tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7821345570811107481.post2494434709173341858..comments2024-03-17T00:13:44.599-07:00Comments on Marty Nemko: We ARE All Socialists Now....Whether We Like it or NotMarty Nemkohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14850388752934193821noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7821345570811107481.post-34644392122261799002009-03-19T23:16:00.000-07:002009-03-19T23:16:00.000-07:00Driving represents only a tiny fraction of the dol...Driving represents only a tiny fraction of the dollars in taxes and fees listed. <BR/><BR/>% of GDP is a misleading statistic. The straightforward statistic is the % of earnings lost to taxes and other government mandates such as fees. <BR/><BR/>There is, to my knowledge, no statistics that include all the taxes I have identified. I arrived at the 25% figure through an estimation process. Do you have reason or data to suggest it is incorrect?Marty Nemkohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14850388752934193821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7821345570811107481.post-50426056066392300942009-03-19T15:18:00.000-07:002009-03-19T15:18:00.000-07:00Do you have a citation for the 25 cent calculation...Do you have a citation for the 25 cent calculation you put on the table? <BR/><BR/>Interesting that you place so much emphasis on the various costs of driving, all of which go away very quickly if you decide not to drive. Not an option nationally, but absolutely an option in the 'golden triangle' of Bay Area real estate you and I live in. <BR/><BR/>Do you think those costs would go down if, as a not-too-long-ago posting suggested, we privatize roadways? <BR/><BR/>(Water costs in privatized systems worldwide have tended to go up after privatization.) <BR/><BR/>The data that I've seen indicates that the US is close to last on a list of industrialized nations ranked by total taxes as a fraction of GDP.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7821345570811107481.post-11051963384435713182009-03-18T19:58:00.000-07:002009-03-18T19:58:00.000-07:00I think that if taxes were abolished, it wouldn't ...I think that if taxes were abolished, it wouldn't be long before they returned, because we learn so little from history and from the mistakes of others.<BR/><BR/>How long would it be before government began growing again? A growing population would demand ever more services, perhaps services that the private sector can't provide. The government would find more and more excuses to grow, and soon we would be in the same situation.<BR/><BR/>Besides, as much as people are angry with what's happening, I think there are more who have become too dependent. If the control was in their hands, what would they do? I'd guess they'd panic. Would the private sector be able to calm that population down?<BR/><BR/>That's my cynical response. My optimistic side would be very interested to see what I'd be capable of if I decided where my money went, and what kind of society would result if capitalism were allowed to bloom like never before, and government was nipped in the bud.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7821345570811107481.post-59595341554497201982009-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:002009-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00Marty, I can offer only one additional perspective...Marty, <BR/><BR/>I can offer only one additional perspective to your magnificent analysis of taxes: taxation involves robbing and (temporarily) enslaving the taxpayer. <BR/><BR/>Robbery is defined as taking someone's justly owned property against their will. Slavery involves forcing someone to work preparing tax returns and all this entails)against their will. <BR/><BR/>Dr. Michael R. Edelstein<BR/>www.ThreeMinuteTherapy.comAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com