Oh - and uh - if you ask the average person whats more important in their lives - the social safety nets or Apple's stock repurchase plan its pretty much a no-brainer....unless you were a co-signer of the recent tax law changes.
Oh - and uh - if you ask the average person whats more important in their lives - the social safety nets or Apple's stock repurchase plan its pretty much a no-brainer....unless you were a co-signer of the recent tax law changes.
Originally posted by: Candy Wright
Few say "oh goodie" when tax hikes are proposed. Everybody understands needs: schools, roads, bridges, beautification, military, health care, etc. But people don't trust it, that the money will go there. Partly because 'we' don't see it happen right away if at all. Have to think outside the box. If ya don't have kids in school, have to think of the outcome when all kids, who eventually grow up, will it make for better citizens? But, again, who actually gets the money? Takes me and you following up, going to open meetings, etc., which is too much trouble for some. That is part problem getting taxes voted for. Both sides.
It's not so much as they don't trust it as they don't see any immediate benefit to THEM from most of the taxes proposed/imposed. Pay for schools? The old fart says naah, I don't have any kids in school. He wants full funding for Medicare, and the parents with kids in school say naah, we're nowhere near retirement age. A bond to improve the city's roads? Who cares, I don't drive. Universal health care? I don't want it, i never get sick. Universal health care? I really really want it, 'cause I have a chronic condition.
With the glaring exception of the Trump administration, we can be pretty confident that our tax dollars are being spent appropriately. I don't think that's what's behind generalized opposition to taxes. Most people--as in, about 95%--think only in terms of filling their own rice bowl. Helping other people is nice, but when the chips are down, they can go hang. "I don't want to pay any taxes if I don't derive any direct benefit from them." That's the prevailing mindset.
I'm an oddball that way. If my tax money goes to pay for some kid's school lunch 2000 miles away, or helps some old retired guy in Michigan live a bit better, I actually think that I DO derive direct benefit. I'll help pay for improvements to Interstate 4 in Florida even though I'll never use that road. I'll help the government investigate the decline of orca populations, even though I might never see one. Why do I think this weird way? Because we're a society, not just a loose heap of individuals.
Originally posted by: PJ Stroh
Support also drops when candidates tell the people they will cut their social security and medicare benefits.
People overwhelmingly like the services provided by the government - they just dont like having to pay for them.
So there's two ways to address this issue.
1) Be honest and tell the public their shit needs to get paid for.
2) Be dishonest and the the public their shit is paid for by Mexico, oil revenues from iraq, or tax cuts paying for themselves.....or (my favorite) just saying deficits aren't a big deal so long as they are a small percent of GDP
I prefer we go with #1.
And seeing as how corporations and billionaires have a lower effective tax rate than I do I say we start there.
How about highlighting the real, quantifiable, monetary costs of slashing social services?
I've remarked in the past that the rich should be behind universal health care, because they don't want the servants coughing on the silverware. They don't want to have to step over the prostrate body of a dead guy on the sidewalk on their way to the opera. I think that's the only way we get people to accept taxation--point out how they gain from it. Altruism is nice, but the sad truth is that the better angels of our nature are down at the pool hall knocking back shots of whiskey and groping the cocktail waitress. So yeah, #1--and tell them the truth, that they're better off this way.
We as Americans are over taxed. Just like charitable donations, only a small percentage of tax dollars end up going where they should. The swamp and its members are the ones who siphon off billions for their own personal use and agendas. Riders on bills, salaries and pensions, lodging and transportation - these are just a few of the drains on tax dollars. Wasteful government programs and the salaries of those who "run" these prograns are also huge drain on these tax dollars.
Yeah, Trump's $6 million golf weekends are a huge drain on the Treasury, I agree.
Cute. Try staying on topic.
Medicare overhead and administration is 2%.... private insurers range between 12-15%.
thats an easily googled fact. But thanks for stopping by!
Medicare bills tend to be in the multi-thousands, while private tends to be lower, due to the level of care required Time required is about the same, which accounts for the disparity.
This has been pointed out before.
That IS the topic you mentioned--and I quote--"The swamp and its members are the ones who siphon off billions for their own personal use and agendas." Trump diverts tens of millions of taxpayer money to profit his own personal businesses. He also spends immense sums of taxpayer dollars for his fun little social gatherings, like that $8 million Super Bowl party. But that pales in comparison to stealing $393 million of taxpayer money to extort an ally!
You can't get all outraged about corruption and the "swamp" while supporting Trump. That makes no sense. And don't try to tell us he's actually an honest Don and it's all FAKE NOOZE. I also don't want to hear about how supposedly corrupt and horrible Hillary, Obama, Joe Biden, Daffy Duck, or anyone else are or have been--that's irrelevant.
Actually, the reason for that is that Medicare bills are usually bundled, for an aggregate of services, while private care bills are as-you-go. That's because of the certainty that medical facilities have of getting paid when they bill Medicare as opposed to a private insurer or individual.
So if you have a medical condition that requires, say, four doctor visits and two lab tests, the medical facility might generate six separate bills for a private insurer but only one for Medicare.
There is no difference in "level of care required" between private and Medicare.
