionary bloat is might actually be less.
House Tempers Background Checks for Guns
So that's about $1 from everyone living in the USA. When I was working and cashing stock options my share would have been much more, but one of the satisfactions of being FIREd is knowing that my share of such reactionary bloat is might actually be less.
jay-pee
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I would imagine that the percentage of your taxes that go to taking care of the poor/non working segment of our society, would be less than what you would be spending for security and prisons, if they were starving and left to their own devices to survive. We are a rich nation, and we,as individuals , have more "things" than we will ever need, to survive.
On the other hand, if you are working 2 days a week to support some lazy ba#$^&* who will not go to work, who thinks you are the dumb #$% for working, and supporting him, I understand your frustration. What is more frustrating is, when you do finally retire, after many years of demeaning work, the "welfare guy" gets free medical care, food stamps, housing assistance and a monthly check. While you are worried about the taxes you will have to pay on April 15th, he is figuring out how much he will "get back" even though he has never paid anything into the system.
I imagine that the working class will always feel this frustration, but we will still raise our kids to go to school, get good grades, get a good job, and support the "welfare guy" as we, their parents did. Come back to this site 100 years from now and read the same thread.
On the other hand, if you are working 2 days a week to support some lazy ba#$^&* who will not go to work, who thinks you are the dumb #$% for working, and supporting him, I understand your frustration. What is more frustrating is, when you do finally retire, after many years of demeaning work, the "welfare guy" gets free medical care, food stamps, housing assistance and a monthly check. While you are worried about the taxes you will have to pay on April 15th, he is figuring out how much he will "get back" even though he has never paid anything into the system.
I imagine that the working class will always feel this frustration, but we will still raise our kids to go to school, get good grades, get a good job, and support the "welfare guy" as we, their parents did. Come back to this site 100 years from now and read the same thread.
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