Michigan... How Long Will It Last?

[HumanSteak]

For those who don't live in the state of Michigan, in the United States Of America, and those who don't read, or watch, the news... Michigan has been experiencing some extreme financial issues of late... such as the $1.7-billion deficit, and the budget battle going on at the capitol. To fix the issue, democrats want to increase income taxes from 3.9% to 4.6%.

Pfft 3,9 to 4,6 is nothing, here in Quebec we have 2 taxes. One is 7% and the other is 7,5% wich stacks with the result of the previous 7%
We have to pay 225$ just for the licence plate every years and mostly 300$+ every two years for driver's licence... That is if you didn't get arrested once, I once had to pay 756$ for my driver license because I got caught at 140 km/h on the highway... (the limit is 100)

 

[The Man In Black]

I spend maybe.. $15 for me liscence

 

[Netrogor]

Hehe, well, American $$ is (or used to be) worth more than Canadian cash... and we also have two taxes here in the U.S.

State Tax, and Federal Tax. State Income tax is they wanted to change from 3.9% to 4.6%, then when the Republicans said no, they decided they wanted 4.8% instead (making it harder on themselves, the Democrats). Then sales tax is 6%...

All in all, when every tax there is, has been accumulated, I believe you lose 33% of your income between state & federal at then end of the year... then you lose even more money paying sales tax for any non-food items you buy.

If your boss tells you you're making $24 an hour, after taxes that is really $16.

 

[Thothie]

Pfft 3,9 to 4,6 is nothing, here in Quebec we have 2 taxes. One is 7% and the other is 7,5% wich stacks with the result of the previous 7%

Yes, but you also have free health care, regardless of your state of employment that has 0.1% of the denial rate our top HMO’s do. Our health care costs us an average of 10% of our income, taken straight out of our paychecks, despite that denial rate, and those without employment, are SOL.

I spend maybe.. $15 for me liscence

Yer forgetting registration fees, which is the sort of thing he's including there. Registration for me is $420/year, plus another $30-$40 for a smog check every other year (which can lead to a few $100 of other stuff). Plus there’s the mandatory insurance, which in my case, comes to about another $1200 a year.

Sales tax and income tax are not the only taxes, they are just the only one's we deal with on a regular basis. There are hundreds of thousands of product specific taxes (including gas), business taxes, and fees that most of us never see, and are taken directly from our income or added to the market price of items.

 

[Blasto121]

Oregon doesn't have the sales tax

instead we have the property tax, great for me I don't own any property... Yet anyway.

 

[Netrogor]

Oregon doesn't pay tax on non-food items...? Like buying a new cellphone, if the price-tag says $99.95 here in Michigan, it'll almost reach $105.95 ($105.94 since I believe they round down for currency, even if it's a tenth of a cent away from the next penny).

We also have property tax, since, as Thothie mentioned, Michigan, and some other states, have thousands of bogus taxes...
I feel so special, knowing we had a revolutionary war over the colonies of the time being pissy about paying taxes without benefit to themselves... and now I live in a government that taxes ten times more, failing to provide services promised, and still falling in a massive deficit.

If the US would force other member-nations of the UN to help fund it, rather than being the primary funder, and cut back on NASA funding, they'd be able to reduce taxes... a lot...
Of course, that'd only help federal government... state government is still a problem. For that: we should force parents to teach their own damn children... not entirely on their own, but a lot more... like ABC's & reading, with basic math & writing... it'd save on school budgets, and force families to exist again. (ZOMGZ, UNHOLY, FORCING FAMILIES TO EXIST!)

 

[Shurik3n]

I feel so special, knowing we had a revolutionary war over the colonies of the time being pissy about paying taxes without benefit to themselves... and now I live in a government that taxes ten times more, failing to provide services promised, and still falling in a massive deficit.

It was, more or less, about being taxed without being able to represent themselves to have a say about. Not just the fact that they were getting taxed.

 

[Thothie]

instead we have the property tax, great for me I don't own any property... Yet anyway.

I don’t think there are any states without property tax, but I suspect yours are higher to make up for the lack of sales tax. Property tax, at least, has the advantage that it’s more progressive than sales tax, unless you're retired.

