Taxes around the world

[Kapitan]

august is right if it aint broke dont fix it simplez

However it is good to have a nationalised health service but it costs billions for us brits each year which means other things get put on hold where as the american system is you must have healthcare insurance to pay for your medical stuff the money that may fund the health care service could be put to other things.

[August]

Originally Posted by Kapitan

august is right if it aint broke dont fix it simplez

However it is good to have a nationalised health service but it costs billions for us brits each year which means other things get put on hold where as the american system is you must have healthcare insurance to pay for your medical stuff the money that may fund the health care service could be put to other things.

Thanks Kapitan.

For the record i'm not philosophically opposed to nationalized health care, I just know that it's not going to be run efficiently, it will be riddled with abuse, it will end up costing us more than private health care, and it is a spectacularly bad time economically to be trying to implement it.

[goldorak]

Originally Posted by August

Thanks Kapitan.

For the record i'm not philosophically opposed to nationalized health care, I just know that it's not going to be run efficiently, it will be riddled with abuse, it will end up costing us more than private health care, and it is a spectacularly bad time economically to be trying to implement it.

Just like the military. And it doesn't cost as much.
Maybe just maybe the US should spend a little less on military affairs and invest a little bit more on its citizens. And no, downgrading your military will not bring about the end of the world.
You know why you won the cold war don't you ? Not because of military supremacy but because your adversary went backrupt. And if you continue spending like there is no tomorrow the US will experience the same fate as the old USSR.

[nikimcbee]

Originally Posted by goldorak

Just like the military. And it doesn't cost as much.
Maybe just maybe the US should spend a little less on military affairs and invest a little bit more on its citizens. And no, downgrading your military will not bring about the end of the world.
You know why you won the cold war don't you ? Not because of military supremacy but because your adversary went backrupt.

They already do, the social securty/ medicare budget is larger than the military budget.

[KG_Jag]

Originally Posted by goldorak

Just like the military. And it doesn't cost as much.
Maybe just maybe the US should spend a little less on military affairs and invest a little bit more on its citizens. And no, downgrading your military will not bring about the end of the world.
You know why you won the cold war don't you ? Not because of military supremacy but because your adversary went bankrupt. And if you continue spending like there is no tomorrow the US will experience the same fate as the old USSR.

The U.S. has traditionally believed that each of its citizens could and should take care of him/her self, family and community with little or no involvement of the federal government. We are a very charitable lot and have local, county and state levels of government which are much closer to the people.

When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's there was great deal of discussion and concerning about our large military budget. But honest concern about that issue has wained, along with the size of the military budget relative to our GNP and current spending allocations. Transfer payments to our own citizens now dominate the budget and threaten to bankrupt us over time--not military spending.

So what if we or the democracies of Europe are attacked by foreign enemies of whatever stripe or flavor on anywhere near the scale that we saw just 70 and less years ago? How many European countries could afford to defend themselves? Is the number great than 0? I worry about our own ability to do so as well--given our current vector of becoming a national nanny state.