5 ms·

The government doesn't pay for anything. Taxpayers do. Now I'm not against taxpayers paying for something so long as all taxpayers pay for that thing that ever

The government doesn't pay for anything. Taxpayers do. Now I'm not against taxpayers paying for something so long as all taxpayers pay for that thing that everyone enjoys. What isn't right is when someone votes for a tax they won't feel the burden of. Everyone who gets the benefit should also have skin in the game to pay for that benefit.

markstos 7y ago
So children should pay for playgrounds and schools?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- dexterdog 7y ago
  If they have income yes. If they are supported by adults then those are the people paying.
- ineedasername 7y ago
  By the time my kid pays for his sandbox he'll be too old to care about it.
- jonhohle 7y ago
  Schools are a net benefit to a community. According to some studies, it’s an annual 18% return on investment and a lifetime 11x return per dollar spent. There are not many places that one can get that kind of return over many decades. We’re pretty foolish for not investing more.
  - malandrew 7y ago
    Or you can bring in highly educated and highly motivated immigrants at almost $0 cost to your taxpayers. It's just the cost of vetting and processing applications. You also have the benefit of only getting the good eggs with few to none of the bad eggs. It's almost certain that H1Bs and other skill-based visas have a much much higher rate of return.
    - mcv 7y ago
      I'm not opposed to the idea of immigration, but proposing it as a replacement for education is bizarre. If you have a population of uneducated idiots, pretty soon you won't be able to afford those highly educated immigrants anymore.
bosswipe 7y ago
> What isn't right is when someone votes for a tax they won't feel the burden of. The real freeloaders are the well off republican voters that keep voting for more and more tax cuts, deficits be damned, putting trillions of dollars of burden onto the next generation.
deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
mcv 7y ago
> "The government doesn't pay for anything. Taxpayers do." By that logic, taxpayers also don't pay, but their employers do. And they don't either, but their customers do. It's the cycle of money in every economy. But perhaps more important than that: in a democracy, the government represents the citizens (including the taxpayers). The government pays for stuff on behalf of the citizens for the benefit of the citizens. At least if the system functions correctly.

markstos 7y ago

So children should pay for playgrounds and schools?

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
dexterdog 7y ago
If they have income yes. If they are supported by adults then those are the people paying.
ineedasername 7y ago
By the time my kid pays for his sandbox he'll be too old to care about it.
jonhohle 7y ago
Schools are a net benefit to a community. According to some studies, it’s an annual 18% return on investment and a lifetime 11x return per dollar spent. There are not many places that one can get that kind of return over many decades. We’re pretty foolish for not investing more.
- malandrew 7y ago
  Or you can bring in highly educated and highly motivated immigrants at almost $0 cost to your taxpayers. It's just the cost of vetting and processing applications. You also have the benefit of only getting the good eggs with few to none of the bad eggs. It's almost certain that H1Bs and other skill-based visas have a much much higher rate of return.
  - mcv 7y ago
    I'm not opposed to the idea of immigration, but proposing it as a replacement for education is bizarre. If you have a population of uneducated idiots, pretty soon you won't be able to afford those highly educated immigrants anymore.

bosswipe 7y ago

> What isn't right is when someone votes for a tax they won't feel the burden of. The real freeloaders are the well off republican voters that keep voting for more and more tax cuts, deficits be damned, putting trillions of dollars of burden onto the next generation.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

mcv 7y ago

> "The government doesn't pay for anything. Taxpayers do." By that logic, taxpayers also don't pay, but their employers do. And they don't either, but their customers do. It's the cycle of money in every economy. But perhaps more important than that: in a democracy, the government represents the citizens (including the taxpayers). The government pays for stuff on behalf of the citizens for the benefit of the citizens. At least if the system functions correctly.