things i don't mind paying tax for

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polo

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Aug 1, 2007
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i'm sick of shitty threads yapping about taxes for shit which doesn't even matter to you - each month i pay tax, and tax on other shit i never use. playgrounds in glasgow for example, why the fuck do i need them? who cares, someone does. etc. etc.

anyway, after a little thinking tonight, here are some things that i actually enjoy spending tax money on...

the BBC:

considering i watch BBC news in the background while i'm doing my work for around 12 hours a day over all, this is money well spent in my eyes. if i were to watch anything other than the news channel and enjoy it... well, that would be an even bigger bonus. as is, the BBC news is up-to-date, doesn't posess an optical bias unless you're being fickle and covers world news better than any other station. i've also never saw a headline with a questionmark after it.

the NHS:

for all it's shortcomings, the NHS is slowly making its way towards becoming an organization run from the bottom up. we provide excellent healthcare which is free at the point of care and is still envied the world over. long term, medical care will cost you a lot less than short term healthcare in the US [i read just a few days ago an MRI will cost you $3400 in Texas, i don't think in my 4 years of paying taxes to the NHS i've even topped 200 quid] - medical training, equipment and overall care is still fantastic, even compared with the private behemoths present elsewhere.

the Army:

i think every country needs a standing army, britain is no exception. however, i'd be happy to pay more money for the soldiers to be provided with the equipment they require.

overall, my qualm with the government is not the overall level of tax i pay or will pay, but how it's being spent. i would happier to pay more for better facilities for all if i thought that could be delivered by a government. as odd as that sounds.

let's hear it, any taxes you guys like or don't mind paying or are you all a bunch of ruby ridge loving aratoeldars?
 
Estate%20Tax.jpg
 
I wish more of my taxes fed into education, health care, and NASA, and less into business subsidies, the military, and opressive, outdated legal persuits.
 
Actually, I would. Every time I hear that when things get tight Education is the first thing to get chopped, I hear our future die a little more. It sounds like a MTV commercial.
 
I dont mind paying tax for stuff I see the benefit from either. Im not sure anyone does.

The thing is I get told repeatedly that I dont qualify to benefit from my taxes on account of not being black and signle with 3 kids.

The UK and Canada are insanely different than where Im from. I dont have public transportation (not available where I live), or free education (Im white and generally have had jobs and no kids). They dont even pick up my trash (pay a private company). I dont have police (the sheriff MIGHT come, not always, it's not a sure thing), I dont have ambulance (it's 500$ to call an ambulance), I dont have healthcare (I pay with a credit card everytime I step into a hospital).

I benefit from a standing army that my brother is in that I have given him tactical gear because the army stuff is so shitty.

Yeah that's why you hear so much angst.
 
FlamingGlory said:
I dont mind paying tax for stuff I see the benefit from either. Im not sure anyone does.

The thing is I get told repeatedly that I dont qualify to benefit from my taxes on account of not being black and signle with 3 kids.

The UK and Canada are insanely different than where Im from. I dont have public transportation (not available where I live), or free education (Im white and generally have had jobs and no kids). They dont even pick up my trash (pay a private company). I dont have police (the sheriff MIGHT come, not always, it's not a sure thing), I dont have ambulance (it's 500$ to call an ambulance), I dont have healthcare (I pay with a credit card everytime I step into a hospital).

I benefit from a standing army that my brother is in that I have given him tactical gear because the army stuff is so shitty.

Yeah that's why you hear so much angst.
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i can see the problem there, that's pretty understandable. would you be happy paying tax in the UK then? or any european country for that matter [france has much better healthcare than us]

i think the point of the thread was that if things could get better for everyone concerned, would it be worthwhile to increase tax, or just decrease payments in private means of service
 
I wouldnt bitch about it in the UK. Ive seen how the higher education system works, council tax, NHS, public transportation and whatnot. It's all pretty fair. I would hesitate to comment on other euro countries because I just dont know how they are set up.

In the US, NY/MA/CA in particular there is an insane difference in the amount of benefit based on actual geographic location. We support New York City here, there are 8 million people enjoying free water, rent subsidies, public transportation, emergency healthcare, and yes it comes out of their taxes. It also comes out of the taxes of the 4 million who live in other parts of the state who cant enjoy those things.

I dont mind paying for all that I do, but it's untenable to pay for it twice just because of where you live.

The federal tax system takes that to a whole other level. It is why taxes were supposed to be proportional when the system was made, but there were emergency provisions for WW1 and WW2 that became permanent entrenchments. That is why you see chicken saying roll it back to 1798 :p
 
The federal government of the United States of America, and the state of Maryland in particular, does a good job of maintaining it's roads. Sure, some roads are maintained at the the county level, but that those counties receive funds from the state for road maintenance.

