AP article: Taxes aren't too high, they are at their lowest since 1950

[qh4dotcom]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110207/ap_on_bi_ge/us_lower_tax_bills

[__27__]

LOL.

We've ruined the economy with central planning and a tax burden so now our total overall revenues are lower, ergo you are paying the least taxes in a long time. Never mind the fact you are making less money than you have in the same period.

Shit, these guys know how to spin anything. "War is peace!" "Freedom is Slavery!"

[tangent4ronpaul]

"As a share of the nations economy" - WTF does that mean?

In 1950 we didn't have 15 taxes tacked onto every phone bill, every utility bill, every gallon of gas pumped, permits and licenses to work, transaction fees, and regulations that turn a simple $12 in office lab test into a $78 send out lab test, every bite of food consumed, No, this article just deals with income tax.

We pay 60-70% of every dollar we bring in. About what Canada taxes. They get free college, free medical care, ice rinks and playgrounds and after school programs for the same money. Granted, Canada's medical system sucks, but just saying...

This article is pure spin and BS!

-t

[erowe1]

1) Taxes = government spending. You can't just take the official revenue from taxes people pay visibly and disregard the deficit, as though it's free money. It's a tax burden born by the people just as much as every other tax is. By this measure, the claim is false. Taxes (i.e. federal spending) is at the highest it's been in the 20th century excluding WW2 (http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/us_20th_century_chart.html).

2) And that's as a percentage of GDP, which is not a good measure to use anyway. If there is any legitimate purpose for government, then the cost of fulfilling that purpose per member of the population should decrease over time as technology improves and the economy grows. Government spending (supposing such a thing should exist at all) as a percent of GDP should always be going down. If the economy grows faster than the population does and government spending remains at a constant percent of GDP, then that means the government is accruing more goods and services per person than it formerly had, which was supposedly all it required. The U.S. real GDP per capita has increased 7-fold since 1900 (http://www.measuringworth.com/datasets/usgdp/result.php). The cost of the federal government in 1900 was around 7% of the GDP. So the cost now to have an equal amount of government/person should only be about 1% of our GDP.

[JamesButabi]

Ughhh. How disgusting and misleading.

[Dr.3D]

snip~
They get free college, free medical care, ice rinks and playgrounds and after school programs for the same money.
~snip
-t

Oh come on. There is no such thing as free, somebody has to pay for it.

[smoking357]

"As a share of the nations economy" - WTF does that mean?

In 1950 we didn't have 15 taxes tacked onto every phone bill, every utility bill, every gallon of gas pumped, permits and licenses to work, transaction fees, and regulations that turn a simple $12 in office lab test into a $78 send out lab test, every bite of food consumed, No, this article just deals with income tax.

We pay 60-70% of every dollar we bring in. About what Canada taxes. They get free college, free medical care, ice rinks and playgrounds and after school programs for the same money. Granted, Canada's medical system sucks, but just saying...

This article is pure spin and BS!

-t

Great post.

[Feeding the Abscess]

Oh come on. There is no such thing as free, somebody has to pay for it.

Dude, context. Clearly, the context is "they get it for free, as in they don't pay anything on top of what they pay in taxes".

[erowe1]

Oh come on. There is no such thing as free, somebody has to pay for it.

I think his point was that they at least have something to show for all their taxes. We pay just as much in taxes as most of the European-style socialist countries do already, minus all the kickbacks, mainly so we can fund our global police force, that all those countries apparently realize they can get by just fine without.

[Dr.3D]

Dude, context. Clearly, the context is "they get it for free, as in they don't pay anything on top of what they pay in taxes".


I think his point was that they at least have something to show for all their taxes. We pay just as much in taxes as most of the European-style socialist countries do already, minus all the kickbacks, mainly so we can fund our global police force, that all those countries apparently realize they can get by just fine without.

I know.... sorry if I made is sound like something different. It takes money to run the Team America, World Police outfit.

[Epic]

All government spending is taxed in one way or another.

Thus, taxes are at their highest ever.

[Matt Collins]

http://www.thecleverest.com/shoveler.jpg

[Jack Bauer]

All government spending is taxed in one way or another.

Thus, taxes are at their highest ever.

+1776

Government doesn't cost what it taxes. Government costs what it spends.

[tangent4ronpaul]

+1776

Government doesn't cost what it taxes. Government costs what it spends.

Plus the interest on the borrowed money and inflation from what it prints.

-t

[andrewh817]

Notice "taxes aren't too high" isn't a complete thought. You can't possibly disagree with that statement. Too high for what, for who, etc?

[Jack Bauer]

Plus the interest on the borrowed money and inflation from what it prints.

-t

That was my point t.

[Live_Free_Or_Die]

Government produces nothing so in order for revenues to increase taxation must also increase. It doesn't matter what you label it if government has revenue it is taxing someone even if the label used is "fee" or some other label:

http://www.marktaw.com/culture_and_media/TheNationalDebtImages/ReceiptsOutlays.gif

I call BS.

[DamianTV]

Taxes aren't too high, they are at their lowest since 1950

I thought all mind altering drugs were illegal in this country?