And It's Two, Three, Four, What Are You Paying For?

I came across this little website that outlines what the average family pays in taxes. Then it takes it to the next level and itemizes. I think you will be surprised at what we are shelling out on a per person basis for services that are wasteful or even unaccounted for. The site is linked in the title. Below is a tidbit.
"TO: Interested Parties
FROM: Jim Kessler, VP for Policy and Tess Stovall, Policy Advisor
RE: What You Paid For

If you wrote a check for more than $13,000, you would want to know exactly
what you were buying. As is it turns out, $13,000 is about what the typical working
age taxpayer paid to the federal government in 2007. That’s a lot of money for
anyone, but for a taxpayer earning about $64,000, that’s one-fifth of all earnings.
Yet nearly all taxpayers have absolutely no idea how that money is spent. At best,
they may see a pie chart which shows in broad categories how the federal
government spends its $2.9 trillion budget.

This document—essentially a receipt—shows exactly what the typical working
age taxpaying household gets for their money in dollars and cents. The question
taxpayers and policy makers should ask is “Are you satisfied?” Do you think
spending priorities should change or stay the same? Do you think you’re getting
what you and the country deserve for your payment?

What You Paid For
An Itemized Receipt for the Typical Taxpayer
The typical working age household (a household led by a person between the
ages of 25 and 59) earned approximately $63,960 and paid $13,112 in federal
income and payroll taxes in 2007.* Below is a sample of exactly what that $13,112
paid for. See our attached spreadsheet for far greater detail.
• Social Security: $ 2,662.94
• Interest Payment on National Debt: $ 1,085.29
• War in Iraq: $ 593.48
• War in Afghanistan: $ 159.82
• All other Defense: $ 2,008.01
• Medicare: $ 1,697.96
• Veterans Benefits and Health Care: $ 355.03

* The income figures are derived from a Third Way analysis of the March 2007 Current Population Survey of household finances for 2006 and adjusted slightly upward to incorporate flat, inflation adjusted 2007 income gains. The tax burden is based upon the “The Distribution of Tax Cuts: Updated Projection: 2006,” from the Tax Policy Center at the Brookings Institution and Urban Institute which shows that a filer with this income should expect to pay 20.5% of their income in federal income and payrolltaxes (not including the employer’s share)...."

"• Health care research (NIH): $ 132.70
• Aid to the public schools (No Child Left Behind): $ 107.55
• National Parks $ 12.25
• Roads and Bridges $ 77.15
• Renewable Energy Research $ 6.67
• International AIDS prevention $ 14.87
• The Space Program (NASA) $ 74.53
• Health Care of Low Income Families (Medicaid): $ 872.92
• Border Security Fencing $ .13
• Income Assistance for the Disabled (SSI): $ 164.95
• Agriculture Subsidies $ 98.80
• Environmental Protection (EPA) $ 34.50
• Heating Assistance for Low Income Families: $ 9.90
• School Lunch/Breakfast Program: $ 46.09
• FBI, DEA, and ATF: $ 41.46
• Pell Grants for Low Income College Students: $ 62.55
• The Post Office: $ 2.95
• Consumer Product Safety Commission: $ .29
• Members of Congress and Staff: $ 8.44
• The President and White House Staff: $ .18
• The IRS $ 48.53
• Pork Barrel Projects: $ 60.45
• CIA: $ ???.??+

+ If we told you; we’d have to kill you. All sources for program spending come from the agency
budgets submitted to the Office of Management and Budget for Fiscal Year 2009 with the exception of the following: War in Iraq and Afghanistan spending comes from the Congressional Research Service;earmarks/pork projects comes from Citizens Against Government Waste. All figures relate to fiscal year 2007 spending.

Why do we use “working age households” for this analysis? Working age households—households headed by people between the age of 25–59—represent approximately two-thirds of the adult population. Many younger filers (teenagers and the like) skew the median income level lower and many file separately so that they can get a lower tax rate than their parents. Old filers, particularly seniors, get most of their money through benefit transfers like Social Security, or other sources like pensions andinvestments. This income is taxed very differently than work income.

Mexico's Economic Strategy

We've heard all the claims that a pursuing a true implementation of federal illegal immigration statutes is racist and bad. But what is the ultimate goal of the nation that supports these causes even to the point of assisting illegal entry into the U.S? Folks, we are being blindsided by a rogue government that has the goals of their oligarchy placed over those of our legal residents and citizens. One point that hasn't been discussed is how many millions of illegal immigrant are illegally accessing services amounting to possibly billions of dollars. If you look at any bar graph of federal spending, social and welfare services are double what we spend on military and defense.
Story here.

