Well, unless “obvious” means “conforming to reality.”
Here just the latest:
I don’t think I have to draw the trend line for you, or point out that the U.S. spends less than every thriving, prosperous country but two.
Update: Way less.
To spend is to owe? « Consider the Evidence.
Comments
6 responses to “It’s “Obviously” a Spending Problem”
I think American taxes are much more regressive than people realize. I can’t say they are out and out regressive, but more regressive than people perceive. For example, in my city we have an NBA stadium largely paid for with sales taxes. Those sales taxes are collected on groceries here, including basic food staples. So we have a large low-income black community here, many of which can’t afford tickets to watch an NBA game, but they pay for the stadium with the taxes on their groceries. There are many many other examples of this that you would NEVER hear Sarah Palin or Newt Gingrich quoting. Probably the most famously quoted example is Buffett saying his tax rates are higher than his secretary’s, ‘cuz most of his income is on capital gains.
I also think it’s interesting that LBJ often gets hammered for the budget costs of his New Society agenda, which paid many many dividends to society (similar to what the GI Bill did for soldiers being able to afford housing and a college education after World War 2). But if you look at the national debt, the jump was much more drastic under Reagan’s term than it was under Lyndon Johnson.
This is a terrific terrific post as usual, and I like how you put it in pictorial form. You’re an under-rated blogger Steve, Great stuff.
In the above comment, I should have said Buffett saying his tax rates are lower than his secretary’s. That’s what happens when your (“your” here being MINE) slow fingers are a little faster than your slow brain.
@Ted K
Or to quote Buffett (from memory), “If this is a class war, then my class is definitely winning.”
Americans are “regressive” because they/we are ignorant:
http://rwer.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/25-graphics-showing-upward-redistribution-of-income-and-wealth-in-usa-since-1979/
My favorite graph is this one: http://anticap.files.wordpress.com/2010/04/inequality-page25_actualdistribwithlegend.png
You can find a job in Columbia, Mo, taking care of the “disabled” (organic brain disorders, “Down’s syndrome”, etc., for $8-$11 an hour, depending upon your qualifications.)
Meanwhile, clowns like Paul Ryan define the limits of reasonable debate in America.
@Dave Raithel
Agreed. I’ve posted it a couple of times, most recently here:
http://www.asymptosis.com/want-a-flat-tax-i-got-a-flat-tax-for-you.html
More like a ‘Americans want services without having to pay for them’ problem.