3 ms·

The federal gov is way too big, spends way too much money, and delivers very little for its enormous budget. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do some of the program

The federal gov is way too big, spends way too much money, and delivers very little for its enormous budget. I’m not saying we shouldn’t do some of the programs, I’m saying the federal government is the wrong/worst place to do it. I say smash that tax code.

vkou 3y ago
Sure, smash the tax code. After you give everyone a chance to vote on the replacement. It's only fair, no? Before you go out breaking windows, you damn well be sure that you have something to replace them with.
- beej71 3y ago
  I don't know why you're downvoted. This is risky stuff and needs to be handled as such. This "might as well blow up the country" attitude that's become more prevalent in the last several years isn't a healthy one. "No point in steering now!" --Doug McKenzie realizing his brakes are out
acdha 3y ago
Almost half of the federal budget goes towards social security, Medicare, and healthcare. Unless you want old people to die in the streets again, “very little” might not be accurate. https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function To the larger point, the tax code needs to be simplified but your real problem is with Congress – we haven’t had a balanced budget since the Clinton administration and that’s because of what they’ve authorized spending on and, in the case of Republicans, defunding the IRS so there’s a substantial deficit between the actual taxes collected and what’s due (especially at the top end where you need experts to show that some rich person is hiding income). Blowing up the tax code won’t solve any of those problems.
- robertlagrant 3y ago
  > especially at the top end where you need experts to show that some rich person is hiding income Well - until you do that you don't know if there's a substantial deficit between what's collected and what's due.
  - acdha 3y ago
    Hence why the IRS has to actually pay people to review tax returns against other sources of information. We know that cheating happens on a regular basis because periodically it’ll come to light in some other way but that also suggests that it’s fairly common since it would defy probability that the only people cheating were the ones who slipped up otherwise and brought their finances under more scrutiny. The easiest way to think about this: cases dropped after Republicans cut funding for investigations in 2011. There’s no reason to think that everyone became more honest at the same time, so we’re under collecting taxes by at least the gap between now and then – and well under the optimal rate where enforcement is likely enough to deter most people. https://www.propublica.org/article/after-budget-cuts-the-irs-work-against-tax-cheats-is-facing-collapse https://www.propublica.org/article/after-budget-cuts-the-irs...
  - aaomidi 3y ago
    Literally basic statistical inference.
- aaomidi 3y ago
  > social security, Medicare Both have a separate line item and can't really be compared with the rest of our tax dollars. What's more important is what the discretionary budget is being spent on, and the largest portion of that is the US DOD.
  - acdha 3y ago
    Social Security is funded by FICA / SECA payroll taxes. Broad attacks on the government’s ability to tax income are not likely to leave that unaffected.
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  > we haven’t had a balanced budget since the Clinton administration There's no good reason to have a balanced federal budget, even as a long-term goal.

vkou 3y ago

Sure, smash the tax code. After you give everyone a chance to vote on the replacement. It's only fair, no? Before you go out breaking windows, you damn well be sure that you have something to replace them with.

beej71 3y ago
I don't know why you're downvoted. This is risky stuff and needs to be handled as such. This "might as well blow up the country" attitude that's become more prevalent in the last several years isn't a healthy one. "No point in steering now!" --Doug McKenzie realizing his brakes are out

acdha 3y ago

Almost half of the federal budget goes towards social security, Medicare, and healthcare. Unless you want old people to die in the streets again, “very little” might not be accurate. https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function https://www.usaspending.gov/explorer/budget_function To the larger point, the tax code needs to be simplified but your real problem is with Congress – we haven’t had a balanced budget since the Clinton administration and that’s because of what they’ve authorized spending on and, in the case of Republicans, defunding the IRS so there’s a substantial deficit between the actual taxes collected and what’s due (especially at the top end where you need experts to show that some rich person is hiding income). Blowing up the tax code won’t solve any of those problems.

robertlagrant 3y ago
> especially at the top end where you need experts to show that some rich person is hiding income Well - until you do that you don't know if there's a substantial deficit between what's collected and what's due.
- acdha 3y ago
  Hence why the IRS has to actually pay people to review tax returns against other sources of information. We know that cheating happens on a regular basis because periodically it’ll come to light in some other way but that also suggests that it’s fairly common since it would defy probability that the only people cheating were the ones who slipped up otherwise and brought their finances under more scrutiny. The easiest way to think about this: cases dropped after Republicans cut funding for investigations in 2011. There’s no reason to think that everyone became more honest at the same time, so we’re under collecting taxes by at least the gap between now and then – and well under the optimal rate where enforcement is likely enough to deter most people. https://www.propublica.org/article/after-budget-cuts-the-irs-work-against-tax-cheats-is-facing-collapse https://www.propublica.org/article/after-budget-cuts-the-irs...
- aaomidi 3y ago
  Literally basic statistical inference.
aaomidi 3y ago
> social security, Medicare Both have a separate line item and can't really be compared with the rest of our tax dollars. What's more important is what the discretionary budget is being spent on, and the largest portion of that is the US DOD.
- acdha 3y ago
  Social Security is funded by FICA / SECA payroll taxes. Broad attacks on the government’s ability to tax income are not likely to leave that unaffected.
dragonwriter 3y ago
> we haven’t had a balanced budget since the Clinton administration There's no good reason to have a balanced federal budget, even as a long-term goal.