If we privatized education, what would keep primary/secondary schools from falling into the same bullshit that Universities have fallen into? Even with a decent amount of government assistance for a lot of schools, tuitions in the Unites States are still ludicrous. The current schooling system would not survive as privatized because it would just be a money drain, and tuitions would be required. This seems like it would just punish the poor even more and be a huge blow to reestablishing the middle class and encouraging upward mobility.

The same problems lie with privitization in other areas, because many necessities aren't directly profitable in addition to problems with the greedy nature of businesses.

I somehow struggle to see privitization as a panacea...

To be fair the price of U.S. medical services is incredibly inflated next to other economies. The costs to make healthcare more easily available through public services (not "free", as the average laymen prefer to call anything covered by taxes spending) would be massive without adressing this issue first - on which  medical and pharmaceutical greed likely play a huge part.

Yep. Government taxes you for buying something, then taxes you for owning it, and then taxes you when your children inherit it.

If I believed that these govt. leaders weren't just in this to increase their own powerbase I'd trust this stuff a lot more.  People are so easily fooled into thinking people are outsiders to politics even with people like Obama who has spent his life in politics playing the same game as the rest of them.  

I don't mind if someone like Bill Gates is outrageously rich because he founded a company that employs tens of thousands of people and runs devices that make all our lives easier.  He changed the world.  Now that's not to say that everyone has earned their money in those legit ways and they should certainly be taxed more but not enough to scare entrepenuers and such away from the US into a country that won't tax them and their business as much.

If I believed that these govt. leaders weren't just in this to increase their own powerbase I'd trust this stuff a lot more.  People are so easily fooled into thinking people are outsiders to politics even with people like Obama who has spent his life in politics playing the same game as the rest of them.  

I don't mind if someone like Bill Gates is outrageously rich because he founded a company that employs tens of thousands of people and runs devices that make all our lives easier.  He changed the world.  Now that's not to say that everyone has earned their money in those legit ways and they should certainly be taxed more but not enough to scare entrepenuers and such away from the US into a country that won't tax them and their business as much.

Why is it news when things cost more in Europe than in the US? We don't have incredibly high taxes. This is something new for the US.

I don't live in Europe.

And? I didn't say you did.

You see complaints about the price differences, etc pretty often. It has everything to do with taxes in those regions. If that can warrant complaint, then the first time a city tries to do something completely new that could affect video game prices, then it's noteworthy.

You were replying to me and mentioned prices in Europe, so I thought you were assuming I live in Europe.

I thought consumption taxes were very common in US states and cities as the principle means for states and cities to get tax revenue. Shouldn't all video game prices be subject to those taxes in the states where consumption taxes are used? Doesn't seem like news to me that a consumption tax is being applied to a service when I imagine consumption taxes are being applied to other services in Chigago / Illinois. As people have observed, they already pay tax for their internet service, so it's not such a new phenomenon as people make out.

The taxes you pay for internet service are not a full 9% and typically not on the entire cost of the service. The ISPs only charge you tax because they have local offices and teams in said city or state that would owe tax to the state they do business in.

Digital services have no people or no offices that would subject to taxes. No one pays taxes on Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, PSN, XBL, etc. unless they have an office or distribution center in your state.