Income tax time again

[muon2]

I think that you have to consider what you are getting for all your tax money.
Schools- Free Education for your children K-12
Roads- You couldn't get to work to make your money without them
Police protection- The cops suck when they're handing you a speeding ticket but you'd better thank Jesus they're there.
Fire Protection- Just might come in handy
Military Protection- There's a lot of pork here but it's a worthy cause
Parks- Making life more pleasant
Social Security- Keeping you from having to support your elderly parents/grandparents.
Medical research- Hopefully, we can kick cancer before I'm old
College Aid-Most Americans wouldn't make it past high school without it.

I'm not here to argue that everything the government does is efficient or wise, but you have to consider all the good things you're getting before you bitch about taxes.  Federal Budget for 2006 is 2.6 trillion dollars, which comes to about $9,000 for each man, woman, and child. If you're not paying that much for each member of your family, you're getting a bargain.

What frustrates many is that except for military protection and social security, little of the large federal portion goes to any of the items on the list. The services like schools, parks, police and fire are the ones that affect more people in their daily lives, yet they are funded by the smaller state and local tax portion. Roads are paid for mostly by state and local dollars with some federal dollars. But those federal dollars are from the gas tax, not the income tax.

[David S]

I think that you have to consider what you are getting for all your tax money.
Schools- Free Education for your children K-12
Roads- You couldn't get to work to make your money without them
Police protection- The cops suck when they're handing you a speeding ticket but you'd better thank Jesus they're there.
Fire Protection- Just might come in handy
Military Protection- There's a lot of pork here but it's a worthy cause
Parks- Making life more pleasant
Social Security- Keeping you from having to support your elderly parents/grandparents.
Medical research- Hopefully, we can kick cancer before I'm old
College Aid-Most Americans wouldn't make it past high school without it.

I'm not here to argue that everything the government does is efficient or wise, but you have to consider all the good things you're getting before you bitch about taxes.  Federal Budget for 2006 is 2.6 trillion dollars, which comes to about $9,000 for each man, woman, and child. If you're not paying that much for each member of your family, you're getting a bargain.

What frustrates many is that except for military protection and social security, little of the large federal portion goes to any of the items on the list. The services like schools, parks, police and fire are the ones that affect more people in their daily lives, yet they are funded by the smaller state and local tax portion. Roads are paid for mostly by state and local dollars with some federal dollars. But those federal dollars are from the gas tax, not the income tax.

I'm not a big fan of any taxes, but I think state gas taxes and license fees are the fairest way to fund road construction and repair. It doesn't make sense that someone in say Oregon should pay income taxes to fund roads in Michigan or vice versa. In addition it makes sense that the people and legislators of Michigan have a better idea of what roadwork is required in Michigan than the U.S. congress. It makes sense to keep the funding and planning local rather than national. Also the gasoline tax tends to put the biggest burden on those who put the most wear and tear on the roads. So people who drive more and people with large heavy vehicles buy more gas and consequently pay more gas tax than others. That seems reasonable, almost like a user fee.

[dazzleman]

I think that you have to consider what you are getting for all your tax money.
Schools- Free Education for your children K-12
Roads- You couldn't get to work to make your money without them
Police protection- The cops suck when they're handing you a speeding ticket but you'd better thank Jesus they're there.
Fire Protection- Just might come in handy
Military Protection- There's a lot of pork here but it's a worthy cause
Parks- Making life more pleasant
Social Security- Keeping you from having to support your elderly parents/grandparents.
Medical research- Hopefully, we can kick cancer before I'm old
College Aid-Most Americans wouldn't make it past high school without it.

I'm not here to argue that everything the government does is efficient or wise, but you have to consider all the good things you're getting before you bitch about taxes.  Federal Budget for 2006 is 2.6 trillion dollars, which comes to about $9,000 for each man, woman, and child. If you're not paying that much for each member of your family, you're getting a bargain.

Most of what you mention isn't funded at the federal level, memphis.  In fact, only social security, medical research and college aid receive a significant amount of funding from the federal government, out of what you listed.  The rest is funded primarily at the local and state level.