Why is it that those who take from Government Entitlement don't have to pay taxes, whereas I have to pay taxes? I get that it is the only way to actually pay for entitlement, but Zero > Negative. If a neither take nor give, does it make me a bad person or something? How can I get out of income tax without sucking from Welfare?
busterwasmycat
the main issue, I find, is that those who dislike welfare tend to look at welfare recipients as people who choose to be poor. I do not know anyone that chooses to be poor. I have known people that make a choice for some minor benefit and the price of that is poverty. That is, a person that is marginal in the first place might choose to not work because they will receive benefits (say, child assistance benefits) that, when compared to earning money and paying for the child with those earnings, will actually work out to be about the same financial condition. Thus, without a major change in finances, they get to be a stay-at-home parent. I don't particularly like that, but I can actually understand the thinking. They are already poor anyway and there is no real benefit to working minimum wage when they can live about the same condition not working..
But most people really dislike being poor. Being poor sucks. You make it sound as though welfare is some great thing that people are dying to get. I don't see it that way at all.
We could argue that perhaps the benefits of welfare are too high, or that we should make it so that the working poor can actually earn enough money that it makes working worthwhile financially, but declaring that welfare recipients are taking your hard earned money because they are lazy and good for nothing is a load of BS. I have no doubt that some are lazy and good for nothing, just as I have no doubt that some people with loads of money are greedy cheats that have essentially stolen from the gullible, and other rich are just plain lucky just as some poor are just plain unlucky.
welfare-level poverty is not a fun way to live.
Max Hoopla
Government entitlements include pensions and Social Security which are subject to income tax. The also include various kinds of welfare for which taxing makes no sense because if they were taxable they would have to be increased by enough to cover the tax. If you had been awake during the biggest non-taxable government entitlement of all, public school, you wouldn't have to ask the question.
?
You're making at least two incorrect assumptions.
Assumption one is that low income people, who have a lower income tax burden, "take" less from the government. That's not necessarily true.
Your other incorrect assumption is that income taxes are meant to punish. They're not. They're meant to pay for government spending. Taxing wealthier people more makes sense because that's where the money is and because the taxes will have less of an impact on their economic health than they would on poorer people.
Ms. Spam
I feel the same way about all that medicare and social security tax is taken out of my check. It's not a benefit I am enjoying now but there are others that do get my money now.
Remember that even if they work part-time or minimum wage jobs they are still paying taxes. They live on less than many others do. These benefits are not kingly, regardless of media hype stories about people who abuse the system.
dm_felionous
Anyone who has a job in the US pays taxes. They may receive a refund on their income taxes but they still pay other taxes on every paycheck they receive. They pay taxes on gas when they fill their tank. They pay taxes on items that they purchase from a store. They pay taxes on things that our state or federal government considers bad like alcohol and tobacco. Whether or not they receive some sort of government assistance has nothing to do with whether they pay taxes.
As far as income tax goes, the people with the least provide the least. Taxing them more just means our government will be more likely to have to support them with assistance. People think welfare is charity. I guess that's a nice way of looking at it but the fact is, welfare is more about stability. If we let people struggle they are more likely to commit crime. How many people do you honestly think will be content to watch their kids starve to death rather than steal food? And really would you respect a father who did let his kids starve if he could do anything to stop it? Simple fact is there are fewer jobs in the US than people available to work. About 40 million fewer according to our own governments data reports. Regardless of whether people are willing or unwilling to work, some will go without a job simply because there isn't one for them and all the willingness in the world won't change that. Paying them welfare is cheaper than locking them in a prison. A welfare recipient on average cost us about 9,000 a year. A prisoner on average cost us about 40,000 a year. Think about it, they get fully supported as well as guarded in a large expensive facility. Like most decisions our government makes, it isn't about whats fair. It's about math.