When Taxes Fail To Keep Up With Services – What Would You Cut?

May 17, 2009

tags: Baby Boomers, Clash of Civilizations, Clash of Cultures, consequences, contradictions, Demographics, Medicare, Retirement, Social Security, Survivalists, Tax Dollars, Tax Protesters, Taxation, taxpayers

by bosskitty

Everyone hates taxes. That’s what we have been conditioned to do. Hate Taxes! Very good. Those who “Hate Taxes” are also guilty of mindlessly using the same services those same taxes provide. OK! There seems to be a BIG disconnect here. Did everyone sleep though government and social studies class? Does everyone think that taxes just pay the salaries of the politicians they so studiously elect? Oh, yes, there may be some tax applications you disagree with and want to protest. A normal condition for a government, funded by its taxpayers, is protest. The spread of tax applications that may, or may not, be to your liking, all come from the same purse that you and I must keep filled, or sacrifice civilization. The list of tax supported services and agencies is daunting and perhaps too big, then again, this is a very big country. Even the most hardened anti-tax groups use services provided by taxation. American taxation is almost too fair, compared with those used by some other countries. Reference WIKI:

The Four “R”s: Taxation has four main purposes or effects: Revenue, Redistribution, Repricing, and Representation.^[3]

Americans have become so disconnected from how things work, they readily bite the hand that feeds it. Granted, that hand is often dirty. But who really elects these dirty people? If you don’t vote, you are more guilty than someone who just voted stupid … please, drink more Kool Aid.

WIKI reference: Funds provided by taxation are used by states and their functional equivalents … to carry out many functions. Taxes support: expenditures on war, the enforcement of law and public order, protection of property, economic infrastructure (roads, legal tender, enforcement of contracts, etc.), public works, social engineering, and the operation of government itself. Most modern governments also use taxes to fund welfare and public services. These services can include education systems, health care systems, pensions for the elderly, unemployment benefits, and public transportation. Energy, water and waste management systems are also common public utilities. Colonial and modernizing states have also used cash taxes to draw or force reluctant subsistence producers into cash economies.

Governments … distribute the tax burden among individuals or classes of the population involved in taxable activities, such as business, or to redistribute resources between individuals or classes in the population. Historically, the nobility were supported by taxes on the poor; modern social security systems are intended to support the poor, the disabled, or the retired by taxes on those who are still working. In addition, taxes are applied to fund foreign and military aid, to influence the macroeconomic performance of the economy (the government’s strategy for doing this is called its fiscal policy – see also tax exemption), or to modify patterns of consumption or employment within an economy, by making some classes of transaction more or less attractive.

OK, taxes are too complex for the “average” voter to comprehend. Very true. Politicians must balance pleasing their voters against pleasing their contributors. Part of your politician’s responsibility is to “balance” the tax burden between the two sides responsible for getting them elected. A lucky politician is one who has their voters and contributors on the same page, making them easier to please and guaranteeing future elections.

So, the original question is, what services would you cut? Go ahead, pick one or two, or go to USA.gov and visit the A-Z Index to appreciate or condemn ALL the services supported by taxation. Here’s a short list …

Health Care?

Energy?

Food Safety & Drug Control?

Roads and Bridges?

Transportation Safety?

Retirement Income?

Water, Waste Management & Sewage?

Law Enforcement?

Military?

There is always that little appreciated arm of government called GAO, the taxpayer’s congressional watchdog. How many times have you actually looked at what the GAO tries to keep honest and keep track of … for YOU the taxpayer? Instead of putting the whole country at risk, by refusing to pay taxes for yourself and everyone else, at least figure out which Americans you want to deny service to. Then tell us why.

If you have a better way, please share it with us and then share it with that representative you did or did not elect. America is always up for the voter’s grab.

If you have figured out a way to live in America without using those services made possible by taxation, please share your knowledge. If you are just a survivalist nut, forget it! The rest of us try to hold jobs and shop in our communities. Unfortunately, many survivalists have a militant attitude that leans toward a military dictatorship enforcing everything. Their preferred flavor of dictatorship, seeks a grateful population that will support them, personally, without complaint, or else ….

