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Colorado has a population of about 5.6mil and a GDP of ~300bil. Norway is 370bil. Although better than most other U.S. states, I don't have access to the servi

Colorado has a population of about 5.6mil and a GDP of ~300bil. Norway is 370bil. Although better than most other U.S. states, I don't have access to the services that Norwegians do. But my taxes are also very low here. We could have the same kind of services as Norway if we want to pay for it, but taxes would have to go up. Until Americans stop thinking of the word "tax" as evil, we'll always value it wrong.

rsync 8y ago
"Although better than most other U.S. states, I don't have access to the services that Norwegians do. But my taxes are also very low here." CO State taxes are (roughly) 5% which puts it right in the middle of US states (between 0% in places like Florida and 10-ish percent at the (non CA/NY) high end). Then factor in (roughly) 35% federal + local taxes ... let's call it 40%, give or take. Let's just forget property taxes for the sake of this discussion. Why should I think of 40% as a "low" taxation rate ? Why shouldn't I expect a high level of government services in return for 40% taxation ? (FWIW, I live in CA so you can add 5-8 more percentage points for my own tax burden ... same questions apply ...)
- bradlys 8y ago
  Unless you're $300k+, your tax burden is under 40%. Even at $100k, you're around 31% total. That's for CA. https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#tHIG8RK2kX https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#...
  - rsync 8y ago
    I speak of the highest tax brackets because my parent was implying that tax rates were not high enough - which is in reference to the people whose taxes should be raised. I don't think the suggestion was that lower income brackets should bear that burden. Therefore it only makes sense to discuss the highest brackets.
ng12 8y ago
Or you can just look two states over at California which has the highest taxes in the country but is still largely dysfunctional. I think there's more to it than just perception.

rsync 8y ago

"Although better than most other U.S. states, I don't have access to the services that Norwegians do. But my taxes are also very low here." CO State taxes are (roughly) 5% which puts it right in the middle of US states (between 0% in places like Florida and 10-ish percent at the (non CA/NY) high end). Then factor in (roughly) 35% federal + local taxes ... let's call it 40%, give or take. Let's just forget property taxes for the sake of this discussion. Why should I think of 40% as a "low" taxation rate ? Why shouldn't I expect a high level of government services in return for 40% taxation ? (FWIW, I live in CA so you can add 5-8 more percentage points for my own tax burden ... same questions apply ...)

bradlys 8y ago
Unless you're $300k+, your tax burden is under 40%. Even at $100k, you're around 31% total. That's for CA. https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#tHIG8RK2kX https://smartasset.com/taxes/california-paycheck-calculator#...
- rsync 8y ago
  I speak of the highest tax brackets because my parent was implying that tax rates were not high enough - which is in reference to the people whose taxes should be raised. I don't think the suggestion was that lower income brackets should bear that burden. Therefore it only makes sense to discuss the highest brackets.

ng12 8y ago

Or you can just look two states over at California which has the highest taxes in the country but is still largely dysfunctional. I think there's more to it than just perception.