So much money...

[Cbass]

I wouldn't say it's necessarily a question of how much is being spent, as much as it is a question of where it's getting spent, and who is contributing how much. The income tax in the US is actually quite reasonable, at least for individuals making less than $100K a year. With the massive wealth of the US per capita, there should be more than enough tax dollars collected to pay for socialized medicine, free tuition, guarantee comfortable retirement for pensioners etc.

My question is, how do those pesky Europeans manage it, with similar tax rates?

[YogsVR4]

From what I read, those pesky Europeans are scrambling around because the price of those things are more then they can handle. As a quick example http://tiss.zdv.uni-tuebingen.de/web..._1/denver9.htm But, the US has more then enough money to do all it needs. If the pork were slashed and some agencies were revamped or eliminated the budget would be in balance very quickly.

[Cbass]

As the author points out, this to a great extent a result of West Germany absorbing the economic failings of East Germany during the unification. Surprise surprise, Communists don't know how to manage an economy!

Germany has recovered from FAR worse economic problems than this before, look at the revival that the Nazi's managed during the 30's, or rebuilding an economy that had been destroyed during WW2.

In any case, this is off topic. Slash that military budget a bit, take from some of the $400 billion that gets sloughed into the armed forces, and you could fix social security easily.

[tenguzero]

Slash that military budget a bit, take from some of the $400 billion that gets sloughed into the armed forces, and you could fix social security easily.

Or just pass some sort of "Keep your grubby paws out!" law that prevents congress from dipping into it like they have been for decades.

[Cbass]

Originally Posted by tenguzero

Or just pass some sort of "Keep your grubby paws out!" law that prevents congress from dipping into it like they have been for decades.

Well, that's exactly what they're there to do, pass laws and budget how much is to be spent, and what it is to be spent on. That's their purpose!

What is lacking is any kind of accountability on where the money is being spent, and too much of it is being HANDED to very large, very rich corporations in the form of subsidies and needless contracts.

[tenguzero]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050920/...economy_fed_dc

I'm sorry, I missed the part where they inflate my paycheck comparably as well. Nothing cooler than watching my school loan rates from previous education go ever higher (I was unable to do a federal loan at that time due to legal family issues, therefore I was unable to "lock in" a rate since I didn't have a federal loan.) Hey, while they're at it, they could raise my paycheck accordingly to compensate for the higher cost of, oh, everything. Since when do I have to pay 99 cents for a damn grapefruit? $16 for a lousy haircut? It all sounds dumb, like I'm splitting hairs over dimes, but it all adds up really, really quickly. Everything is starting to just get flat out expensive. Apparently people still can, because they're still buying plasma TV's and new cell phones and laptop computers and digital cameras and... oh wait, they aren't actually BUYING them, they're just putting them on credit.