We see Republicans continue to “cut taxes” over and over, again and again. Have you really figured out which tax base they are really benefiting? Is that you? Is that your employer? Oh No? Are you unemployed? Do you collect unemployment, or has that run out? Are you walking around asking for handouts or are you bumming off relatives and friends? Please don’t tell me you are driving, because you would be using roads that taxpayers have built. You either live on charity or taxpayer money … charity is just extra money begged off people who already contribute to the tax base.

If you can live autonomously without impact on the world around you, you have a gift you need to share.

One of the most ‘at risk’ critical services is Medicare and Social Security This is alarming since American Baby Boomers are now depending on that part of their taxes designed to support their end-of-life scenario.

Will Legislative Process End Health Care Harmony?

2009 ANNUAL REPORTS – Social Security and Medicare Boards of Trustees

The Official U.S. Government Site for People with Medicare

Medicare Funding – Where Do Medicare Funds Come From? How Medicare Works, Funding for Medicare comes partially from payroll taxes, known as FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) taxes. FICA comprises Social Security tax and Medicare tax.

Taxation of Unemployment-Sickness Benefits

All unemployment benefits are subject to Federal income tax.
Sickness benefits resulting from on-the-job injury are not taxable. All other sickness benefits are taxable.
Unemployment and sickness benefits are not subject to State income tax.

Financial Health of Social Security, Medicare Worsens in Past Year WASHINGTON — The financial health of Social Security and Medicare, the government’s two biggest benefit programs, has worsened because of the severe recession, and Medicare is now paying out more than it receives.

Chuck Watts (ChuckWatts) wrote: A key Senate committee will examine options to pay for an overhaul of the health care system. On Monday, the president met with leaders of the health care industry who pledged to reduce costs. Health care experts are trying to decide whether that deal represents an actual breakthrough — or a publicity stunt.

Americans want health care NOT insurance run denial of care. Candidate Obama identified America’s “empathy deficit” when we deny care to our neighbor. Why is NPR not asking their guests how any of their proposals shrink our “empathy deficit” increase health care for our neighbors? How do we strengthen the common enterprise and build common wealth assets that pay risingdividends like health care for all Americans?

Health firms not interested in low costs We, the American people, need honest and honorable health-care reform, and single payer is the only means to that end. I’ll believe that for-profit health-insurance concerns want to cut costs and provide equitable health care the same day FOX News admits Democrats speak for the American people. Since neither is very likely to happen, the truth is the mess known as Medicare Part D is a clear sign as to how for-profit insurance corporations would “contain” costs. Truth is, they don’t and they won’t.

US Medicare funding under threat

Republicans mislead the American public … again

May 12th, 2009 by Web Editor in New From MoveOn.org:

Last week Republicans on Capitol Hill held a strategy summit on how to defeat key parts of the president’s health care plan. At one point, Republican pollster Frank Luntz declared, “You’re not going to get what you want, but you can kill what they’re trying to do.”¹

Kutner, N. G. , 2005-08-12 “Coverage and Cost: What Has a 30-year American ‘Experiment in National Health Care’ Shown?”Presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Philadelphia, PA

Related Articles:

Demographics of the United States, Demographics, United States Census Bureau

For all those survivalists out there, your options are dwindling. The land to human ratio is pretty scary for individual, independent

When you have to evacuate your home in a matter of minutes–this is not the time to go searching for first aid items. packing emergency food and water supplies and digging through drawers for radios, flashlights, candles, batteries, or matches. Instead have them in your 72 hour disaster/survival kit, ready to “grab & go”!

survival, in America. If you are totally self sufficient and do not contribute to the pollution, carbon footprint, social system or economic structure, then your days are numbered … humanity is rising, just like the oceans. If you are hopeful that natural and man-made disasters reduce the population of this planet, to make it more comfortable for you personally, then just sit back and wait. It could happen. Just remember, the waste and pollution that same vanished population left behind, will make it more challenging for the naturalist/survivor. Be prepared to become the ultimate scavenger. This will not be an overnight inconvenience, it will be a lifetime of struggle… no matter how short.