Goldman wrote:
Salary: 250,000
Federal taxes: 88,000
State taxes: 25,000
Property tax: 1,500
Social security, Medicare tax: 15,000
I find it interesting how people complain about paying taxes as if you are throwing it out the window never to see it again.
Federal taxes: Most of it goes to our military (24%) to keep the shipping lanes open so we can trade and to make sure no one gets too far out of line in the world. Not counting civil or small regional wars, we haven't fought a global conflict since 1945. Money also goes to education, student loans (4%), health care for Medicare/ Medicaid (22%), government pensions for people who worked their careers in the government (22%), welfare is %12 and interest on our debt is 6%. Oh yeah, let’s not forget the people in the Northeast, FEMA is also part of the federal budget.
State taxes go to roads and bridges, any number of state services such as public education (k-12 along with colleges and community colleges), law enforcement, disability services, health inspectors etc.
Local property taxes go to fire departments, police, education, libraries, public utilities, snow removal etc.
Social Security is there because prior to 1920s the elderly either got taken care of by their families or died in awful conditions. If you are living on that exclusively, you are very poor, but at least you can have a house and food to eat and medical treatment. Republicans claim there will be "death squads" if Obamacare comes in effect but if we didn't have these services, there wouldn't be death squads... people would just die.
People think all taxes go to lazy people who don't want to work. I know there are people who take advantage of the system, but that is such a small percentage of what our tax dollars go to. Every single one of us either directly benefit or will benefit in due time. Let’s not forget how we all indirectly benefit from welfare. If it wasn't for welfare those people would be starving and probably turn to crime against the rest of us. Also, the money they spend keeps local businesses in business by their spending. Think of it as a stimulus plan for a Mom and Pop store. In short, according to Oliver Wendell Holmes, "taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society."