Thanks for posting this. I've lived in various countries, states, cities, etc and Los Angeles is by *far* the most misunderstood and misrepresented city. I have no idea how people generalize a city like LA when it has so much variety in people, places, scenery, food, cultures, language, etc, there's nothing like it. Absolutely incredible place to live, we love it here.

taxation is theft

You don't own, you rent from your local taxing authority.

Also could be saying "we are taxed to our death". Meaning we are taxed right up to when we die, and slightly after if you consider a death tax.

To be fair, the US has nearly the lowest taxes in the developed world. The most medical bankruptcies, but the taxes are truly low.

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Overlay that with the outstanding debt/budget deficit for each country. That may tell an interesting story.

Thieves usually don't give you a bunch of stuff in return.

That’s just federal government revenue, it’s not the full tax base as it doesn’t include local sales tax, state income tax, property tax and whatever other taxes we are subject too. Keep in mind that those higher taxed countries provide free healthcare and education.

I’m starting to get the idea some of you guys don’t like taxes!

If you like them so much, I'll be more than happy to give you mine.

I actually don't mind them much. I pay a lot in prop taxes but my rate is actually kind of low I think so whatcha gonna do.

Does it bother you that a very high percentage of your tax dollars are being totally wasted and that if that wasn't the case that you could have alot more money back in your pocket to spend on other things? Thats a legitimate question by the way and im not trying to be sarcastic at all.

Does that take into account state, local, sales, and property taxes or is that only federal taxes?

its not free, its why they get hosed on taxes as badly as they do.

Probably a terrible decision to wade into this mess, but can you please expand upon "a very high percentage of your tax dollars are being totally wasted"? That's a very subjective statement to say the least.

I like what Ballmer is doing with usafacts.org - transparency is good. Maybe states could do the same with their tax income/expenditures? Just make it a little more obvious.

A far question; my view would be they would never actually give me more monies back no matter what so it's a moot point.

It also doesn't include deficit spending or any number of other factors. There is a reason the US has 19 aircraft carrier groups (not just carriers, but full naval armadas with support ships and all)...we pay a lot in taxes to the government. Just look at 2018 estimated gross revenue of the US (fed, state, and local)...it's $6.21 trillion...

Compare that annual number to another country...any other country...

My state is probably the most corrupt state in the country so any increased taxes are likely just lining the pockets of the scumbags in office.

It's all levels of government, although I haven't dug into the exact methodology to be fair. "In 2015, US taxes at all levels of government represented 26 percent of GDP, compared with an average of 34 percent of GDP for the 34 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)."

If you look at the link, you can also see percentage of taxes based on income, property, etc.
https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/how-do-us-taxes-compare-internationally

Buy games lightly used, locally through private collector sales, not dealers. It continues to work, especially today with large volumes of games going into homes than ever before. Build a network.

Avoid the noid of NIB sales, it is never worth it except for operator reasons regarding volume purchases.

Speculators will continue to roll the dice, and burn out like shooting stars when the market turns.

If you don't know then i suggest that you do some research for yourself. Im not here to educate anyone. I think most people already know that government spending has been out of control though and that alot of our tax dollars are not being used for what they were intended to be used for. So much government waste that its ridiculous, and thats the federal, state, and local governments all combined.

If someone stole 3 of your cars but gave you 1 of them back, isn't it still theft?

I'd say putting up road signs that say things like "Little Baghdad Next Exit", in towns that already have perfectly good names, is a waste of taxpayers money.

I gotta ask, since this hasn't been about pinball for about a week, maybe it's finally time to take this thread out back and shoot it?

I don't think it ever was about pinball. lol.

Virtually everyone thinks some version of this, for sure. But people disagree widely on what particular spending is "wasteful" -- all can agree that fraudulent medicare payouts fit the bill, funding for climate research, the arts, and war in Iraq is more controversial. And most people have zero concept of how the amount of what they view as "wasteful" spending compares to spending on things they view as legitimate, and how those numbers relates to deficit spending and the United States' long-term economic prospects.

I'm not blaming anyone, this stuff is way too big and complicated for most of us to follow closely (myself included). Our brains evolved to cope with tribal groups of about 150 members max, and we're massively overclocking them in this modern era. An inability to separate fundamental problems from relatively minor ones is probably inevitable.

The first 2 or 3 posts were!

But for now I think I'd like to tell you all about exactly why I don't like taxes and how much the government sucks! And why it's all the fault of the people I didn't vote for.

I think they were under the impression this would be a new tax that didn't exist before.

Personally taxes I pay don't bother me as I don't make much to begin with, so they don't take much and they are better than the other inevitable thing in life.... death .

But that's the problem. What you may think is wasteful or ridiculous may seem reasonable to someone else. And what you may think is a very high percentage may not be to other people. Some people think basically any government spending is too much, which is why I have a problem with vague, broad statements.

Amazon started charging taxes in Canada about 5 or 6 months ago

In Cali the car you get back doesn’t even have wheels Rob

Here is the real picture

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Is that figure comparing the countries directly on tax rates? Or is it showing, for each country, how their tax burdens are sifted out among income tax, social security tax, property tax, etc? It looks to me like the bars for each country add up to 100%, in which case this tells me that Australia doesn't have a social security tax, but it doesn't tell me if the overall tax burden is higher in Australia or the US.

We have a choice on what goods and services we purchase for the most part, a consumption tax. Thus, it’s why we feel “taxed to death” on mandatory taxes. And clearly by comparison we are

As for corporate income tax, previously at the highest in the world. No longer

Same for personal income taxes

Now this new tax will increase the orange bar

As a % of GDP is not a great measure. I only care about my personal GDP and how much Uncle Sam gets to take and waste

It’s part of that same report from westoforme

Well GDP is a good camparison if your pay comes from our taxes. Where is the GDP comparison guy from again?

And of course if it isn’t crystal clear yet that blue bar referencing Social security is going to get MUCH longer one way or another in the future

Unless our GDP averages 4% for next decade

I pay the Homer tax. Let the bears pay the Bear Tax!

Think I did an annual return on SS once. Came in at under 2%

I really don’t get the shortage on SS. If one dies with no spouse govt keeps all their money paid in. Part of folks SS payment is paid back to govt in taxes yet there is still a big shortfall?

I know part of SS is disability but the cap on that payout is pretty low.

Depends on the value of the cars taken and the one given back. The valuation of the services you receive in exchange for taxes is a valid discussion to have, but I think I probably am already on your side there.

I believe there is a lot of wasteful spending and lining of pockets that I wish would be stomped out.

All I know is when they spend $20,000 on a toilet seat and it isn't even officially licensed Supreme gear,

now that's wasteful spending!

Best post of the day right there!!

Chump change, my dear boy. Are you familiar with this sweet baby? Solid 18k gold, estimated value $2 million (though Whysnow thinks it won't fetch $1.5).

Solid_Gold_Crapper (resized).jpg

Its because the government has borrowed from it and cant pay it back. That money originally was supposed to have never been used for anything other than social security benefits, now here we are in real danger of ss going belly up!

It is going to go belly up. In a few years.

Been hearing that bullshit for THIRTY YEARS.

Just scare tactics to hand over Social Security to Wall Street on a privatization scheme. The way it's going, the American public will soon be dumb enough to finally fall for the scam, and then we can all eat dog food when we get old.

Also, pinball.

Yeah you just keep living under a rock and thinking that. Everything is just great isnt it? The only good thing is that it may not affect you Levi but who gives a shit about future generations right?