SmedlyButler
Gold Member
You said;
"There is a great difference between user fee taxes (i.e. the gasoline tax) and plain old confiscation like the income tax. Of course, property taxes, which primarily fund local police power, are another animal altogether."
O.K. I think we both agree it takes a lot of money to run a city/state/country. I guess we could argue about how many bells and whistles those entities really need and how the money was to be raised. For example I guess you realize how many expensive bells and whistles it takes to maintain a technologically advanced Armed Forces on a large enough scale to dominate an entire planet and outer space as well. You're not even going to get close to that without a hefty income tax. Or do you have an alternative?
You said;
"BTW, you do realize that most of the fire departments in America are staffed by volunteers, don't you?"
Isn't that fantastic. Really. Without first responders we would be truly fucked. We all salute them. A special thanks to the Volunteers.
Of course, unless you want them responding with buckets of water, it's still an amazingly expensive proposition to maintain a modern first class fire department. (they don't buy their own fire engines.)
"There is a great difference between user fee taxes (i.e. the gasoline tax) and plain old confiscation like the income tax. Of course, property taxes, which primarily fund local police power, are another animal altogether."
O.K. I think we both agree it takes a lot of money to run a city/state/country. I guess we could argue about how many bells and whistles those entities really need and how the money was to be raised. For example I guess you realize how many expensive bells and whistles it takes to maintain a technologically advanced Armed Forces on a large enough scale to dominate an entire planet and outer space as well. You're not even going to get close to that without a hefty income tax. Or do you have an alternative?
You said;
"BTW, you do realize that most of the fire departments in America are staffed by volunteers, don't you?"
Isn't that fantastic. Really. Without first responders we would be truly fucked. We all salute them. A special thanks to the Volunteers.
Of course, unless you want them responding with buckets of water, it's still an amazingly expensive proposition to maintain a modern first class fire department. (they don't buy their own fire engines.)
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