I am unconcerned when driving over the bridges in the state of Maryland-- from the most insignificant causeway to the Bay Bridge, which spans the gap from Annapolis to Kent Island. I pass fearlessly through both the Harbor and Fort McHenry Tunnels, and have, in the past, done this on a daily basis.

I benefit from the FDIC, which insures my bank deposits.

There are other benefits which I am certain that I am unaware of...

This is unimportant.

I will tell you what the important part is...

My tax money, and the tax money of others, keeps my grandfather alive. It keeps numerous grandfathers and grandmothers-- a fucking legion of grandparents alive.

Not well... It doesn't guarantee a standard of living, or level of comfort, but it does the bare minimum, and, even considering all the wasteful spending which takes place as a matter of course, this is a worthwhile thing.

This, at the very least, is why I don't mind paying taxes. I can complain about waste, but I refuse to argue with results.
 
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Unfortunately, the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, a federal road as it is part of the interstate, showed us that the faith in infrastructure maintenance we have in our federal government is something we need to reconsider.
 
The Duke Of Nuke said:
Unfortunately, the collapse of the I-35 bridge in Minneapolis, a federal road as it is part of the interstate, showed us that the faith in infrastructure maintenance we have in our federal government is something we need to reconsider.
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The disparate quality of interstate highways in the US leads me to believe that maintenance of federal highways is managed at the state level. This would mean that Minnesota, though perhaps-- even probably-- legitimately underfunded is responsible for the safety and maintenance of the highway infrastructure.

You might as well decry the federal government for the major water main break in Montgomery County, Maryland which flooded River Road-- and that was even national news.
 
itburnswhenipee said:
The disparate quality of interstate highways in the US leads me to believe that maintenance of federal highways is managed at the state level. This would mean that Minnesota, though perhaps-- even probably-- legitimately underfunded is responsible for the safety and maintenance of the highway infrastructure.

You might as well decry the federal government for the major water main break in Montgomery County, Maryland which flooded River Road-- and that was even national news.
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Side effect of the interstate system is the reason 21 is the legal drinking age btw.

I live like a mile from the NYS Thru-Way which is funded by tolls, but it has been paid for since 1992 (when the construction bonds were paid and federal money was gonna be enough for upkeep), then they started funneling toll money into the CANAL system :lol: Now it's a super shitty road that costs almost $2 to drive on.
 
I don't mind paying for:

Education (even though I'd never send my kids to a state high school)
The NHS
My council tax (even though it's overpriced if you ask me)
The BBC most of all, I think it's probably the bets broadcasting company in the world, not that I know much about broadcasting in other countries but there's definately a reason why it's so well known.
Benefits - consider it our good deed for the day to help out single mothers and people in hard times.

However I don't like having to pay for certain things. I don't like paying my $150 council tax a month for the police service, I'll never call the police so why do I have to pay for their service? Couldn't they just do a call out charge for all those dumb enough to think they'll actually do something?

I begrudge out money being handed out to the banks, why don't we just nationalise them? I hate things like the millenium dome and the London eye, what a massive waste of tax payers/lottery money.

I would love it if the government gave huge subsidies to companies investing in making renewable energys etc. I fucking hate these stupid people who won't let anybody build wind farms near their house because 'of the view' or 'house prices'. Fuck them, I'd just evict the fuckers and plant a wind turbine where their house was. Whining cunts. How about IF YOU DONT LET THEM BUILD A WIND FARM YOULL HAVE NO HOUSE TO LIVE IN IN 20 YEARS COS YOULL BE FLOODED YOU STUPID FUCKER. Eurgh, these people wind me up.

I hate wasting my tax money, working in the NHS it's unbelievable how wasteful the whole system is. The papers do cover stories about how much we wasted using agency staff etc but that's not even the beginning of the problem, if only people knew.
 
taivas said:
Eh. I've heard mixed opinions on this.
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It's not like other countries use our structure for healthcare for a reason....

The NHS is the crown in the British jewels my man, it's a brilliant service. People say you have to wait 6 months to even get your eyes tested but that's bull, especially with the new targets that we have, everybody has to have a real treatment within 18 weeks of another doctor referring them for it. It might sound like a long time but when you look at the capacity that our hospitals have to deal with it's remarkable (if not amazingly annoying from the admin side because it's pretty much impossible)
 
:lol:

I dont wanna talk about power generation. There is alot to be said about respecting private property and stuff too.
 
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