"We're the highest-paid narrow-body (jet) pilots in the free world," he said...

[Obi-Wan]

Well, I've got to ask you the same question. If Europe's social programs are so great how come Americans aren't sneaking over the borders to work there?

So those taxes...that 50-60%, I guess that wasn't out of their own pocket? By the way what you are referring to is known as Socialism. Taking money from the productive members of society and redistributing it. The only people that aren't paying for medical care with THEIR OWN money in this program are the ones who don't work. It would take way too much time to explain why socialized medicine is a bad thing and leads to worse care for all involved, but make no mistake about it, big government social programs are bad. Just look at what a great job the federal government has done managing your money so far, and you want to give more to them?

By the way, those tax dollars you pay on your income right now just about cover the interest on the national debt. That's right, they don't even pay for any of the awesome government programs we enjoy right now. The only way to save this country and provide the job stability that we all want is to vote the crooks out of Washington. Once we get some honest people in control of Congress, we can pay off some of the debt we have and stabilize our economy. Please don't vote for more government spending and programs. I am not trying to stomp on your opinion here, I just think it's important to think about the implications of such programs.

The reson arent arent sneaking over there is that they dont give out amnesty like we do. Also, in Europe you wont become a citizen by the mere fact that you were born there. They have much tougher immigration rules and protect their workers.
it is also a myth that they pay more in income taxes. The 50% that you hear includes many other taxes such sales taxes, etc.. and the %50 is still inflated.
The main reason they have more money for social programs is that they dont spend the majority of their income on the military (just a fact, Im not saying if its wrong or right). i also dont know if socialism is all that bad if it means having the standard of living they have in northern Europe not to mention more social and political freedoms.

 

[Patriot328]

Bill Gates was the richest guy in the world about ten years ago....We know that he still is.....

That's going to change very soon...

http://www.forbes.com/home/business/2007/04/11/billionaires-helu-telecom-biz-cz_hc_0411helu.html

 

[Benhuntn]

The reason we have a viable military and we are paying for it is because it is in our constitution. All this other bs we pay for...education, welfare, medicare, etc is not in the constitution and should belong to the states. Our liberal judges have seen fit to add this to our federal tax base. The Europeans are taxing themselves to death with or with the military. A tax is a tax whether it is income, sales, gas, value added, or use....

 

[Lear70]

The reason we have a viable military and we are paying for it is because it is in our constitution. All this other bs we pay for...education, welfare, medicare, etc is not in the constitution and should belong to the states. Our liberal judges have seen fit to add this to our federal tax base. The Europeans are taxing themselves to death with or with the military. A tax is a tax whether it is income, sales, gas, value added, or use....

Well, I look at it this way:

I pay up to 33% of my income in tax. I then pay 9.25% sales tax. I then pay out the WAZOO for gas taxes (there's about 7 of them). Not to mention every time I buy a car, boat, or motorcycle, even a used one, I get charged 7% sales tax (also referred to as double-taxation).

All-in-all, I pay, on average, right around 45% of my income in taxes, get no medical benefits from the government, have no way to qualify for any of the programs that my taxes are paying for, and really have few social freedoms that I actually USE than our progressive European neighbors.

And people wonder why so many people are getting snagged for tax evasion? It's more than likely because most of us believe that this country unfairly over-taxes its citizens with little benefit received back.

Do we need a military? Absolutely. Do we need a welfare system for people who are TRULY disabled? Of course. Do we need medical insurance for kids and the elderly (medicare, etc)? No doubt. Do we need all the other crap programs such as long-term unemployment assistance, welfare and food stamps based on how many kids you have so that the more kids, the more money, etc?

Absolutely not. The spending in this country is out of control, and there's no good options for reigning it in. Personally, I'd happily sign a waiver giving up all possibility of receiving future benefits from any of those programs in order to stop paying half the taxes I pay now. I could invest that money and make more than the government would EVER pay out, including Social Security,,, but that's another subject, so don't get me started.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

Lear70 -

At least you know what ur talking about! Glad to see that at least some people on FI have seen more of this world other then their home state.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

Lear70 -

Clean up your inbox!

 

[ivauir]

I know SWA is a great company to work for, I just like to bash it every chance I get, even if it doesn't make any sense.

I think I have a new signature ....

 

[knelis]

KLM 73 captains get 180.000 Euro's a year (1 Euro = 1.30 USD)... widebody captains get up to 230.000 Euro a year.

FD

yes but they pay more tax, so in the end this is a wash

 

[(HCDAW)]

Well, I look at it this way:

I pay up to 33% of my income in tax. I then pay 9.25% sales tax. I then pay out the WAZOO for gas taxes (there's about 7 of them). Not to mention every time I buy a car, boat, or motorcycle, even a used one, I get charged 7% sales tax (also referred to as double-taxation).

All-in-all, I pay, on average, right around 45% of my income in taxes, get no medical benefits from the government, have no way to qualify for any of the programs that my taxes are paying for, and really have few social freedoms that I actually USE than our progressive European neighbors.

And people wonder why so many people are getting snagged for tax evasion? It's more than likely because most of us believe that this country unfairly over-taxes its citizens with little benefit received back.

Do we need a military? Absolutely. Do we need a welfare system for people who are TRULY disabled? Of course. Do we need medical insurance for kids and the elderly (medicare, etc)? No doubt. Do we need all the other crap programs such as long-term unemployment assistance, welfare and food stamps based on how many kids you have so that the more kids, the more money, etc?

Absolutely not. The spending in this country is out of control, and there's no good options for reigning it in. Personally, I'd happily sign a waiver giving up all possibility of receiving future benefits from any of those programs in order to stop paying half the taxes I pay now. I could invest that money and make more than the government would EVER pay out, including Social Security,,, but that's another subject, so don't get me started.

Lear 70, I couldn't agree more with you on the fact that we are taxed to death and it is not right. You should check out "America: Freedom to Fascism" on youtube, it explores the constitutionality of the income tax in the US among other things. I found it very interesting.

I too would love nothing more than to get the money I am paying into Social Security every month, we all know we will never see it again.

I even agree that we need to have a system that takes care of those less fortunate in this country. I just favor a system that utilizes the free market to provide those services. If we weren't taxed to death, compassionate people like you and I would be willing to give to charity more regularly. Those charities would take care of the people in need better and more efficiently. At a minimum it should be left to the local or state governments. I think the worst thing we could do is give more control to the Federal Government, our Constitution was set up to prevent us from doing that.

I didn't mean to turn this into a political discussion, but it is interesting. By the way there is a candidate running for President who has a plan to eliminate the IRS and income taxes all together while reigning in Gov't spending http://www.ronpaul2008.com Good luck trying to get any information about him or any of the other non "Top Tier" candidates through the biased mainstream media.

 

[Flyingdutchman]

Right on buddy! happy to see at least 2 people have brains on FI !

FD