On Thu, 7 Sep 2017 05:42:07 -0700 (PDT), robobass
wrote:

You guys and your taxes... I really don't know how my income tax compares to yours exactly, but for a middle class guy like me I think it is about the same. Maybe a bit more, but we pay much less in property taxes. But, instead of making war and funding prisons with the money, the Germans subsidize preschool, so we don't pay for it additionally out of our own pocket.

Looking at several sources, I think you're right, they're similar.


There is quite a lot of stuff which gets taken care of by the state, so much less comes out of your own pocket. Trump's America could never adopt that model though, even if they agreed that it would benefit them. You guys are leading the human race into an early grave.

Yeah, if we got rid of paying for wars (including Iraq, Afghanistan,
Syria, NK, and the Wars on Poverty, Terror, and Trump, we'd do a lot
better. Also, paring off about 75% of our unnecessary governmental
structure, just that change could pay for healthcare and better
schooling.


VAT and Sales tax? I also don't know the difference. I don't think there is one.

I believe VAT is added at every step of manufacture, while sales tax
is only on retail sales. We have no sales tax in Oregon, but it's
about 10.25% in California where my family still lives.

--
Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplacable spark.

In the hopeless swamps of the not quite, the not yet, and
the not at all, do not let the hero in your soul perish
and leave only frustration for the life you deserved, but
never have been able to reach.

The world you desire can be won, it exists, it is real,
it is possible, it is yours.
-- Ayn Rand