Aye... greed is a bitch.

I do want services. But not all of the ones we get.

For instance I see a lot of greed and corruption in city and county govt.
And in the state...it's worse.
And when it hits federal level it's just out of control. Everybody is making money hand over fist at that level.

And it's all being taken from the people who actually earned it.

I don't want to be lobbing expensive cruise missiles at Libya. Or flying expensive fighter jets at millions of dollars a week over them either. But our tax money is being used to do that and to fill the coffers of arms dealers and munitions manufacturers.

In my jaded view...it's ALL about the money. Actual govt. services are essential. But not Nancy Pelosi flying around in a private jet while she was house speaker. Or Bush invading Iraq (or even Afghanistan...we didn't need to attack and occupy an entire country) or Obama now increasing our forces to occupy Afghanistan and now doing this in Libya while he was down in Brazil on the taxpayer dime.

Liberal!!!!! :upsidedow

For sure the local, state, fed - almost every person actually controlling something - are a bunch of bloated pigs screwing us all over, greatly.

And I'm not sure what the answer is. It sure does seem like that old "power corrupts" saying is 100% true.

And I think that no matter what a person's view on taxes or what their political persuasion is...I think we could definitely run all levels of govt. a lot better, cleaner, and cheaper and actually pay less taxes and have good schools and health care.

I just can't shake that feeling that everybody from the city all the way to the feds are stealing and kicking back and wasting.

I'd personally like to see a "one and done" constitutional amendment that would forbid everybody from dog catcher to president from running for more than one term. Maybe that would help stop all the corruption AND as a bonus a governor or mayor or president would actually do what they think is RIGHT instead of doing what they think is good politically.

I live in Panama, but you should know that moving here does not remove your tax liability.

Unless you are willing to renounce your citizenship -- making it hard then to travel back to the US -- you still have to pay Federal taxes.

And, if you don't have another passport, you are taking a huge risk.

:2 cents:

Oh of course...I was talking about moving there and then opening a new company there and operating under that company. I'd still be a US citizen and pay taxes on what I pay myself...which wouldn't be much heh-heh

I heard an good idea, can't remember from who...... one year on, one year off... campaign while you're off and let things settle down that the person did.

It's so much greed today that now it feels like my tax dollars don't help the Country, me, you, the poor, or anyone or anything - it goes from my pocket straight into someone with a hell of a lot more money... crap is falling apart around us, and my local taxes go up, and shit is still falling apart - something is very wrong.

Republicans/Democrats = Same shit, different assholes.

What made me laugh is that you've made assumptions about who I am and what I'm about by reading a paragraph on a msg board. Whether I'm rich, poor or in the middle, we live in a capitalist society, and as long as we are capitalists, I personally stick behind my original post.

The fact is that people that pay less and live off of the government, OFTEN appreciate and TREAT their environment with far less respect than those in the higher tax brackets. The people that pay the most often utilize the system far less than those that pay the least.

Doc, I don't think cutting taxes to 50% of any social class is a good thing. You and I have discussed this kind of topic before, and you know that I'm a centrist for all intents and purposes.

Robbie, I am with you. Most of the taxes spent are handed out to the wrong sectors. With some funding and sector tweaks, and a little leveling of tax %s across all income levels, this country could see some improvement.