The United States spends $7.9 Trillion between Federal and State governments, including Social Security benefits. These spending programs are wrapped up into one in most other Nations. This amounts to 31.2% of all spending by governments worldwide. To put it another way, US governments spend more than next 4: Japan, China, Germany, and France combined and collects as much tax as Japan, China, and Germany, combined. Of 225 governments analyzed by the CIA world fact book, US governments collects more taxes than 208 governments combined, and spends more than 215 of them, combined, including Greece.
California alone, collects more taxes than all but 13 governments worldwide, and still can't balance its budget. The combined total of India's one billion people pay half as much as Californians do in taxes, and its government spends less than the booming Indian economy does.
The US Federal deficit alone could fund the Italian government, with a surplus, or Britain, or France, or even the 3rd biggest spending government in the world, Germany. There are 53 countries in the world that have a balanced budget, chief among them, Brazil, with a booming economy. The US deficit could fund all of them combined. The US Federal deficit alone is as much as China collects in revenue from its billion people.
Americans are paying enough taxes. 166.3 Million Americans are paying nearly $5 Trillion/year in taxes. That's 2.37% of the world's population of 7 Billion people paying 22.6% of all taxes collected in the world.
State and Federal governments are spending much more money than is necessary, or helpful. If spending or debt caused economic growth, then the US economy would be growing faster than any other in the world.
In the business and finance world there is such a term as "good debt," as well as "bad debt." Good debt is money borrowed that causes more money to come in than what is paid in interest to borrow the money. Good debt would be money borrowed to build the factory that produces the next major consumer item. In households, your mortgage would be considered "good debt," but a rental mortgage would be better debt (assuming you were profitably running the property.)
In economics, it is purported that you can grow an economy by one of two means: cut taxes or spend more. To an extent, that is true. A government that borrows money to provide transportation for goods from an industrial area to a port, will see that money returned exponentially, in new tax revenue. The government that borrows money to throw lavish parties for its bureacrats and politicians will see its debt grow without positive return. The government that borrows money to tear up a good road and build it again ("Stimulus" bill) will also see no positive return. It slows transportation temporarily, without adding any benefit.
Hence, the interstate system built by Eisenhower, as well as the Autobahn system built by Hitler, saw the economies boom and tax revenue spike. And yet Obama's "stimulus" spending that exceeded the spending of all but 8 governments in the world has done nothing to help the US economy.
Every dollar that the government takes from those that produce goods, decreases the amount that they can use to produce more things. You can't run a government, or protect those producers, without taxes, but the government should not take money from the producers without providing necessary services in return. It should not tax, just because it can. Spending for the sake of spending is wrongheaded, and in this case, theft.
China provides an example of the kind of deficit spending that is beneficial to economic growth. It spends about 4.8% more than it collects from its people, but has done so to modernize its military, and to expand its infrastructure, including transportation, ports, and energy production. It was expanding its infrastructure to such a great extent that worldwide copper and concrete prices soared, as well as oil prices. When it doesn't see double digit economic growth, financial markets see it as a downturn.
And Communist China is buying up America, while American consumers are buying their cheaply made goods. Communist China is loaning money to American politicians, so they can keep forcing American factories overseas, to China.
Temporarily, the Federal government is paying very little interest rates on that Debt. When those interest rates return to "normal," the deficit and debt will truly balloon.
The US government is spending more money than 95.6% of all the governments in the world. Not spending enough money is not the problem. Not enough taxation is not the problem. Americans are paying more than 92.4% of world's governments are collecting. 2.4% of the world's population (American workers) are paying 22.6% of the taxes collected in the world. It is time to return to the Constitutional limits of what the Federal government can do. It is time to cut spending to what is Constitutional. It is time to end pork spending. It is time to quit spending by Congress and the President that we don't have and can't afford to pay the interest on.
Stumble It!
