[macintologist]

Let's say that the federal government stopped forcing Americans to pay for this war, and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause. Let's pretend there was a section on this year's 1040 that let you put down an amount.

How much would you give? What percentage of your annual income?

[dcmacdaddy]

none for me.

It's not our job to bring/give/offer freedom to Iraq or to other countries around the world. However, if given a choice of countries as well as a choice of percentages--and if I had to choose, opting out was not a choice--I would offer 3-5% for two years for US troops to fight in Sudan to bring an end to the violence in Darfur. But choosing to give money to help Iraqis, nope. I think the people in Sudan then and now now are worse off then the people of Iraq then (while Saddam was in power).

[mac128k-1984]

Like every other section in the 1040 that requests a donation,i.e., president election fund, I opt for 0.

[macintologist]

Come on war hawks... show yourselves

[tie]

I'm accepting donations from the war hawks to cover my taxes due to the Iraq war that they so strongly support. I'm looking to raise about $20,000. PM me if interested. $1000 minimum please.

[Sky Captain]

Does becoming a mercenary count?

[Buckaroo]

Well, I didn't read you comment before I voted, but I was going to say none, because I'm already paying. I see that I goofed.

[macintologist]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

Let's say the federal government stop forcing Americans to pay any taxes, and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause.

How much would you give?

Not very much. I have health insurance, so I wouldn't donate to Medicare. I don't own a car, so I wouldn't donate to road maintenance. I go to a private college, so I wouldn't donate to public education. I have a job so I wouldn't donate to welfare. I can't really tell you what I'd donate to, honestly.

[Captain Obvious]

I want the portion of the 28% of my income I pay that funds welfare programs, insurance subsidies, and farmers that grow corn for ethanol to go to the military. Or if the Feds wish it can go to euthanize the obese who are no longer able to care for themselves.

[Railroader]

I'll repost my previous statement in the other thread almost exactly the same as this one:

Let's say that the federal government stopped forcing Americans to pay for all university research funding and road/railway maintenance and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause.

How much would you give?

Why stop there.

How about: Let's say the federal government stop forcing Americans to pay any taxes, and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause.

How much would you give?

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by macintologist 

Not very much. I have health insurance, so I wouldn't donate to Medicare.

Ahhh you don't care about the elderly who are unable to work anymore or the downtrodden who can't affford basic medical coverage?

Originally Posted by macintologist 

I don't own a car, so I wouldn't donate to road maintenance.

You don't use public transportation or ever go on a road at all?!?! I find that hard to believe.

Originally Posted by macintologist 

I go to a private college, so I wouldn't donate to public education.

You do realize not everyone can afford an education if they had to pay for it themselves? Where did you go to elementary school? Public?

You do realize that very little in the way of technological and medical advancements have come from private schools right? Mostly just politicians, lawyers, and religious instructors.

Originally Posted by macintologist 

I have a job so I wouldn't donate to welfare.

You don't realize that those two are unrelated do you?

Originally Posted by macintologist 

I can't really tell you what I'd donate to, honestly.

How about infrastructure for utilities, parks, development of medical advancements, communications, homeland security, local police forces keeping the "undesirables" out of your gated community, building code inspectors, transportation safety standards... far too many to list.

[macintologist]

Originally Posted by Railroader 

I'll repost my previous statement in the other thread almost exactly the same as this one:

Let's say that the federal government stopped forcing Americans to pay for all university research funding and road/railway maintenance and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause.

How much would you give?

Why stop there.

How about: Let's say the federal government stop forcing Americans to pay any taxes, and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause.

How much would you give?

Like I said above: Not very much. I have health insurance, so I wouldn't donate to Medicare. I don't own a car, so I wouldn't donate to road maintenance. I go to a private college, so I wouldn't donate to public education. I have a job so I wouldn't donate to welfare. I can't really tell you what I'd donate to, honestly.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by macintologist 

Like I said above: Not very much. I have health insurance, so I wouldn't donate to Medicare. I don't own a car, so I wouldn't donate to road maintenance. I go to a private college, so I wouldn't donate to public education. I have a job so I wouldn't donate to welfare. I can't really tell you what I'd donate to, honestly.

I only posted that because you quoted me from a different thread.

Now answer the post after that.

[BRussell]

Originally Posted by macintologist 

Let's say that the federal government stopped forcing Americans to pay for this war

Let's say? We don't have to be hypothetical about that aspect of your poll, because that's exactly what's happening now - we're not paying for the war with taxes. We got tax cuts and a ludicrously expensive war! It's Republiconomics!

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by macintologist 

Let's say that the federal government stopped forcing Americans to pay for this war, and instead each individual was given the choice to donate any amount of money they wanted to the cause. Let's pretend there was a section on this year's 1040 that let you put down an amount.

How much would you give? What percentage of your annual income?

Following the current operational plan? 0%

Following Doof's Patented Iraq Peace Plan? 80% ish.

And I have no idea what a 1040 is unless it also says "Atari" on it.

[mac1896]

I'll give 'em my social security money (SSI deduction from paycheck).

It's certain that I'll never see it again anyway.......

