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Should married people or people with children get tax breaks?

I don't think any of us would mind paying if the government weren't so wasteful. I am convinced we could have everything we have now using 20% less money.
 
Yes, they should and yes, it's fair. Marriage breeds social stability and having children is essential to the future of the nation. These behaviors absolutely should be rewarded by the State.

I partially agree.

I think *good* parenting (or maybe I should say self-sufficient/independent - aka - not dependent on teh government) to some degree and *good* citizenship should be rewarded and appreciated.

Simply popping a baby out does *not* = benefiting society or furthering our future.
 
They are performing a valuable public service and should at least be recognized as such.

Fine, you can print out a certificate which says "Proud contribute to public service". That's it. I mean, I'm glad you're performing this "public service" (I call it base animalistic needs, but whatever), good for you. But lots of people do and are unrewarded for it. People donate time to soup kitchens and such, volunteer at varying charity events, etc. So join that crowd. You still don't get MY money, you have no right to it. I shouldn't subsidize you because you choose to have kids, because you've done some public service. If you want recognition, here's a hand clap, :clap: thanks for figuring out how to reproduce. Huzzah!
 
I don't think any of us would mind paying if the government weren't so wasteful. I am convinced we could have everything we have now using 20% less money.

Most basic thing we could do is change the way spending bills are passed. Make it so every spending bill has to pass on its own, instead of allowing these big omnibus spending bills and allowing earmarks to be attached to other laws. If every dime has to be justified on its own merits, programs themselves will become leaner.
 
You may not be using the schools right now, but you benefit from their existence.

Should college be free? I mean, a higher education is very good not only for the individual but for the society as a whole. The more educated the populace the better overall. The country can do more, there's more investment into technologies, the economy can prosper, we encourage all sorts of innovation and entrepreneurship. So should State run University be free? Everyone pays, everyone gets in? Or is it an investment primarily in self? Parents get well more benefit from school than I do, they can pay for it.
 
Yes, I believe public universities should be free for the reasons outlined in your post.
 
1. Should married people or people with children get tax breaks?
2. Do you think this is a fair system?


I have to say no. Marriage and having children are choices an it's not fair to penalize single folks through higher taxation just because they're single.

since there should be no tax on income the answer is no. there should only be a consumption tax. But since there is the nasty income tax I would have to say yes.
 
There should also be severe penalties on those who cannot care for themselves breeding.

productive people should be given tax breaks for having children. Those unable to care for themselves should be punished for spawning
 
since there should be no tax on income the answer is no. there should only be a consumption tax. But since there is the nasty income tax I would have to say yes.

Ah a Ferrari tax not a bad idea. But should there also be a tax on milk?
 
Ah a Ferrari tax not a bad idea. But should there also be a tax on milk?

depends-maybe not

I think everyone who votes should pay some tax so they have some stake in the game but a tax on necessities is less compelling than on pure luxury items which a ferrari clearly is.
 
I thought the question of the OP was about tax breaks, not entitlement funds. I think families should get breaks because raising children is expensive in today's world and without some leniency from government people will not want to do it. So in other words, I support tax neutrality in this department.

That said, I don't agree with families actually getting money, which would fall into the realm of positive entitlements, especially when it comes to welfare. People shouldn't be having babies in order to make money. But I acknowledge that we live in the consumer era and that largely drives the positive enforcement of reproduction.

I don't agree that it's simply about the general welfare of society. Colonization usually involved positive incentives and that made sense given the scarcity of the population. In today's world people have become production factors and the business model doesn't really care about real standard of living and the living conditions of the poor who pump out babies to get that government check. All that matters to them is how they are spending the money. If we really cared about living conditions, then the focus would be more on a population that is educated and healthy with the means to positive profit in life. North America in general has some of the lowest standards in both departments.

It's not enough to simply reproduce. The welfare of society is determined by a lot of other things.
 
Yes, I believe public universities should be free for the reasons outlined in your post.



I have to disagree. I think that we need more technical/vocational high schools to teach a workforce with skills.

As we see today, too many people with degrees lead to degree inflation. Too many degrees made them less valuable and now jobs that never required a degree in the past expect a degree.

We needs mechanics, electricians, carpenters etc etc.

If the kids are in high school and know they don't want to go to college why waste their time on only academics? Now they graduate and have to find trade schools or whatever when they could have done it during high school.
 
I have to disagree. I think that we need more technical/vocational high schools to teach a workforce with skills.

As we see today, too many people with degrees lead to degree inflation. Too many degrees made them less valuable and now jobs that never required a degree in the past expect a degree.

We needs mechanics, electricians, carpenters etc etc.

If the kids are in high school and know they don't want to go to college why waste their time on only academics? Now they graduate and have to find trade schools or whatever when they could have done it during high school.

