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This is what most esteemed posters here don't get. And it's not only the health insurance. Daycare, education, maternity leave, etc.
What neither side seems to "get", is that benefits are of benefit to those who use them, whereas taxes are levied upon everyone who earns. So if I'm a single-person with no children or elderly parents, then I gain nothing from free daycare, education, family-leave and so on. If I die before an age of senescence and decrepitude, I gain little or nothing from Medicare or Social Security.
There are some public goods, of which we all benefit. These include clean air, secure borders, a stable currency, paved roads and so on. But there are many public goods for which the benefits are narrow. A stark example is that of access ramps to public buildings, accommodating wheelchairs. These are of prime importance to handicapped people, but for the able-bodied they not only don't add value, but actually remove it, because the occupy real-estate that could have been used for something else. Does this mean that we should tell the handicapped to go [expletive] themselves? Well, probably not, or at least not entirely. But we do have to be mindful of the cost, borne by all taxpayers, and in this case benefitting only a small minority.
So the essence of the question is, to what extent should we be taxing everybody, for things that only benefit a portion of the population. What is the best tradeoff? Europe, it seems, places the trade-off far towards higher tax and higher benefit. America does less so.
I'm talking about today, not during a time where America didn't earn a rep for meddling into other countries' affairs while being hyper individualistic at the expense of society.
Why would Swedes want to come here considering their country is 7th happiest in the world?
You said that people come here because we de-stabilize their nations, as though that were the only reason people would come to the US. But OK, we'll talk about today. What horrible things have we done to India to make them want to immigrate to the US today?
Btw, I have a Swedish immigrant friend here in Boston and he seems to be pretty happy.
You said that people come here because we de-stabilize their nations, as though that were the only reason people would come to the US. But OK, we'll talk about today. What horrible things have we done to India to make them want to immigrate to the US today?
Btw, I have a Swedish immigrant friend here in Boston and he seems to be pretty happy.
Swedes who move here also have better economic outcomes. Well I guess that's what happens when you're not paying 55% taxes on every dollar of income past $60k and 25% VAT.
Just imagine how you'd feel if literally everything you see at the store costs 25% more. You'd hear Let's Go Brandon (the uncensored version) across the country.
Only in America would people rather give up 25% of their paycheck for health insurance and out of pocket medical cost instead of 5% of their paychecks for a government run, single payer system.
I don't understand you lefties, you want corporations pay their "fair share", we now have a system where corporations pay for more than 50% of the medical tab in this country and you want to relieve them of that???
I don't understand you lefties, you want corporations pay their "fair share", we now have a system where corporations pay for more than 50% of the medical tab in this country and you want to relieve them of that???
Btw, I pay less than 4% for excellent insurance.
I pay 0% for my excellent insurance. So excellent I'm planning to downgrade to a HDHP....then I'll be paying -1.5%.
And you'd rather put it in the hands of people who profit off of sick people to the point our nation has $140 billion in medical debt ALONG WITH the highest per capita health care spending of any country on earth. Stop buying the propaganda.
Everyone profits off sick people in the healthcare sytem, including those in government run healthcare systems. It's called "pay".
Their high taxes, unlike ours, are going to stuff that personally benefits them. It's not like people who make $40000 are literally getting half taken out of their check.
Maybe, depends on the country. The high tax rates start at startling low incomes and are very flat from there. Plus the 20%+ VAT everyone pays.
Their tax probably works out less than your tax and health insurance
The point that keeps getting glossed over and needs repeating over and over until it finally sinks in; the word "freedom" being bandied about, also encompasses the "freedom" to not have to worry about being able to afford paying for necessary, life saving healthcare. It is also about you or your employer paying for insurance but, you and your family not getting to use any of it until you also pay huge deductibles, co-pays and perhaps even suffer denials of coverage due to some fine print.
Apparently this is a point they are unaware of, in spite of well over 50% of them admitting to denying themselves and their families the routine pre-emptive doctor's visits due to what it might cost them.
Affordable and universally available healthcare, is a topic Americans should steer clear of when attempting to use it as a measure of superior freedoms or lifestyle.
Europe hasn’t grown against inflation in like 2 generations. 50 years ago they had 8 of the largest 25 companies in the world they now have 0. No thanks. Aim higher.
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