Regarding taxes:
Americans will spend more on taxes in 2008 than on food, clothing, and housing combined, according to Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge. This year, Americans worked 74 days to pay their federal taxes and 39 days more to cover state and local levies, the Tax Foundation calculated. There's not much you can do about the federal taxes if you want to live in the United States, but the state and local tax burden varies considerably by location. The most expensive state and local taxes are typically sales and excise taxes (14 days' pay), property taxes (12 days' pay), and income tax (10 days' pay).
And for something a little closer to home:
Think your last grocery bill seemed pricey? Be happy that you don't live in Sacramento, where a half-gallon of milk costs $2.97 on average. In fact, Sacramento's milk prices rank the highest of any major metropolitan city in the country.
Happy cows are expensive.
(If you don't get it, try this list, or this one in particular to get an idea.)
3 comments:
Wait until all ranchers have to change the conditions under which they pen their animals; the recent anti-cage legislation will increase prices as ranchers have to change conditions - don't you think?
The cost of food is also connected to fuel prices.
George
And, yet, think of all you get for your (comparatively low to other industrialized nations) tax bill. Military force alone is a hell of an investment, and no country in the history of the world has created a system of roads like we have. Center for Disease Control, National Institute of Health, public universities, 911 and EMT systems, NASA, clean air and water, pubic defenders and state attorneys, global diplomatic corps, CIA/FBI/NSA, police and fire departments, K-12 education, Social Security/Medicare (still going despite decades of cries of insolvency) - not a bad bang for the buck compared to all the other industrialized countries in the world who absolutely depend on the United States to protect, defend, and lead.
The bill is coming due, probably sooner rather than later.
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