Look at it this way:urnoodle wrote: As I previously mentioned I don't have children, however, I pay the exact same ISD tax as a neighbor who has the same size house with the same value but who has 4 children using the public school system. I've heard the argument that I should invest in the future by helping to provide an education to children who will be contributing to the future economy. Everyone needs to invest in that future but my burden should not be more than that of the parents of those children.
When you were a kid, some neighbor who didn't have kids helped pay for your education. You're not so much paying for your neighbors 4 kids as you are helping pay for the education that was afforded to you.
Kids are expensive. Really expensive. Although there is an income tax deduction, it doesn't make up in what parents have to contribute to the economy. You're not subsidizing all of it.
As someone who didn't used to have kids.. I get it.. Trust me.
I thought this would be an discussion on the "constitutionality" of taxation. It's nice to see that the discussion is reasonable and that people recognize that the money has to come from somewhere. I'd love an alternate tax system. Our tax system is so radically complicated that it's ridiculous. Even the property tax system is setup so it's pretty unfair if you don't stay on top of it.
I like the idea of a flat tax or fair tax. However, if you tax my purchases at 15% it's going to provide a lot of motivation for me to start buying things that don't have taxes collected on them.
The other problem with it is that tax revenues move with the economy. People stop spending in hard times and that's usually when spending on social programs has to go up.