Where all the stolen money goes
Friday, 25 April 2008 | 87 readers so far
Want to know what Congress is planning to do with the money they want to steal from you in 2009?
Defense: $515 billion ($294)
Homeland Security: $38 billion ($0; was in Domestic Necessary)
Domestic Necessary: $713 billion
Domestic Worthy Causes*: $305 billion ($217)
Social Security: $644 billion ($409)
Medicare: $408 billion ($197)
Medicaid and SCHIP: $224 billion ($136)
Interest: $260 billion ($223)
Total: $3107 ($1789)
Numbers in parentheses are how much was spent in fiscal year 2000. Source article here.
Here is the projected income:
Personal income taxes: $1259 billion ($1004.5)
Corporate income taxes: $339 billion ($207.3)
Social Insurance receipts: $949 billion ($652.9)
Other taxes: $153 billion ($161)
Deficit: $400 billion (surplus $236 billion)
I disagree with the authors’ conclusions - let’s completely eliminate Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid as a start - it cannot be done in one year, but it can be done. That would balance out the budget by eliminating almost a trillion dollars in theft. Social Security is an illegal Ponzi scheme, whether anyone will admit it or not. People too stupid to live healthy lifestyles and put money aside for the time when their health inevitably starts to fail deserve to suffer the consequences (I include myself in this group; I am a former smoker).
Once we get the trillion dollars of “I’m too stupid to take care of myself” money out of the budget, we can tackle the $305 billion in “domestic worthy causes” - honest people call that money pork. The proposed budget is criminal!
1 April 28th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Gringo_Malo says:
The problem with your proposal is that all those people who are too stupid to take care of themselves are nevertheless allowed to vote. There’s no democratic solution to the problem of democracy. Are you suggesting a military coup d’etat?
2 April 28th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Trevor says:
I don’t think this is the time for a coup attempt. Peaceful civil disobedience perhaps. When laws and systems become morally bankrupt citizens have every right to look for ways to replace those systems.
The sad thing about this organized theft by vote is that it is probably sustainable until the middle class obesity problem has been solved by food shortfalls.
It’s hard to get people to think about how corrupt the system is when there are material excesses in the supply chain.
3 April 28th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Gringo_Malo says:
Peaceful civil disobedience works by winning the sympathy of a majority of voters. That ain’t gonna happen in this case. Those who receive government largesse certainly won’t be sympathetic. Those who pay taxes but regard socialism as a good idea lack the mental capacity to get your point. I suspect that, together, these two classes constitute a majority of the electorate. We’ll continue to get the government that they deserve as long as we continue to let them vote, and a democratic government can’t disenfranchise them.
4 July 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Dan says:
It always amuses me how taxes are referred to as “theft”, it makes me chuckle inside. The problem I see is that American want to have the best of both worlds, where the government is powerful and provides a multitude of services, while not increasing taxes. Americans take for granted what the accomplishments of government spending and how it enhances our society. One would only have to look at the complexity and advancement of our military and government programs. Government spending does fuel innovation that does pass dividends to society. We can see these dividends to the Video game industry( US military), High detail medical imaging( NASA) , and many more that have benefited us greatly. People should just give up some money for the taxes, because it is in their bests interests and in the country’s interests to do so.
5 July 9th, 2008 at 8:22 am
Trevor says:
Taxes which are completely voluntary are not theft. Unfortunately, I’m in a tax bracket that is higher than I approve of - I’m not a voluntary participant - I’m a reluctant participant. I only pay because of the threat of force. I don’t suggest that the money doesn’t have some application and benefit societally. I am suggesting that the benefits are overshadowed by the waste, the fraud and the arbitrary and violent nature of the system.
You say “people should just give up some money for the taxes” and I would gladly do that - but I’m being robbed, and that’s the problem. Taxes are too high and I no longer want to participate in the system. I receive too little value and I have no real representation. Change is imminent one way or another because too many citizens feel as I do for the system to continue unchanged.