How congress spends your money (1 Viewer)

[aociswundumho]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

 

[Kushinator]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

The Paycheck Protection Program was (IMO) the most wasteful, fraudulent, and politically abused program in this nation's history.

 

[aociswundumho]

The Paycheck Protection Program was (IMO) the most wasteful, fraudulent, and politically abused program in this nation's history.

That's like the poster child of what I was saying.

 

[Jason Warfield]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

Since Day One, even during the Articles of Confederation.

 

[Individual]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

I'd start by fixing the Federal Individual income tax code, which will not get fixed without voters from both parties reaching agreement on How it should be fixed and demanding their elected representatives get it passed into law.

 

[Peacenik]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

Big money controls Congress. Big money is our enemy, not Congress. Congress is a tool used by big money.

 

[Peter]

Everyone knows all the governments money is spent on Obama phones and helping smuggle in illegal immigrants.

Nothing else!

 

[Peacenik]

We can get the big money out of Congress but we have to accept it cannot be done right away. It can be done over a long period of time by changing the political climate which currently does not support making the needed changes.

We can change the political climate by doing things which are available to each of us in our own area. We must push for our local governments to pass non-binding resolutions in support of anti-corruption measures.

By doing so in many many places it will make the idea of anti-corruption much more popular.

When that happens we will get new candidates who run on that platform.

After we elect enough of them the political climate is changed and we can make meaningful changes to end the big money influence of Congress.

That will probably take years. Decades, even. But it will be worth it, and there is no other way to get the big money out of Congress. It can't currently be done because most of Congress is on the take so they won't vote for it.

We have to change the political climate. We have to form local left/right partnerships in spite of our differences. We have to act locally because all politics is local.

We have to see the big picture, the long range picture. We have to share the understanding that this will take a long time. Then have have to set out to spread the word and inform everyone of the plan and how it works slowly but surely. We might not all live to see the result, but we must know this is our calling. Just as the founders of the USA answered the calling of their time (and that didn't happen right away, either) we must see the big picture goal, share the plan, and set about to make it happen.

At some point we must realize more must be done besides just talking.

Uncle Sam needs us.

 

[Individual]

Big money controls Congress. Big money is our enemy, not Congress. Congress is a tool used by big money.

I'd go with big money controls the democrat and republican parties, who are the primary constituents of those elected to serve in Congress and introduce the governing bills provided them for passage.

 

[aociswundumho]

Big money controls Congress. Big money is our enemy, not Congress. Congress is a tool used by big money.

A lobbyist offers money and blocks of votes, but the congressman chooses to take it. Corruption isn’t about temptation - it’s about character. Blaming the lobbyist is like blaming potato chips for making you fat instead of admitting that you eat too many of them too often.

 

[exoplanet]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

OK.

What bothers me is that the reaction to this is pure cynicism and talking in absolutes. As if things couldn't be better or worse and we are completely helpless to make something better or improve. I've seen things get worse in my lifetime, so I know that things could be better. There are governments in the world that work efficiently and consistently deliver excellent services to their citizens and there are ones that are completely and utterly corrupt. The US is somewhere in between.

 

[aociswundumho]

There are governments in the world that work efficiently and consistently deliver excellent services to their citizens

The best run state is probably Singapore, and that's a dictatorship, so no thanks.

Next are the Nordic countries with mommy-statism, extreme taxation, and extreme conformity, no thanks to that shit either.

I'd choose Mexico any day of the week over those two.

I would also like to know how you are defining the word efficiently. Having the government do something typically costs twice as much as the private sector.

 

[Individual]

OK.

What bothers me is that the reaction to this is pure cynicism and talking in absolutes. As if things couldn't be better or worse and we are completely helpless to make something better or improve. I've seen things get worse in my lifetime, so I know that things could be better. There are governments in the world that work efficiently and consistently deliver excellent services to their citizens and there are ones that are completely and utterly corrupt. The US is somewhere in between.

How would the vast majority of taxpayers like congress to spend their tax money? That should begin a discussion. I keep suggesting a tax code change which would, in most every year, provide adequate tax revenue to result in a balanced budget, and would raise taxes mostly on the top 30% of taxpayers though they would continue to have enough after tax income to live quite well.
Discussing issues, IMO, focusing on arriving at reasoned changes is the best way to resolve issues we complain about.

 

[aociswundumho]

and would raise taxes mostly on the top 30% of taxpayers though they would continue to have enough after tax income to live quite well.

And how much money do you expect that to raise each year?

 

[Individual]

And how much money do you expect that to raise each year?

Quite a lot more than is raised by the current tax code. In fact I've been giving thought to how the excess should be handled by law wholly applied to debt reduction or perhaps that AND/OR a tax reduction to keep Congress from just creating new spending programs as a result of having a surplus.

