ASU2003

Seeing how we have used the national debt (and other funding sources) as a way to keep people happy and not have to pay the full share of taxes...What would happen if you got a bill for each thing the government paid for. Or maybe a breakdown of where your tax money went?

$1000 - Iraq war
$2333 - Bailout of banks and buying of properties from flippers and speculators that didn't want to take a loss.
$85 - Bailout of American car companies for producing the wrong cars and implementing something to improve fuel economy over 40mpg. Even simple batteries to power cars in traffic jams (under 10mph for an hour) and idling would have been good.
$$$ - Farm subsidies to large corporate farms
$$$ - Oil and gas exploration subsidies
$$$ - Highway construction projects that states should be doing.
$$$ - social security over-runs in a few years
$$$ - How much a nationalized healthcare system would cost everyone to give the same level of care as the private sector did in the previous year.

...I'm sure the list could be very long.


Would people be rioting in the streets? Or should we be allowed to pass the buck until sometime like 2000 when we had a budget surplus to start paying for these things (instead of giving some people some money back)?

Willravel

I'd pay mine to the best of my ability. But yes, there would likely be a very strong reaction.

BTW, this would make an incredible mail campaign trick.

Cynthetiq

I'd like to see people pony up the money at the beginning of the budgeting season and see just how much ALL the programs cost and what their contributions are.

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mcgeedo

People DO get the bill, it's just not itemized. Look at your paycheck stub (assuming you get one) and your grocery bill.

Here's an interesting thought: Suppose you got an itemized tax bill with the opportunity to not pay for specific line items. Maybe a required minimum amount, to pay for things like a minimum national defense, roads and the like. And the opportunity to pay extra for additional defense and so on. I wonder how much would actually be spent on stuff like welfare and research on the sex life of Brazilian tree frogs if we had a choice?

Willravel

That's us paying the minimum payment, though. Imagine paying off all Amerca's debt at once, divided by 300m. Let's say we're at around $10t. That's about 33,000 per person. I can pay that, can you?

RangerJoe

I don't even make that in a year. You're more than welcome to cover my part also.

Willravel

Okay. If you smile!

RangerJoe

lol It's a deal.

SabrinaFair

I'd love to see the national debt paid off.....but would have to start selling off bodily organs to cough up $30,000 at this jucture in my life.

Somewhat related to this topic: has anyone seen "Stranger Than Fiction"? Maggie Gyllenhaal's character only pays 78% of her taxes because she doesn't want her money going to corporate bailouts, national defense, and campaign discretionary funds. Of course, she gets audited....

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Willravel

Yeah, not paying taxes as a protest is a great way to get audited. A better way to protest might be to explain to people how much money they'd save if we weren't fighting the war. "Over the next 200 years, you and your posterity will pay $x because of the war that no one but radical chicken-hawks want...."

Derwood

this is one of many reasons the Fair Tax would never work

SirSeymour

All at once would be steep for the majority of us but I tell you what, I would be more than willing to cough up more in taxes every year if it were guaranteed to go toward paying down the deficit. Assuming of course the budget were balanced first since it does not make much sense to pay on the deficit if you are still over spending.

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boink

well, I'd shure as hell pay a bill for studying tree frogs and some welfare to keep people from living in the woods along side the freeway before I'd pay for a trumped up fake reason to go to war that's cost a million civilian deaths.

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Amaras

Boink, I second your opinion. As to research like the tree frogs, folks wouldn't
believe the amount of practical knowledge that has been spun off from "pure"
research.
Look at the space program, for instance.
Two of the reasons Canada is having a much easier time so far during this financial
crisis is that our previous gov't DID pay down massive parts of our debt, and we
had better banking regulation.
What we need to do is not vote for those who speak in soundbites, those whose
decisions are made by polls, but rather long term solutions.
So yeah, I'd pay my part, I'd just want to know where it went.

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Poppinjay

A friend of mine in college included a note with his 1040 asking that none of his tax dollars be used for military purposes.

He was fined $500.

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Derwood

that sounds extremely unlikely. the IRS has no grounds to do that

Poppinjay

This was about 20 years ago. Back when their motto was "shirt, shoes, no service". Around that time, I had to get an SE form. They did not put their local office in the phone book, because, well then people would call them and want something! I found out the number through a cow-orker. When I called them up, their first question was, "how did you get this number?"

God, I'm old.

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I think the Apocalypse is happening all around us. We go on eating desserts and watching TV. I know I do. I wish we were more capable of sustained passion and sustained resistance. We should be screaming and what we do is gossip. -Lydia Millet

abaya

Word up, boink. It's refreshing to actually hear people say these kinds of things... thank you.

[Full disclosure, I'm one of those people studying tree frogs, or at least the anthropological equivalent... and got a tiny grant from the National Science Foundation. My field is one of the worst-funded divisions of NSF, but that's not changing no matter how many wars we're fighting. Unless someone wants to study Iraqis--the gov't pours money onto those people, believe me.]

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boink

wow, that's cool abaya ! funny how it seems so odd to spend time studying our world seems so frivolous to some...

concerned about the budget for illegal torture prisons ? it make me ill what the current administration has done with our tax dollars.

I would also like to foot some of the bill to investigate and prosecute war crimes.

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when you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way.