by Rupchuk on Thu Jun 26, 2008 12:35 am
America traditionally, if not always, has had lower taxes than European countries. America was founded on the idea of limited government. And because of that we had a small government people had more freedoms and there was no American empire. We were more interested in prospering than pissing in other countries. Then our government started to expand, we grew into an empire (around 1898, Spanish-American War), and we had to pay for it. The income tax was made constitutional in 1913 with the 16th amendment. Now we have the highest level of taxation in American history.
The problem is that taxes stifle growth, they don't encourage it. All these social programs and military budgets and etc. are paid for with tax money. (If you really want us out of Iraq you should be against more taxes, see how quick the war ends when the troops aren't getting paid.) So you have the government providing for people, encouraging a socialist society. That's against the very idea of America as written by its founders. That's the problem we have. I don't like America because I pay taxes and then the government provides for others with my money. I like America because it is (or at least was) one of the freest nations on the planet. The bigger the government gets, the more taxes we'll pay, and the worse it'll get.
We don't pay as much in taxes as other countries do, but that's not the point. The point is we shouldn't be paying so much of our money in the first place.
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb deciding what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
"A Prince, whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people." -Declaration of Independence
"Taking my gun away because I might shoot someone is like cutting my tongue out because I might yell `Fire!' in a crowded theater." - Peter Venetoklis