Fees or Taxes
rladew ridicules the <a href="http://localhost/drupal/altserver/node/1867#comment-11190">fees</a> paid by MA residents who want to convert their NH driver's license to a MA driver's license.
In a perfect world, this would be free, I suppose. However, it does take someone's time (hence money) to process that transaction. Maybe rladew doesn't believe in driver's licenses either. I think they're useful to have, and we should pay the state to maintain them.
Either we found government adequately through taxes, or we charge user fees for everything. Our society is moving to more and more user fees, maybe that choice has already been maybe. Maybe that choice has already been made for us via shrinking state funding from the federal government. You can't be anti-tax and anti-fee. As I've said before, the model for those types of countries are not the ones I would like to live in.
---
Maybe a private agency could process the transaction described above for less than $100. Would you trust that private agency with that information? I'm sure they could do it for less if they are allowed to use the information they collect in any way they see fit.
I guess it's a moot point, becuase our private information, collected by the government, gets sold and resold by private companies anyway.
YOU BETCHA!
_______________________________
One of the only taxes I would advocate would be a gasoline tax to get rid of the tollbooths.
The Pike gets so backed up around the route 84 connection where I get off, that on several Friday, Saturday, and Sundays during peak hours the toll takers just wave people through for free to keep things moving.
Hell, and when you do get charged most if it will just get siphoned to a bloated leaky Big Dig 60 miles away from me....
you can't win...
_______________________________
_______________________________
So perhaps the private sector should perform governmental duties! I suppose a private sector army is out of the question (as I've proposed before), but licensing boards, post office construction, road building, etc...
Great idea, right? I think so. Let the market dictate the job you and your taxes pay for, and get better work at a better price!
Too bad Bush/Cheney handed out tens of billions of our tax dollars to companies on No-bid contracts to friends (disregard your opinion on the Iraq invasion, right or wrong), while creating the large$t government in 50 years (tax percentage of GDP).
We all sound like a big happy bunch of Kerry supporters... Why didn't he win again...?
---
The state income taxes generated in Boston pays for state services west of Worcester.
_______________________________
What's the cost of getting a brand new driver's license?
_______________________________
"Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidise it."
Ronald Reagan
Im sure we all have our own definitions of what necessary and reasonable mean.
Im just trying to point out that when a govt has a program in place, making sure it is adequately funded is one thing. What about looking at strategies such as efficiency, productivity, and preventative maintenance? Those are all strategies that can be used that dont necessarily require a continual and escalated yearly money flow. Throwing money at a problem IS one solution: Im just making an argument that govts should consider ALL potential solutions.
You're right, TGL. An ideology won't solve the problem. If anything, we need an ever changing mix of different ideologies when looking at complex municipal issues.
I dont see $100 conversion fees as a fair exchange. I feel like looking at other ways to secure info across state lines where the efficiency savings could be passed on to the consumer. Do I want a drivers license for free? Do I think state workers arent important? absolutely not. I just want to be treated fairly, and (even If Im wrong about this, which I could very well be) I feel like Im getting hosed.
sorry, no more .02. Im broke.
_______________________________
_______________________________
.
The 'trickle down effect' that didn't work because all of the companies had watertight government-money-catching-buckets didn't they?
.
That one was particularly good. His motto should have been "If it's rich or powerful, subsidise it so that it grows in wealth and power. If it's middle class, tax it up the whazoo. If it's poor or disenfranchised, lie about system cheaters and make it more poor and disenfranchised."
.
Here are some good graphs to go along with it:
http://www.rationalrevolution.net/war/trickle_down.htm
________________
<i>--Feminazi </i>
_______________________________
________________
<i>--Feminazi </i>
_______________________________
If we can get people like rladew on board, Willard won't have a chance in '08
1. Thanks for the (many many) links to ponder over. Reading R. Revolution cover to cover will take me some time. If Roald Dahl gets too light, Ive got several heavier options now! :)
2. Attributing who the author of the quote in my other post was a mistake. I'm sorry, and it was honestly not my intent to heat up the thread with any negative energy that may or may not lead to another Rideside Ref appearance...
3. I'm not trying to get into a debate of which politicians are doing good for us and which are doing bad.
Im trying to focus on the idea that solving problems in our society might include (but are not solely limited to) routing other people's money to fix them, but that we also need to seriously consider efficiency, productivity, and fairness. Problems dont just go away because someone has put a lot of $ towards fixing said problem.
I promise for the duration of this thread that I will name no more politicians as that is not my focus.
_______________________________
.
I heartily agree with everything besides #2. If Reagan is cool to you, so be it. Don't censure yourself here. So long as you don't mind me poking fun of the Gipper (well, his people), we're good.
________________
<i>--Feminazi </i>
Yes, the budget cuts suck (the non-opening of the MDC swimming pool on Mem Drive immediately comes to mind), but if the Commonwealth is in the black, Fuck yeah!
Romney's social leanings have always been his biggest flaw, and I mean social, not religious...
So should increase the taxes but, say freeze, fees for ten years or so? Or in an economic model, would the taxes, increasing with production, pay for the fees themselves? Great question...
_______________________________