About the first link: Are you again trying to make my point for me? From
that site: "Total US tax revenue equaled 24 percent of gross domestic
product, well below the 34 percent weighted average for other OECD
countries.Total US tax revenue equaled 24 percent of gross domestic
product, well below the 34 percent weighted average for other OECD
countries."
The bar chart therein shows the U.S. almost at the bottom for tax
revenue related to GDP, and you apparently want it moved three steps
lower, to the very bottom. But the majority of the countries with higher
tax-to-GDP ratios do far better than the U.S. on most things that matter
to citizens. The U.S. lags on health care, infant mortality, education,
transportation and much more.
About the second link: Yes, Americans have more take home pay than many
others, BUT that's because they need more take home pay! Example #1 is
medical care, with medical expenses being a frequent cause of poverty or
bankruptcy in the U.S. That's largely unheard of in most westernized
nations.
Another huge expense is child care. One young working couple I know has
said that they can't wait until their kids are old enough to get out of
day care, because it costs almost as much as their home mortgage.
Then there's transportation: Two cars are mandatory for most American
families, because there's no other practical way to get around. Even bus
service is ludicrously sparse, let alone things like passenger rail.
More briefly, people in other prosperous countries pay more in taxes,
but _everybody_ gets much, much more in return. And most of the
countries on that list have higher citizen satisfaction than the U.S.
In the U.S., we don't tax as much. So those barely scraping by (paying
for health insurance, the occasional large deductible when they get
sick, their kids' care, their car payments, etc.) pay a tiny bit less in
taxes. Those raking in huge amounts through salaries, investments and
inheritances pay a LOT less in taxes. The result is greater disparity.
> We ought to embrace with pride a culture in which sharp hard working
> people can persuade their fellow citizens to buy their products and
> services profitably.
Don't pretend that people in other countries are not permitted to profit
from their work! If a truly wealthy person finds a way to make an extra
Euro, he may not keep all of that Euro but he still ends up with more
than before.
And there should be more to a man's life than trying to amass the
biggest bank account.
--
- Frank Krygowski