This is true. On the other hand, most people don't want to get their hands dirty, which is why trades jobs are on the decline. People were sold the idea that they could get a cushy desk job that is well paying, if only they have a degree. The time of overpaid desk work is tapering out I think, and infrastructure jobs are going to be the focus of the next generation.
 
depends-maybe not

I think everyone who votes should pay some tax so they have some stake in the game but a tax on necessities is less compelling than on pure luxury items which a ferrari clearly is.

Everyone even illegals pay a tax on something in this country already. Maybe not milk but if they need batteries for the flashlight bought here and taxed people also pay a sales tax on the batteries. Heck even diapers have a sales tax on them.
 
I just skimmed this thread but saw where someone was talking about tax breaks for being married and complaining about it. Actually about 40% of married couples are penalized for being married. Especially when they both work and make about the same amount of money.
 
I just skimmed this thread but saw where someone was talking about tax breaks for being married and complaining about it. Actually about 40% of married couples are penalized for being married. Especially when they both work and make about the same amount of money.

Yes, but there are tons of other benefits like married couples get subsidized on mortgages and such (paid for by the single people). They don't have to face the full price of school because you take single people's money and apply it to the schools. You don't see an increase in your taxes which would account for the increase in use of public services and parks and such which is common for people with kids. And you can reduce your federal tax liability to zero merely by popping out babies. But the bills still stay, so everything is then subsidized through taxes on single people. In essence, you're taking money from people without kids for yourself to get all the things you need to have kids. Perhaps it really does take a village.
 
Yes, but there are tons of other benefits like married couples get subsidized on mortgages and such (paid for by the single people). They don't have to face the full price of school because you take single people's money and apply it to the schools. You don't see an increase in your taxes which would account for the increase in use of public services and parks and such which is common for people with kids. And you can reduce your federal tax liability to zero merely by popping out babies. But the bills still stay, so everything is then subsidized through taxes on single people. In essence, you're taking money from people without kids for yourself to get all the things you need to have kids. Perhaps it really does take a village.

I'm not saying you are right or wrong, but what are you going to do a few years down the road when you have kids, and you are paying less taxes are you going to say "Oh no thank you Uncle Sam you can have this $1k back."
 
I'm not saying you are right or wrong, but what are you going to do a few years down the road when you have kids, and you are paying less taxes are you going to say "Oh no thank you Uncle Sam you can have this $1k back."

I would push for the system to be actually fair, and for people to pay their own way. That being said, it's not Uncle Sam I owe thanks to, it's all the single people in the country subsidizing the costs of my kid I owe thanks to. My real problem is that you always hear people bitching about the marriage penalty. Oh noes, I pay X more in taxes because this or that. Wining and crying like they're being taken advantage of. But they're getting so many other perks it's unbelievable, they are riding on the coat tails of other Americans for support of their family and kids. A little acknowledgment, a little thanks maybe; some understanding because many of these people pushing for the tax breaks are conservatives and I'm sure I heard them talk in the past about how people should pay their own way and how it doesn't take a village and things of that nature.

The people bitching about the added taxes to their income because of marriage, I'm willing to treat their incomes separately. Fine. But we remove everything else too. No more subsidizes to your mortgage rates or rent, paying your way for utilities and services and parks, no tax breaks for kids, etc. And then I want them to come back and tell me if they're better off because their income tax went down. That's it. I just want all those people to realize how many people they're taking money from to subsidize the raising of their family and kids.
 
I would push for the system to be actually fair, and for people to pay their own way. That being said, it's not Uncle Sam I owe thanks to, it's all the single people in the country subsidizing the costs of my kid I owe thanks to. My real problem is that you always hear people bitching about the marriage penalty. Oh noes, I pay X more in taxes because this or that. Wining and crying like they're being taken advantage of. But they're getting so many other perks it's unbelievable, they are riding on the coat tails of other Americans for support of their family and kids. A little acknowledgment, a little thanks maybe; some understanding because many of these people pushing for the tax breaks are conservatives and I'm sure I heard them talk in the past about how people should pay their own way and how it doesn't take a village and things of that nature.

The people bitching about the added taxes to their income because of marriage, I'm willing to treat their incomes separately. Fine. But we remove everything else too. No more subsidizes to your mortgage rates or rent, paying your way for utilities and services and parks, no tax breaks for kids, etc. And then I want them to come back and tell me if they're better off because their income tax went down. That's it. I just want all those people to realize how many people they're taking money from to subsidize the raising of their family and kids.

So then are you going to go knock on peoples doors until you find a guy that's single and hand over $1k?
 
So then are you going to go knock on peoples doors until you find a guy that's single and hand over $1k?

So then we're just going to completely ignore posts and try to make up smarmy responses which have nothing to do with the quoted post?
 
So then we're just going to completely ignore posts and try to make up smarmy responses which have nothing to do with the quoted post?

Answer my question first and I will. :D
 
I initially answered your question and you responded with a non sequitur.
 
Fair enough, if I answer your question, will you answer my previous one?
 
Fair enough, if I answer your question, will you answer my previous one?

How much wood can a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
 
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