It's Illegal Immigration, Stupid.

To paraphrase a quote from past elections, most of the problems we are currently dealing with on the domestic front have at least some small part of the immigration issue within them. Follow my thinking:

-Environment-Water and resources are finite in number. Add more users without comparable building of water treatment, reservoirs and sewage and you end up with a serious health issue. Clean water is one of the things our population has come to expect as a given. If you think Collin county suffered during the last drought, imagine how much worse it will be if illegal immigration continues unchecked.

-Education-Schools by law cannot ask a student's legal status. We have students who are living with distant relatives. They are getting an education at our expense and quite often their parents are not paying commeasurate taxes via rent or mortgage since many homes have been subdivided by absentee landlords or sublet by legitimate residents who rent to multiple families in single family units. This is to the detriment of other residents. By having multiple families living in one residence they are not paying their share of school taxes. Many of these children have special needs, and those are federally mandated to be provided by the district.

-Insurance-With 25% uninsured and unlicensed drivers, the rates of insured drivers goes up. Instead of tolerating this skirting of the law, drivers without licenses should be arrested then turned over to Immigration for deportation if they aren't here legally. Cars involved in moving violations, drunk driving, or not having insurance should be impounded. And this goes for EVERYONE. It's just more serious with someone who has a false identity because you can't ever find them to make them pay for the damage they do.

-Health and Welfare-Public hospitals by and large will not ask status. A person having no insurance can get care that a normal person isn't able to afford simply by waiting. Parkland is funded by taxes. Wages must be paid, supplies must be purchased, and bills reconciled. If someone uses a false identity, or has one courtesy of the matricula consulare-which cannot be verified-and skips on their payment, who do you think ends up paying?

-Security-We already know that drug cartels have placed personnel in this country through the sieve that acts as a border. West Texans have known two-legged coyotes to abandon their cargo of people, drugs or other smuggled goods in the middle of ranches. There are not enough law personnel to monitor or cover the vast area between Del Rio and El Paso. As a consequence, there is the possibility that some very serious contraband has already entered our nation. Is this not a serious issue? And don't those who deny the problem in fact exacerbate it by their ostrich attitudes?

-Wages-Because of workers willing to work for lower wages off the books, we have wage erosion. And raising the minimum wage will only result in inflation as a result. The myth that these are jobs that "Americans won't do" is simply that, a myth. Instead what we have is companies large and small getting away with pocketing taxes as profit. And in return, we have young people who cannot get important first jobs because they are taken.

-Identity Theft-This is the most serious issue. The news shows something on this at least twice a week. But what is using someone else's social security number, but identity theft? It is simply wrong that people are screwing around with a program that some people have paid into for fifty years only to find it misused and abused by those who forge documents and by the employers who look the other way.

-Crime-Look at any city on the receiving end of the immigration train and you will find neighborhoods that accept crime and violence as a way of life. Trying to avoid getting caught in Immigration's net, they allow gang violence, drug distribution (Cheese, anyone?), and a slew of other criminal activities to continue. Areas that used to be middle class are now criminal and gang war zones. And those residents who own homes there are stuck because they often can't afford to move, but they also cannot sell. This is why towns such as Farmers Branch and Hazelton and now University Park are seeking to find ways to keep single family homes for single families and to require criminal background checks on potential tenants. We have had several instance of people being attacked by offenders with criminal histories. How many drunk drivers,domestic abusers, pedophiles or rapists do we have to accept? Dont' we have enough of our own criminals here already? How can police keep up with the flow other than arrest and release programs that make situations worse?

-Health Care-This is the issue the Democrats are trying to cloud the voting population's brain with. But even for health care, there are huge issues regarding illegal immigrants. Most Democrats will blindly say to give them aid. But at what point do we cut that off? Do we only give aid to Canadians and Mexicans? Or to the hemisphere? Or how about the whole world? As I have already stated, some countries take taxes as much as 68% to pay for comprehensive programs. And their success rate on anything over basic care is not as good. Plus there are delays. If we do not have some sort of permanent biometric identification system, then it is very possible that Aunt Tillie in Milwaukee will have cataract surgery while her doppelganger in San Diego has her third child. We simply cannot run into this issue without some safeguards. But the Democrats are offering none.

Solutions:

-Fines for employers the first time they knowingly hire. Jail time the second time and denial of access to local, state and federal bid lists.

-Deportation for the illegal. NO return allowed for any purpose for ten years.

-Identity Theft-County jail time then deportation.

-Enhanced border security-more personnel. No catch and release of anyone, especially OTM's
.

