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Where did my taxes go?

wherethefuckdidmytaxesgo.com

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Re: Where did my taxes go?

#171

Post by slg »

bko wrote: post #166
slg wrote: post #153

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>I think the people that believe in a more efficient welfare state should look to reallocate the money. No one would complain. Are you simply calling the entire government a "welfare state" or do you believe that something like military spending is off the table for making more efficient? Because people very obviously would complain about shifting military spending to social programs and military spending is almost c…

Of course you should make military spending more efficient. But again, to avoid partisan bickering, you should shift spending in the category. Don't cut waste in department A and allocate to department B. Maybe shift from buying fewer jets and more drones. It doesn't have to be political, it's not a money problem. Government takes more than enough money. Again, percentage of government money that goes to social progr…

> But again, to avoid partisan bickering, you should shift spending in the category... It doesn't have to be political, it's not a money problem.

We can't really have this conversation from the mindset that the status quo is inherently apolitical. The US spends more than those "social democracies" on the military in both absolute and relative terms. Since total spending is the same, that means we also spend less on social programs in relative terms. These are all political choices and refusing to revisit a previous political choice is an active political choice.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#172

Post by atmavatar »

vslira wrote: post #144
jl6 wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think many Americans do not realize how much is spent on debt interest payments, which are a tidy source of income for rich people.

I don’t think Americans would enjoy the alternative of defaulting on that debt, or the counterfactual of not having raised that debt in the first place But yeah, having to pay your debts do suck

> or the counterfactual of not having raised that debt in the first place

I'm pretty sure most of us would enjoy a different timeline where we didn't sink over $1 trillion in the Iraq war or another $2 trillion on the F-35, where we didn't mindlessly increase the military budget every cycle, where Republican administrations didn't cut taxes on the wealthy every time they won the presidency in the last half century, or where the TSA and DHS weren't created.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#173

Post by cyberpunk »

jrflowers wrote: post #124
mothballed wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I live in a place with basically zero property taxes (except a pittance for the school). No public roads, no fire, almost no police, no parks, no public utilities. It's absolutely glorious. I can buy exactly what I need. My monthly utility bills are way lower than anywhere else I've lived. I cannot believe the populace has been duped into thinking so much of what we fund so direly must be done publicly that armed tax…

> no fire Trying to think of a place where there is no chance of fire and all I’m coming up with is the moon

A lot of places (e.g the village i live in) have volunteer fire teams which only really need equipment and training, it’s much cheaper than having a 24/7 paid fire department.

Obviously doesn’t scale to a city.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#174

Post by georgemcbay »

slg wrote: post #164
phil21 wrote: post #162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Military spending has been trending downwards the entire time I’ve been alive. All that’s happened is increased spending elsewhere and even more debt. With very little apparent improvement to those social services spending outcomes. Usually the the opposite. I might agree with cutting military spending if it’s an actual measurable impact to my finances. But I sure wouldn’t be for reallocating it to the black hole tha…

Maybe we should approach this from the opposite angle. If it isn't military spending, what do you think the differentiator is between the US and those "social democracies" that OP mentioned? Do you think Americans are inherently more corrupt than the French?

> Do you think Americans are inherently more corrupt than the French?

I'm not who you asked (and I think the levels of military spending in the US are a huge problem) but IMO Americans are not inherently more corrupt than the French but they are currently much more tolerant of corruption than the French.

It is hard to imagine the level of corruption currently being openly flaunted by parts of the USA government happening in France without the country burning down.

Whether or not this tolerance is inherent or is the result of both learned helplessness and real disempowerment through the US government having already failed the average citizen for so long is up for debate.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#175

Post by akramachamarei »

d3rockk wrote: post #161
uticus wrote: post #129

Love it - great application of publicly-available data. Also ref https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47420307 US govt provided public debt resources. By the way, the 1040 instructions have a pie chart like this (ref https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i1040gi.pdf , page 122). Not that most people do taxes themselves, or have a reason to read to page 122 of instructions for a single form. But still it's there and perhaps…

Very painful to see Corporate income taxes @ 8%, vs. Personal income taxes @ 36%. on the income pie chart^ However, not at all surprised. That stat would arguably make the most material difference to voters, if only they knew about it. Edit: Adds another degree of pain when you consider that the CEO-to-worker pay ratio reached 281-to-1 in 2024.