If the US would force other member-nations of the UN to help fund it, rather than being the primary funder, and cut back on NASA funding, they'd be able to reduce taxes... a lot...
Of course, that'd only help federal government... state government is still a problem. For that: we should force parents to teach their own damn children...

Holy… Crap… What twisted political philosophy did you have forced on you to whack you that far out of the ballpark of reality?

…NASA’s total annual budget is $16 Billion Dollars
…Public Education gets a total annual of $54 Billion Dollars

Let’s compare that to the annual Department of Defense budget of: $632+ Billion (64% of our total annual discretionary budget! - That doesn't even include emergency funding for the Iraq war!)

You want to save some taxes? Cut back on some wars.

We pay less per student than any country in the industrialized world, and less than many “forth world” nations. We’ve a smaller total school budget than any member nation of the EU or Japan, and we have grades and drop-out rates to match. (Plus our school budget is technically negative, if you take into account $96 billion is tied up in student loan commitments.)

We also now spend 1/10th per child, adjusted for inflation, than we did in 1970.

If you want a work force so low-paid that it can compete with Mexico, China, and India, then yes, by all means, cut back on Education. This seems to be the primary goal of the people pushing that.

And personally, I think NASA is still mankind’s best hope for long-term survival, and the reason we’ve evolved to this point to begin with. At least until we finish our decline and either the EU or China pick up where NASA left off. Big picture people, yeesh.

 

[Shurik3n]

M-A-R-S, Mars b*tches

 

[Netrogor]

Anything over $5billion for a project involving special airplanes, essentially, seems overkill to me. And public education is expensive, of course, since everyone is being educated. That's why I mentioned in another part of my post that you quoted... that if parents' would teach their own children the ABC's, reading, writing, and basic math, it'd save a lot of cash for taxes, since the budget won't have to be so high.

Also, I know wars are expensive. I never said to keep on going at the "War On Terror", so I wasn't excluding the helpfulness of cutting back on wars... as your wording suggested.

As to NASA... we don't need Government funded space related programs as much anymore. There are private ones coming to play, who have *much* more motivation to do a *good* job, than NASA... since they are in it for profit. SpaceShip One being the perfect example of private industries & what they can accomplish.

Jeesh, Thothie, read the entirety & reply to the entirety...

 

[Sabre]

Anything over $5billion for a project involving special airplanes, essentially, seems overkill to me. And public education is expensive, of course, since everyone is being educated. That's why I mentioned in another part of my post that you quoted... that if parents' would teach their own children the ABC's, reading, writing, and basic math, it'd save a lot of cash for taxes, since the budget won't have to be so high.

Also, I know wars are expensive. I never said to keep on going at the "War On Terror", so I wasn't excluding the helpfulness of cutting back on wars... as your wording suggested.

As to NASA... we don't need Government funded space related programs as much anymore. There are private ones coming to play, who have *much* more motivation to do a *good* job, than NASA... since they are in it for profit. SpaceShip One being the perfect example of private industries & what they can accomplish.

Jeesh, Thothie, read the entirety & reply to the entirety...

Chances are that NASA has VERY little to do with the actual building and designing of any of the aircraft they use....Actually, they don't have anything to do with it, companies like Lockheed-Martin are the designers here. NASA is just the coordination of missions using said spacecraft...In addition they work in the satellite network, so don't even thrash NASA.

 

[Netrogor]

I wasn't saying they should be totally cut, just partially. Artard.
Messing, you're not an artard: kockris is an artards.

And I know commercial companies do most of the work... RED MAI POOST SARbI!
I already mentioned SpaceShip One, a commercial project, not NASA; not even in coordination...

Don't Quote Then Reply With Something Already Mentioned In Said Quote!

As to NASA... we don't need Government funded space related programs as much anymore. There are private ones coming to play, who have *much* more motivation to do a *good* job, than NASA... since they are in it for profit. SpaceShip One being the perfect example of private industries & what they can accomplish.

Jeesh, Thothie, read the entirety & reply to the entirety...

Chances are that NASA has VERY little to do with the actual building and designing of any of the aircraft they use....Actually, they don't have anything to do with it, companies like Lockheed-Martin are the designers here. NASA is just the coordination of missions using said spacecraft...In addition they work in the satellite network, so don't even thrash NASA.