Nationalized Health Care: Disaster in the Making

In their misguided attempts to steer the American Publics view away from the truly serious impact of Illegal Immigration, the Democrats are trying to dazzle their political base with talk of nationalized health care. Whoever wins their nomination can expect this to be the centerpiece of their platform. Let me outline some of the reasons that this is a BAD IDEA.

1. Americans are naive. They look at loosely organized documentaries and rather than questioning the validity of this idea or that, they accept it even at its most outrageous. "Sicko" glossed over many of the more egregious problems with Canadian national health. Those problems have led their court system to allow private insurance because of the failure of citizens to receive adequate care in a timely manner. In one example a Canadian was denied services over 40 times for a hernia operation. In the end he came to....you guessed it...The United States and got surgery. Likewise many Canadians find themselves without doctors due to the many doctors who feel compelled to leave Canadian health care systems due to lack of income as well as lack of truely adequate care. Nobody in the healthcare field likes to see people suffering needlessly. But that is what happens when you ration care.
Americans, being the idiots we often are, will demand the same type of care that they recieve now, which is impossible when you are giving care to anyone that walks in the door. We don't have the capacity, we don't have the staffing, we simply do not have the money. Democrats like to veil this as a deficiency of action, but you cannot force people to become doctors or nurses, nor should you. If the income for these rigorous careers goes down due to federal limitations and ever higher malpractice insurance rates, do you think you will see a spike in applicants? Didn't think so.

2. The cost of nationalized health care is staggering. If you enjoy paying more for less care, then it probably won't bother you. But some of the tax rates for the role model nations are truly more than I think the American public realizes. The Democrats are doing their best to make this seem like something which can be cheaply and easily funded. One of the nations they love to trot out is Denmark. Denmark has cradle to grave service. And for that they pay 68% of their income in taxes. That is more than double what the top wage earners pay right now. So look at your pay stub, look at the withdrawals for Social Security and taxes and DOUBLE IT. Can you live on that income? Most people cannot. While other nations like to trot our their comparative "bang for the buck" with nationalized care, they don't have any way of accounting for what amounts to health care rationing. Likewise, treatments that are pretty much an on demand issue, such as hernia surgery or gall bladder surgery is sometimes postponed, causing those who can afford it to go somewhere else, or to acquire private insurance, which according the Democrats, we can't afford anyway.

3. There is NO SECURITY IN OUR SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM. And by that I mean that we MUST have rock solid individual identification in order to get service. If American taxpayers are footing the bill, they aren't going to be too happy if the 12 to 20 million illegal immigrants jump in line. Likewise, as identity theft is causing economic havoc for individuals, how can HIPPA laws be adequately addressed on a national level if you have NO IDEA WHO THE PATIENT REALLY IS? If we have the vaunted national system, that would include a databank that would have everyone's medical history. If you are a retired secretary in Michagan going in for reconstructive bladder surgery, it's going to be difficult to reconcile that you just left the maternity ward in San Diego. And that, is part and partial of why this is an amazingly draconian task.

4. Americans live in a very mobile and open society. If we don't like our doctors, dentists or PA's we find others that suffice. That may not be the case with a nationalize plan. In fact, to be truly effective the plan would have to resemble the Kaiser program rather than the conventional HMO or PPO programs we have now. In fact to be truly efficient, they would create regional centers at hospitals and assign people to specific gateway physicians. I am not sure that that will work for many people who are used to going to the doctor they like the best.

5. I am not sure that the medical stats in terms of personal expenditure are all that accurate. I know people who take plastic surgery, the meds associated as well as other loosely attached medical procedures off taxes as medical expenditure. If that is the amount people are using to demonstrate our expenditure per citizen, then I am not sure how accurate that truly is.

6. The cost of drugs has risen along with the rise in lawsuit payouts. While I understand that when people get harmed or die as the result of bad medicine, it's a tragedy and they deserve compensation, our legal system has gone too far addressing this making trial lawyers into millionaires while the true victims get a mere pittance. You have seen the ads and so have I for trial lawyers looking for cases to force a class action suit. That's wrong, but it's happening. In the end what this has done is force malpractice insurance rates through the roof, forcing some specialties virtually out of business. Likewise the factories that make drugs are forced to downsize, close their doors and move to Europe or China or somewhere where their existence isn't under attack. Do you really want medications made in China or some other nation where their is little or no oversight? Yet during the last Great Flu Pandemic Scare, flu vaccine had to be imported because our remaining factories could not generate vaccine quickly enough. People seem schizophrenic in this regard-they want total safety in everything all the time BUT they want the newest medication off the line. You can't have it both ways. But Americans have become critically dumb on this topic.