[tie]

Not very much. I have health insurance, so I wouldn't donate to Medicare. I don't own a car, so I wouldn't donate to road maintenance. I go to a private college, so I wouldn't donate to public education. I have a job so I wouldn't donate to welfare. I can't really tell you what I'd donate to, honestly.

[Krusty]

I would donate 0 but , as BRussell has astutely pointed out, nobody has paid for this war yet. The whole thing is on credit (unlike every major war in our history which required the issuance of war bonds, a tax increase, or both). I absolutely can't fathom the people who support both this war AND the tax decrease. It's simple math really, if we don't pay for things as we go along, we're just digging ourselves a bigger and bigger hole for the future. Clinton and the Republican "contract with America" Congress in the 90s are the only ones who have given a $hit about fundamental economic principles in the last 27 years and actually turned the budget around and created surplusses to start paying down our debt. Reagan, Bush I and Bush II all seem absolutely hell-bent on running us into massive credit hole for some inexplicable reason ... it almost looks intentional in its wanton disregard for economics.
Bottom line. If this war costs $200 billion/year then each and every one of us should be willing to pay 10% more in taxes in order to fund it (that's roughly the amount it has increased the total budget). If you are not willing to have 10% more of your check go toward paying for this war, then your "support" of it is little more than hot air. Instead, working Americans got a minor (3-8%) tax decrease while corporations and "dead" money from capital gains enjoyed double digit tax reductions even as the war and its costs escalated.

With regards to other people's statements about not wanting to pay for this or that specific thing, that sounds fine in theory but doesn't work in practice. I don't have kids ... so why am I paying for public education? I drive to work, so why am I subsidizing public transportation ? I work for a living, so why am I paying to give "exploration" subsidies to oil companies that are setting world record after world record for profits already ? Point is, anything that is in the interest of the nation as a whole is something that we should all chip in on whether we directly use it right now or not ... its part of the infrastructure that facilitates your life whether you think it does directly or not.

As a general rule of thumb (though this varies somewhat based on your salary, and how "privatized" your upbringing was):
If you are under your lower 30s, you have barely even begun to pay your share of the infrastructure you have enjoyed growing up. The road your parents took to take you to Chuck E Cheese when you were 8 was provided by the people that came before you and you didn't even start paying for it until your first job that paid more than the standard deduction and personal exemption Many people work in high school and college but a LOT of them don't break the minimum threshold to actually pay taxes until they are out of school.

If you are between your lower 30s and 55 or 60, you are paying far more than your fair share no matter how you slice it. Your incomes are higher and your taxes pile up higher and higher the more money you make,

If you are are retirement age, you are probably living off some combination of your own savings and Social Security. Most people, even wealthy ones, still collect their SS even if they don't really need to. Almost none actually just voluntarily give it up. But, SS/FICA tax is probably the fairest tax on the planet. Its not related in any way to the normal income tax. It's paid for by wage earners and returned to them proportionally to what they put in ... not proportional to need. If you are self-employed, you can opt not to pay it. And you don't pay it on capital gains or other investments ... its strictly paid as a percentage of wages.

[tie]

Krusty, the war stimulates economic expansion. Therefore, the more the war costs, the more we are saving. Just like lowering taxes raises more money than having higher taxes. I love Republican economic principles; we should cut taxes to zero and invade North Korea and Iran, too.

[wgscott]

"How many of your children would you be willing to donate?" might be a more pertinent question.

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by Krusty 

I would donate 0 but , as BRussell has astutely pointed out, nobody has paid for this war yet. The whole thing is on credit (unlike every major war in our history which required the issuance of war bonds, a tax increase, or both). I absolutely can't fathom the people who support both this war AND the tax decrease. It's simple math really, if we don't pay for things as we go along, we're just digging ourselves a bigger and bigger hole for the future. Clinton and the Republican "contract with America" Congress in the 90s are the only ones who have given a $hit about fundamental economic principles in the last 27 years and actually turned the budget around and created surplusses to start paying down our debt. Reagan, Bush I and Bush II all seem absolutely hell-bent on running us into massive credit hole for some inexplicable reason ... it almost looks intentional in its wanton disregard for economics.

You seem to be under the impression that the money spent on this war is actually going out of America, like the country's spending it at a shop or something.

The vast majority of the money spent on the war gets pumped straight back into the economy.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by wgscott 

"How many of your children would you be willing to donate?" might be a more pertinent question.

Fallacy. No one donates their children. No one.

BTW I am testing something..

[Nicko]

lol, endless war helps the economy. Sounds like someone has been reading 1984 a bit too much.

In other news, China owns your asses.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by Nicko 

lol, endless war helps the economy.

Endless?

Everything has an end.

[Railroader]

Originally Posted by Nicko 

In other news, China owns your asses.

Please try to stay on topic and not intentionally derail. It is against the rules.

I've often found that when someone's argument is weak the chances of them attempting to derail a thread increases exponentially.

Macintologist: Where are you?!?! Other than repeating yourself you have been avoiding a thread where people have called you on your outrageous statements. If I were you I'd come back and address them. You tend to do this a lot and I find it annoying.