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231 Comments
- eric1743, on 04/08/2009, -5/+8460 bucks for a psych textbook?
I want to go to that school. I payed like 150 - Nosferotu, on 04/07/2009, -12/+83I dunno man, I think you're missing the point on some of these. For example, it'd take 8 million+ people to get together and buy one single F22 if we didn't have the government functioning as a collective body. But instead of having to make 8 million friends to buy the protective power of that one F22, all hundreds of millions of us get the benefit of it. There are others that seem to be in this same vein, but I'm not going to go point by point through the list - because honestly, we all know that at least 60% of the people who stopped to read this comment didn't make it any farther than the second sentence anyway.
- ScreenRant, on 04/08/2009, -7/+61He seems to have left out $3,143... why is that? Because a portion of that actually represents social programs he supports, but doesn't want to highlight the money spent on that so it looks like it's missing?
Just wondering. - wolfing, on 04/08/2009, -7/+55To Israel... I want my $10/year back!
- e36wheelman, on 04/08/2009, -1/+40Site is slow
mirror: http://rorr.im/digg.com/business_finance/how_the_a ... - Aleman360, on 04/08/2009, -2/+39I can't really complain. Yea it would be nice if I didn't have to pay taxes, and if the government didn't waste a lot of it (no large group of people will ever be efficient), but this country is pretty nice place to live. It's easy to take that for granted, especially when you hang out on generally cynical websites like Digg.
- Yousty, on 04/08/2009, -2/+37UGH, Why in the world are we spending almost 4 times the amount of money on drug enforcement compared to renewable energy research?
Stupid ass War on Drugs! - btraxx, on 04/08/2009, -2/+32*English
- Yousty, on 04/08/2009, -5/+35Looks like you should have PAID for an english book instead.
- smack1700, on 04/08/2009, -0/+27The "look how little the Federal government spends on education" argument is always used to try and make you forget that Education is primarily funded at the state level.
The state you live in pays for your public schools, not the Federal government. - SgtBulldog, on 04/08/2009, -2/+22Sorry, but that illustration of the Space Shuttle is actually one of the Soviet Shuttle Buran, which only flew once. That is NOT the Space Shuttle that NASA launches. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buran_(spacecraft)
- CrazyEddie041, on 04/08/2009, -0/+20Then maybe he shouldn't make flowcharts about "How the Average Tax Dollars are Spent."
- tmbrown, on 04/08/2009, -4/+21This is BS. Most of our money goes towards interest payments on our national debt. We fund our operations by borrowings more money (and printing some).
We are like an 18 y/o girl, with her first credit card, at the mall. The only difference is we're allowed to counterfeit (devalue) our own currency, and we don't have a credit limit (YET). - habbofresh, on 04/08/2009, -0/+16and it tastes great on a cracker.
- duncan202, on 04/08/2009, -3/+18Defense is a legitmate government role.
- ScottMitchell, on 04/08/2009, -2/+17What about my in Canada?
- RajAtWork, on 04/08/2009, -1/+13Always bothers me how convenient it is not to mention similar amount going to Egypt and Jordan every year.
- inactive, on 04/08/2009, -2/+13$60 for a college textbook? I'm going to call shenanigans on that one. I pay double that.
- RobynG7, on 04/08/2009, -2/+13So businesses won't protect the environment, but they would spend billions of dollars on militaries to protect their customers?
- SpykerSpeed, on 04/08/2009, -1/+12What people fail to realize when they compare nations that have "free" healthcare with the US is that the US operates a global empire while Canada and these tiny European states do not.
To suggest the US could simultaneously operate 700+ overseas military bases, carry on a drug war, AND pay for everybody's healthcare is a bit of a stretch. - nsdjoe, on 04/08/2009, -1/+11But how are the average woman's tax dollars spent?
- zacharytelschow, on 04/08/2009, -1/+10Where's social security and medicare, which eat up a large and ever growing portion of the federal budget? Shall we pretend our money isn't going to Ponzi schemes, then?
- yarcod, on 04/08/2009, -0/+8I think I was bothered more by the "Look at how much goes to foreign military."
- MFoody, on 04/08/2009, -1/+9I'm sort of surprised how many people take for granted that spending is appropriate by virtue of being military spending. I get that having a military for the common defense is a clear role of the state but when the military spending in the united states is much more than the entire rest of the world combined, in a time when we have fewer large scale military threats than we have for most of the last 100 years you've got to ask yourself why? The answer is probably patronage jobs and foreign interventionism. The first is simply a less efficient form of welfare, a make work program far less useful than anything in Obama's reviled stimulus and the latter is a humanitarian disaster where the united states seeks to impose our interests in such broad terms that we end up killing more civillians than any other nation since the end of the fall of the USSR. But, on the other hand, fighter jets are wicked cool.
- WOMPA, on 04/08/2009, -0/+8Now that is attention to detail.
- zacharytelschow, on 04/08/2009, -4/+11Right, but the European countries and Canada spend almost nothing on defense on the assumption that the United States will defend them. If the United States disarms to get "free" health care, how do you think that will play out?
- megawiz, on 04/08/2009, -2/+9@jwill101,
actually most Canadians pay ~30% of their income in taxes (both federal+provincial) - Scrappy1850, on 04/08/2009, -5/+12What people fail to realize when they compare nations that have "free" healthcare with the US is that the US develops the medicine and high tech techniques that save peoples lives while other countries sit back and buy generic drugs and learn our techniques in days in weeks that we spent months and years perfecting. it costs money being the leader.
