The U.S. has some of the lowest taxes rates in the industrialized world. Correspondingly, we have some of the lowest social services spending in the world as well. Despite Republican, Liberatarian and other conservative ranting, the U.S. government should not cut taxes further, but should rather gut and rebuild from the foundation the majority of the national government beaucracy.
I like both ideas. Cut taxes AND make government smaller.
Just like many, many corporations today, the government has become bloated with pencil-pushing, do-nothing middle managers who bleed precious fiscal resources from the budget.
What? And fire all of those affirmative action types? What will happen to our good intentions? We'll have to admit our games we played with hiring, forcing people to hire individuals who would never have been hired and almost can't be fired, were all wrong. Nay, nay I say. We can't do that!!!
In any case, it's interesting, the American psyche. People moan and complain about 'outrageous' taxation, and then rant about rotting schools, decaying roads and poorly equipped emergency services and military units.
I can find a few deteriorating schools in Philly, but to tell the truth, I also see very few kids in those schools who are interested in an education. It just isn't cool, and it's "acting white" on top of that. As far as "decaying roads," I see a lot of gleaming intestate highway paid by tax dollars that are taken out of my state, and are only returned to us if we play nice with the feds. We can build our own roads, thank you. We pay plenty for emergency services. If we want a great military, we have to turn away from school breakfast, lunch, dinner, weekend and midnight basketball, and a host of other failed do-gooder programs that reward poor choices and low performance and instead properly outfit and care for our soldiers.
So, given this, we can either cut taxes and further reduce our already embarassingly low social services, or just shut up and pay.
If we were a socialist state, with cradle to grave social services as an intent of our government, we might be embarassed. Instead, we are supposed to be a nation of rugged individualists. In fact, it's one of the main reasons for our greatness.
If someone is a european socialist, and thinks that everyone should be so heavily taxed as to provide housing, healthcare, and all the comforts of home for everyone that decides to nuzzle up to the governement teat, then we are not doing "enough," whatever that might be. If, however, we are going to continue to be great, we must stop rewarding poor choices and low performance.
Cut the taxes, and that will cause these bloated departments to wither and die.