Europe Tax Model Delivers Much More - SacBee

[WillyT]

Europe tax model delivers much more
By Steven Hill
Special to The Bee
Published: Thursday, Apr. 15, 2010 - 12:00am


<snip>

A few years ago, an American acquaintance of mine who lives in Sweden told me that, quite by chance, he and his Swedish wife were in New York City and ended up sharing a limousine to the theater district with a southern senator and his wife. This senator, a conservative, anti-tax Democrat, asked my acquaintance about Sweden and swaggeringly commented about "all those taxes the Swedes pay."

To which this American replied, "The problem with Americans and their taxes is that we get nothing for them." He then told the senator about the comprehensive services and benefits that Swedes receive.

"If Americans knew what Swedes receive for their taxes, we would probably riot," he told the senator. The rest of the ride to the theater district was unsurprisingly quiet.

The fact is, in return for their taxes, Europeans are receiving a generous support system for families and individuals for which Americans must pay exorbitantly, out-of-pocket, if we are to receive it at all. That includes quality health care for every single person, the average cost of which is about half of what Americans pay, even as various studies show that Europeans achieve healthier results.

That's not all. In return for their taxes, Europeans also receive affordable child care, a decent retirement pension, free or inexpensive university education, job retraining, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, ample vacations, affordable housing, senior care, efficient mass transportation and more.

To get the same level of benefits as Europeans, most Americans fork out a ton of money in out-of-pocket payments, in addition to taxes.

<snip>

More: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/04/15/2679568/europe-tax-model-delivers-much.html#storylink=omni_popular

:kick:

[laughingliberal]

1. Yep. Empire is expensive. No money left for people. nt

[mistertrickster]

6. Exactly right, half the taxes go to the military. nt

[dkf]

2. Half this country doesn't pay taxes. They are getting a better deal than the Europeans.

[inna]

3. "a better deal than the Europeans"??

Uh, have you even attempted to read the article?

[uppityperson]

4. Sales tax, car tax, property tax, etc etc etc

[Bigmack]

10. Surely you forgot the :sarcasm:...

icon.

They don't pay taxes because they don't make enough money. If they don't make enough money to pay taxes, they sure as hell don't have enough money for any of the stuff the Swedes get in return for their taxes. More and more people aren't making enough to pay taxes. That means they can't buy shit, either. Goodbye consumer economy!

Nobody here gets a better deal.

[onehandle]

5. Well, at least we have guns.

What is the America that they (teabaggers) claim to represent if it ignores majority rule, tries to invalidate Democratic non-contested elections, and believes in guns over discussion. - Keith Olbermann

[Overseas]

7. K&R ! //nt

[underpants]

8. WE ar getting ripped off

read "Perfetly Legal"

[WillyT]

9. Yes We Are... And Some Are Going To Use Deficit Reduction To Continue Doing So...

:shrug: