My unrealistic idea for changing how taxes work is allowing me to designate which programs my cash goes towards. Make it kinda like the old Wheel of Fortune ... where you've got $x to spend on stuff that's priced 5 times what it's supposed to cost. If I want to buy 0.003% of that winter's salt supply for the road, or 0.00001% of a Predator drone ... at least I'd know where my taxes supposedly went.
Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
121–130 of 194 posts
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
We do get annual statements from the SSA. The benefit amounts listed on mine are not insubstantial. (Whether you believe those numbers of the long term is a different question...)
They are in future dollars, so $1000 shown on your statement is $400 in 30 years from now, assuming inflation stays around 3%.
Ahh, I had been curious about that, and the statements don't really say.
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#123Love this idea - Would also like to see: Return policy - don't like how much the government spent on Amtrak, get a refund (no questions asked). Customer loyalty program - earn points towards postage stamps or a national park pass. Discounts from partner programs - i.e., paying, loyal customers of the US government get discounts with China, GM, Goldman Sachs and other US 'partners'.
If there's a return policy then most people are going to be asking for a return on everything .
No doubt. Totally kidding around here, hopefully that was understood.
In all seriousness, transparency in government spending would be most welcome.
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#124Earlier quoted context omitted.
Medicaid amounts to 65% of the budget deficit and about 60% of medicare. Welfare amounts to another 70%. If we cut the welfare state (i.e., medicare and welfare), we would have a budget surplus. While I agree that medicaid is a politically easier target than medicare, it's not a small program. It's a completely legitimate target of criticism, and eliminating it would significantly improve the federal budget.
Wait, 65% of the budget deficit? Your own quote has it at 290 billion dollars, that' s approximately 30% of the discretionary budget deficit. Letting alone the fact that it's part of an entirely separate budget.
The federal deficit was $377.9 in 2008. You do the math. I'll post the link again:
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#125Totally offtopic, but m company did the site for Third Way earlier this year and I love the S3 CNAME'ing I added at the last minute before launch: http://content.thirdway.org/publications/335/Third_Way_Idea_...
Always fun to see a project you were involved surface on NPR. ;)
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#126Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm not sure how race got involved. Many people agree with you that people should take care of themselves, and that Social Security and Medicare should be, at most, a safety net for people who would otherwise be old folks on the streets without healthcare. Such a policy is usually referred to as "means testing" retirement benefits. Eliminating government retirement benefits altogether will never happen because no one…
I'm not sure how race got involved. Ignore that. I was reading a parent's post and reply to the wrong parent comment. Many people agree with you that people should take care of themselves, and that Social Security and Medicare should be, at most, a safety net for people who would otherwise be old folks on the streets without healthcare. Such a policy is usually referred to as "means testing" retirement benefits. No,…
I advocated that the family should resume the role of caretakers
What do you think should happen to those who are unable to reproduce, or who choose not to, or whose children die before them, or whose children are just jerks who won't help their parents out?
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#127The late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan supported sending people statements of what was in their social security. His idea was that if people never saw what was in there, they'd never miss it when it was gone. I think this is a logical extension of that idea, and its great. I'd also like to see the flip side of the receipt contain a guess for how the same tax amount would break down the following year based on curre…
>His idea was that if people never saw what was in there...
The problem of course is there's no "there" there. Any funds collected today by payroll taxes, and not used for today's benefits, are lent to the general fund and spent. There are no funds being saved for next year's benefits, much less the current tax payers.
Now, it is true that the Social Security system then holds "assets" in exchange for that cash, namely, government bonds. But this is just accounting fiction.
Imagine you are a new parent and wish to save for your child's college tuition. Here are some scenarios:
A) Every pay day you put some money in a jar. When your child goes to college you take the money out of the jar to pay the tuition.
B) Every pay day you spend every dime. When your child is ready to go to college, you scramble to find the funds to pay the tuition.
C) Every pay day you put some money in a jar, then you replace the money in the jar with an IOU, and spend the money. When your child is ready to go to college, you scramble to find the funds to pay the IOUs to pay the tuition.
There is no substantive difference between B and C.
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#128Nice viral night's project would be building a simple yourtaxreceipt.com website, reverse engineering those numbers and making a calculator.
Your wish is my command: http://www.incometaxreceipt.com
Your rock, nicely done. One suggestion: Maybe base the calculator off of Gross Income? That number is arguably better known by people than taxes paid. Just a thought.
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#129The late senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan supported sending people statements of what was in their social security. His idea was that if people never saw what was in there, they'd never miss it when it was gone. I think this is a logical extension of that idea, and its great. I'd also like to see the flip side of the receipt contain a guess for how the same tax amount would break down the following year based on curre…
>His idea was that if people never saw what was in there... The problem of course is there's no "there" there. Any funds collected today by payroll taxes, and not used for today's benefits, are lent to the general fund and spent. There are no funds being saved for next year's benefits, much less the current tax payers. Now, it is true that the Social Security system then holds "assets" in exchange for that cash, name…
Better not tell the Chinese that U.S. treasury bonds are just an accounting fiction.
Re: Thanks For Paying Taxes. Here's A Receipt.
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, 65% of the budget deficit? Your own quote has it at 290 billion dollars, that' s approximately 30% of the discretionary budget deficit. Letting alone the fact that it's part of an entirely separate budget.
The federal deficit was $377.9 in 2008. You do the math. I'll post the link again : http://usgovernmentspending.com/year2008_US.html#usgs302
Ohhhhh, we're talking about balancing the 2008 budget.. Well that doesn't make any sense, but I'm looking forward to your answers to my questions above on the mechanics of how that would work.
(EDIT in reply: Yeah, that's fine, and I went with it, but talking about percentages of a 380 billion dollar deficit in the context of current events is just plain silly.)