 

[exoplanet]

The best run state is probably Singapore, and that's a dictatorship, so no thanks.

Next are the Nordic countries with mommy-statism, extreme taxation, and extreme conformity, no thanks to that shit either.

I'd choose Mexico any day of the week over those two.

I would also like to know how you are defining the word efficiently. Having the government do something typically costs twice as much as the private sector.

When I talk about efficiency, I'm talking about usefulness of services, not just cost of implementation. If there's no public value from a government project, then it doesn't really matter how efficient the implementation was.

Generally speaking, the reason you see "mommy-statism" associated with lower corruption is that broadly distributed, public benefits don't serve corporations and special interests and they work actively to oppose that. I don't think it's a coincidence that countries ranked high in both individual freedoms and lack of corruption tend to have better social services and standards of living than the US.

Mexico seems like a really odd choice. They seem to be on the verge of becoming a narco-state.

 

[j brown's body]

Not sure it matters anymore.

The president believes that he controls spending and Congress seems OK with it.

 

[aociswundumho]

Quite a lot more than is raised by the current tax code.

You need to increase tax collection about $2 trillion per year, because that's the size of the deficits they will be running from here on out. They currently collect about $5 trillion.

In fact I've been giving thought to how the excess should be handled by law wholly applied to debt reduction or perhaps that AND/OR a tax reduction to keep Congress from just creating new spending programs as a result of having a surplus.

 

[Individual]

You need to increase tax collection about $2 trillion per year, because that's the size of the deficits they will be running from here on out. They currently collect about $5 trillion.

From the CBO website I found the FY2025 budget left for Trump to be as below:
Spending $7,266,000,000,000
Revenue $5,485,000,000,000
Deficit $1,781,000,000,000
Currently, the average tax rate paid by the top 1% is about 25.9%. The change I've suggested would result in the lowest income earner in the top 1% paying at least 30.2% with the average rising to somewhere between 33-34% or more.

 

[aociswundumho]

From the CBO website I found the FY2025 budget left for Trump to be as below:
Spending $7,266,000,000,000
Revenue $5,485,000,000,000
Deficit $1,781,000,000,000
Currently, the average tax rate paid by the top 1% is about 25.9%. The change I've suggested would result in the lowest income earner in the top 1% paying at least 30.2% with the average rising to somewhere between 33-34% or more.

How much revenue is that per year?

 

[Individual]

How much revenue is that per year?

Give me access to nothing more than the gross income of each tax return filed and I could give you an exact amount.
In a previous post I showed how my taxes this year would have changed, a slightly lower tax rate, but an increase in taxes as the result of taxing gross income, having no deductions.
The top, about 4-5% of tax payers would pay no less than a tax rate of 22.5%, currently they pay an average rate of about 23.3%.
Gross income = $320,000 tax = $72,000 tax rate = 22.5% Income = 4 times GNI per person
Gross income = $400,000 tax = $101,600 tax rate = 25.4% Income = 5 times GNI per person
Gross income = $480,000 tax = $131,200 tax rate = 27.3% Income = 6 times GNI per person
Gross income = $1,040,000 tax = $338,400 tax rate = 32.5% Income = 13 times GNI per person
Gross income = $10,400,000 tax = $3,801,600 tax rate = 36.5% Income = 130 times GNI per person

 

[KingLeo]

Congress is not entirely the real problem.
Allowing lobbyists and corporate interests/corporate millionaires to buy Congressional favors is a bigger issue.
I would start by making lobbyists illegal.
And then removing the dark monies from Congressional campaigns, so called 'donations'.
Problem is the very people, Congress, who would need to legislate these things are the very people financially benefiting from the current system.

 

[Individual]

Congress is not entirely the real problem.
Allowing lobbyists and corporate interests/corporate millionaires to buy Congressional favors is a bigger issue.
I would start by making lobbyists illegal.
And then removing the dark monies from Congressional campaigns, so called 'donations'.
Problem is the very people, Congress, who would need to legislate these things are the very people financially benefiting from the current system.

I would make it illegal to make a contribution in any form to a candidate you cannot legally cast a vote for.

 

[MTAtech]

Congress doesn’t spend your money to help you - it spends it to help itself. Every dollar they hand out is about getting re elected, paying back donors, or buying loyalty. Like or not, lobbyists are the ones steering the ship, making sure the money lands where it benefits them the most. Even when some government project sounds like a good idea, it’s usually picked because it helps some politician’s career, not because it’s the best move for the country.

In Washington, money isn’t used to fix problems - it’s used to buy favors, cut deals, and stay in power. In the end congress spends your money the same way a thief spends your wallet: for their own benefit, not yours.

Thanks for enlightening me. I previously thought that elected representatives passing programs that make the lives of their constituents easier and better was done for the benefit of those constituents. But now you tell me they do it for themselves.