- jtt123, on 04/07/2009, -7/+14you forgot the $900,000 nuts and bolts
- zacharytelschow, on 04/08/2009, -4/+11Right. But it could be a much nicer place to live if government wasn't a money sucking pit.
- RobynG7, on 04/08/2009, -4/+11By chosing to live in this society, you tacitly agree to follow its rules. One of those rules is that you pay taxes. So no, it's not theft. You are always free to move to Monaco of Dubai if you don't like the taxes.
- GamerXR72, on 04/08/2009, -1/+7FYI military and personal protection are different.
Try using pepper spray on an enemy weapons manufacturing facility. - mibi, on 04/08/2009, -1/+7Well they are federal taxes, but they don't pay for any of the discretionary items in the graphic.
- Cybird88, on 04/08/2009, -0/+6Paying $120 for a textbook is on the cheap side.
- dse78759, on 04/08/2009, -1/+7Take half of my Army money and direct it to the National Endowment for the Arts, PBS and NPR specifically.
Thank you, now I don't have to listen to the pledge drive. - robinthehood, on 04/08/2009, -3/+8Every American GIVES on average 9.91$ to the State of Israel?
Jesus H. Murray Christ. - SillyRabbits, on 04/08/2009, -0/+5Yeah, the guy completely ignores what happens to 70% of the tax dollars paid (according to his calculations) and he expects people not to notice? An absolutely worthless chart.
- rchargel, on 04/08/2009, -2/+7Those are not considered federal taxes. They are in their own category.
- executorzz, on 04/08/2009, -4/+9If we didnt' have 700+ overseas military bases defense budgets in canada and europe would double. Then say bye bye to lavish social programs.
- inactive, on 04/08/2009, -3/+8To all the people arguing against free healthcare; yes, we do pay more in taxes over here, but, when you consider that the things that you could pay for with taxes, e.g. healthcare, still have to be paid for, but the moneys goes instead to private businesses; socialized healthcare seems a lot more attractive.
For example, an average earning French family, Le Smiths, with two kids pays income tax of 22%. The American equivalent, the Smiths, pay 19%.
BUT, Le Smiths get
*Free healthcare
*Virtually Free Childcare
*Free tuition at University (College)
*Four months MINIMUM Maternity leave, with full pay; the USA and Australia (For some reason) are two of the worst countries in the world when it comes to maternity leave
*30 Days Holiday each year, complete with full pay
*Unlimited sick leave at full pay for all citizens
The Smiths still have to pay for that, but instead of that taking up 3% of their taxes, they have to pay private companies, who have the goal of profit.
The reason the French can afford this is because they're smarter in what they spend. They don't go off and invade sovereign nations across the world, or subsidise oil companies etc. - enderklein, on 04/08/2009, -0/+5Anyone else notice that in the frame about how much money goes to NASA, there is a photo of the Russian space shuttle Buran?
- v2theg, on 04/08/2009, -4/+8Close the Department of Education. The IRS and the EPA. Money, saved.
- yarcod, on 04/08/2009, -2/+6How are we going to fund the empire if we socialize healthcare?
- Scrappy1850, on 04/08/2009, -0/+4@phalanxia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_drugs
- SpykerSpeed, on 04/08/2009, -2/+6That's another good point, Scrappy. While some medical advancements come from other countries, usually it's the US that has the most skilled doctors and the pioneering entrepreneurs who invent new methods/equipment.
- mfc5200, on 04/08/2009, -3/+7More like $30, there are around 100 million taxpayers, not 300 million.
- zacharytelschow, on 04/08/2009, -4/+8Yes, defense is a legitimate use of federal government and is one of the powers numerated in the Constitution. The vast majority of these spending items are not, so to equate one with the other is a mistake.
- bffoley, on 04/08/2009, -2/+6More like 900,000 nuts and bolts that usually cost 5 cents but instead they pay $1 for each. If you spend less than what you're budgeted, the beancounters in the government (or the business you work for) will assume you must not need that money and will cut your budget. This is their way to cook the books (in a sense) to ensure they get the same money next year.
- nukeleearr, on 04/08/2009, -2/+6Statistics to back up any of that? Nope, because you're just another ignorant American who is brainwashed by whatever junk they're telling you on fox news about how Canada's health care system is in shambles. Now I'm not saying there aren't problems, but I've seen the US health care system in action and it's a complete mess. Instead of our (Canada's) tax dollars funding unethical and illegal wars in third world country, most of our tax dollars are spent on enhancing quality of life. I'd prefer the latter but w.e works for you
p.s. you're - pmacATTACK07, on 04/08/2009, -0/+4Assuming you're the author of the article in question, I'll do you one better and suggest that your entire data set is flawed.
The average American man does not make $44k a year. That's closer to the median income in America *per household* which has no relevance to your article. US Census data suggests that there are 290.6 million people in the United States and that 64.7% of these people are in the workforce. We also see that each family has an average of 3.19 persons in it. If 64.7% of these persons are income earners (and by extention taxpayers), then about 2 people in every household are taxpayers. The mean household income in the United States is $60,528 which, as we know, is earned by an average of 2 people per household - or $30,264 per person. Quite a difference from the $41,964 per person as claimed in the article. Thusly, the results of the article are skewed enough to make it pretty, but totally unusable.
Sources:
http://pubdb3.census.gov/macro/032005/hhinc/new06_ ...
http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/ACSSAFFFacts -
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