Why should it be painful that all personal federal incomes taxes produce 4x the income as the federal taxes on all corporations?

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#176

Post by cucumber3732842 »

Alupis wrote: post #65
cucumber3732842 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Drunken sailors don't spent more than they earn, for the most part.

You have clearly never met fresh-out-of-basic or back-from-deployment sailors, then. They build used car dealerships and strip clubs within walking distance of bases. Sailors blow thousands in an evening at the club, and then drive home in $75k vehicles purchased at predatory interest rates. Despite significant, potentially life-changing enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, housing stipends and more - many (or most)…

You're exaggerating or very out of date. They train people specifically against both those now. The official slides stop just short of "no the stripper does not actually like you" but you'd have a hard time making it that far without having that beat into your skull. The number who don't listen is dwindling. The interest rates those guys are getting on vehicles they don't need are no worse than anyone else off the street's would be these days.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#177

Post by cindyllm »

cucumber3732842 wrote: post #176
Alupis wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have clearly never met fresh-out-of-basic or back-from-deployment sailors, then. They build used car dealerships and strip clubs within walking distance of bases. Sailors blow thousands in an evening at the club, and then drive home in $75k vehicles purchased at predatory interest rates. Despite significant, potentially life-changing enlistment and re-enlistment bonuses, housing stipends and more - many (or most)…

You're exaggerating or very out of date. They train people specifically against both those now. The official slides stop just short of "no the stripper does not actually like you" but you'd have a hard time making it that far without having that beat into your skull. The number who don't listen is dwindling. The interest rates those guys are getting on vehicles they don't need are no worse than anyone else off the st…

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Re: Where did my taxes go?

#178

Post by georgemcbay »

fortran77 wrote: post #122
d_burfoot wrote: post #104

Many Americans do not realize how much money the US government spends. When you include all three levels, it comes to $32K/person/year [0]. This is much higher than countries that are considered "social democracies" such as Finland, France and Canada. If you look at wealthy blue cities like NYC or SF, the spending is on the order of $50K/p/y, comparable to Norway. It is not realistic to believe that we can become a n…

> When you include all three levels, it comes to $32K/person/year Which is why these calculators should tell people who pay less than $32K that they are getting supported by the 5% who pay most of the taxes...

> they are getting supported by the 5% who pay most of the taxes

The same 5% who in many cases run massively profitable companies that pay their workers on the bottom so much less than a living wage that they are forced into tax-funded social safety net programs like SNAP to survive.

That 5% can cry me a river about their tax burden.

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#179

Post by RhysU »

renewiltord wrote: post #118
RhysU wrote: post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Social Security is almost completely disbursement charges but those disbursements aren't means tested so even quite wealthy individuals receive them. Only to those who paid into the system and far less than they personally could have earned on investing the same dollars.

Yeah, one of the problems I have with taxes is that if I pay $100 into taxes I don’t get $100 of value back. Everyone should get at least as much as they put in back. Also, some other people should get more back. But we shouldn’t spend more than we make as a government.

Many people do get more back than they put in. High earners do not:

> Most American workers receive significantly more from Social Security over their lifetimes than they contribute through payroll taxes.

https://legalclarity.org/is-social-security-worth-it-contrib...

Re: Where did my taxes go?

#180

Post by srslyTrying2hlp »

d_burfoot wrote: post #104

Many Americans do not realize how much money the US government spends. When you include all three levels, it comes to $32K/person/year [0]. This is much higher than countries that are considered "social democracies" such as Finland, France and Canada. If you look at wealthy blue cities like NYC or SF, the spending is on the order of $50K/p/y, comparable to Norway. It is not realistic to believe that we can become a n…

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