Putin: US is economic parasite on the global economy

[Viper1]

AnthonyW86 said:

Viper1 said:

AnthonyW86 said:
Time to raise those taxes, it's the only way. Taxes revenue off the U.S. is only about 25% of GDP, while most other developed countries like Germany, Great Brittain etc. are at around 40% GDP.(with the exeption of Japan). Based on the U.S. GDP of 14.7 trillion a year(yes their public debt is now 100% of their GDP) that difference of taxe revenue acounts for 2 trillion A YEAR. I know those two can't be swapped one on one that easily but it's clear it is something the government has to work on. Because a higher taxe revenue combined with the defense budget cut is really all they need to prevent the debt from increasing.

US corporate taxes are the highest in the world to make up the difference.  And do you really want to tax people in the middle of a recession?  Yeah, that'll make their lives easier.

Government is struggling to pay bills.
People are struggling to pay bills.

If the government can increase my taxes to pay their bills, can I hit up Uncle Sam for some money to pay mine?

That's not true, the taxe revenue number for the U.S. includes taxes at all levels, including corporate taxes. So taxe revenue overall of the U.S. really is alot lower compared to most other developed countries. And i was more thinking in the range of sales/consumption taxes. For example from what i know VAT averages around 6% in the U.S. compared to 16%-21% here in Western Europe, with the tax at 6% for primary needs like food and drinks(alcoholic drinks excluded) to relief the lowest incomes. These taxes make sense since overconsumptiom is one of the reasons the U.S. has such a high public debt in the first place.

Actually the taxe rate on ''damaging'' goods like alcohol in the U.S. is remarkebly low. For example here in the Netherlands the taxerate on alcoholic drinks is 19%(VAT) plus an additional taxes ranging from €0.33 per liter for beer to €5,26 per liter on strong alcohol(Great Brittian is at € 10,00 per liter). Taxes like these make sense because these product are damaging to your health, so cutting consumption means cutting on health expenses aswell. There are even countries with a junkfood taxe.

Did I not just say "corporate tax" is the highest in the world? 

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/36/Income_Taxes_By_Country.svg/800px-Income_Taxes_By_Country.svg.png

And if you include the state taxes, personal income tax for US citizens can be as high as the more socialized nations.  Live inthe wrong state and make too much money, and you get hit with 45% worth of income tax.

Now combine those 2 and you can see we get taxed (depending on the circumstance) with more income/revenue taxing that any other nation on Earth. 

I'll grant our sales tax (what Eurpeans call VAT) is usually lower.  And I too would much prefer we moved to a consumption tax system.