7. The media has to shoulder a good deal of the blame for the way Americans panic in reaction to every medical whim or fancy. Every day on the news there's some other food that will make you healthy, make you die, make you fat, make you thin, counteract Alzheimers or raise your IQ and there is absolutely NO AGREEMENT ON ANY OF THESE "FACTS". I think reporters on slow newsdays cruise the latest medical journals for obscure trivia they can milk for air time. Think back to Bird Flu, or Legionnaires Disease, or Lyme Disease or any of countless number of syndromes, diseases or problems that the media in its curiosity likes to flaunt as "common and could be coming to your home." Oh please. I know people have these diseases, but the hype is overdone and the result is an American public that doesn't think it can eat anything safely, and so eats EVERYTHING because when you are faced with certain death, What the Hell does it matter that you had a cheeseburger WITH FRIES.

What I find especially worrisome is that attitude that our health is just in our hands. And by that I mean the attitude that whatever your flaws-asthmatic, smoker, overweight-you are to be punished for it. I am one of those people who has struggled through various diets, programs and drills for years in order to lose weight. Now I hear that there's a company in Indiana that will fine people such as me, further condemning and confiring society's opinion of how those of us that are overweight are simply stupid and lazy. If I were of a minority race or religion I would have legal support to sue the pants off such obvious bigotry. But with a rampantly liberal nationalized system, I could see that happening on a national basis. Fat taxes, smoker taxes, drinker taxes....frankly it is far more scary than anything I read in "1984." And the zeal with which the Democrats are approaching this issue should cause all kinds of warning bells to go off in your head. Unless you are just another one of the drones that would prefer to have the government control your life cradle to grave.

Fourteen Reasons to Deport Illegal Immigrants or Illegal Immigration and the National Debt

I have to admit that a friend of mine sent this to me, but having gone to the links, I must admit that is it staggering the amount of debt that these people are placing out our economy. Please read....

Reasons to Deport Illegal Aliens...
1. $11 Billion to $22 billion is spent on welfare to illegal aliens
each year. http://tinyurl.com/zob77
2. $2.2 Billion dollars a year is spent on food assistance programs
such as food stamps, WIC, and free school lunches for illegal aliens.
http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
>
3. $2.5 Billion dollars a year is spent on Medicaid for illegal
aliens. http://www.cis.org/articles/2004/fiscalexec.html
>
4. $12 Billion dollars a year is spent on primary and secondary school
education for children here illegally and they cannot speak a word of
English! http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0
1.html
5. $17 Billion dollars a year is spent for education for the
American-born children of illegal aliens, known as anchor babies.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0
1.html
6. $3 Million Dollars a DAY is spent to incarcerate illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0
1.html
7. 30% percent of all Federal Prison inmates are illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0
1.html
8. $90 Billion Dollars a year is spent on illegal aliens for
Welfare & social services by the American taxpayers.
http://premium.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0610/29/ldt.01.ht
ml
9. $200 Billion Dollars a year in suppressed American
wages are caused by the illegal aliens.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0604/01/ldt.0
1.html
10. The illegal aliens in the United States have a crime rate that's
two and a half times that of white non-illegal aliens. In particular,
their children, are going to make a huge additional crime problem in
the United States .
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0606/12/ldt.0
1.html
11. During the year of 2005 there were 4 to 10 MILLION illegal aliens
that crossed our Southern Border also, as many as 19,500 illegal
aliens from Terrorist Countries. Millions of pounds of drugs, cocaine,
meth, heroine and marijuana, crossed into
the U. S. from the Southern border. Homeland Security Report:
http://tinyurl.com/t9sht
12. The National Policy Institute, "estimated that the total cost of
mass deportation would be between $206 and $230 billion or an average
cost of between $41 and $46 billion annually over a five year period."
http://www.nationalpolicyinstitute.org/pdf/deportati
on.pdf
13. In 2006 illegal aliens sent home $45 BILLION in remittances back
to their countries of origin. http://www.rense.com/general75/niht.htm
14. "The Dark Side of Illegal Immigration: Nearly One Million Sex
Crimes Committed by Illegal Immigrants In The United States ".
http://www.drdsk.com/articleshtml
So using the LOWEST estimates, the annual cost OF ILLEGAL ALIENS is
$338.3 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR! So if deporting them costs between
$206 and $230 BILLION DOLLARS, get rid of em', We'll be ahead after
the 1st year!!!
Please pass this on. Americans need to wake up!