One Founder's view on taxation

[Avatar4321]

"It would be thought a hard government that should tax its people one tenth part of their time, to be employed in its service." - Ben Franklin, A Way to Wealth, p.12

Any citizen who works in this nation currently pays at least 1/3 of our income to the governments.

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

 

[percysunshine]

Did he say this before, or after, he was electrocuted while flying a kite in a thunderstorm?

 

[Avatar4321]

5 years after.

 

[uscitizen]

You did say one founders view....

 

[LordBrownTrout]

I doubt very seriously that any of the founders would approve of the circus that we have going on right now. Hamilton would be overjoyed though.

 

[Avatar4321]

You did say one founders view....

Yes. I did. Because Ben Franklin is merely one of many founders.

I highly doubt his belief was unique though. Perhaps you can find a Founder who thinks we should be taxed 1/3 of our time?

 

[Avatar4321]

I doubt very seriously that any of the founders would approve of the circus that we have going on right now. Hamilton would be overjoyed though.

I highly doubt that. Hamilton was unique among the founders. But he also believed in financial discipline. He wanted the Republic to have a strong financial foundation.

I think he would be horrified by the current spending and taxing.

 

[Avorysuds]

I wonder what they would think of our foreign policy as well...

 

[bripat9643]

I doubt very seriously that any of the founders would approve of the circus that we have going on right now. Hamilton would be overjoyed though.

Until WW I, the federal government took in less than 10% of our GDP.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

Very much so – he’d be amazed at the great value each citizen receives from his tax dollar: clean, paved streets, schools, hospitals, clean water and sewage treatment – beats dodging the contents of chamber pots thrown out of bedroom windows in BF’s day.

 

[bripat9643]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

Very much so – he’d be amazed at the great value each citizen receives from his tax dollar: clean, paved streets, schools, hospitals, clean water and sewage treatment – beats dodging the contents of chamber pots thrown out of bedroom windows in BF’s day.

We all know that 90% of the money we pay in taxes goes to support tics on the ass of society. Underground sewers and clean water don't cost $7 trillion a year.

Franklin would be appalled by our current level of government spending.

 

[Greenbeard]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

The real question is: would Mozart have liked the Glenn Miller Orchestra? Or Nirvana?

And the short answer is: how the fuck should I know? Applying 18th century experience to 21st century reality is useless. And I have no clue what Ben Franklin would think if he had been born in the tail end of the 20th century and was forming political opinions around now. Live in the now, dude. Form your opinions of the modern world based on the world as it exists today, not based on what long-dead folks thought about a world that doesn't exist anymore.

 

[Greenbeard]

Any thoughts about what Hammurabi would make of our legal code, by the way?

Or what Jesus would make of the Religious Right?

Surely Sir Francis Bacon would have something to say about 21st century mathematical physics!

 

[Political Junky]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

Very much so – he’d be amazed at the great value each citizen receives from his tax dollar: clean, paved streets, schools, hospitals, clean water and sewage treatment – beats dodging the contents of chamber pots thrown out of bedroom windows in BF’s day.

We all know that 90% of the money we pay in taxes goes to support tics on the ass of society. Underground sewers and clean water don't cost $7 trillion a year.

Franklin would be appalled by our current level of government spending.

Not to mention two wars, and support of a vast military industrial complex.

 

[Avatar4321]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

The real question is: would Mozart have liked the Glenn Miller Orchestra? Or Nirvana?

And the short answer is: how the fuck should I know? Applying 18th century experience to 21st century reality is useless. And I have no clue what Ben Franklin would think if he had been born in the tail end of the 20th century and was forming political opinions around now. Live in the now, dude. Form your opinions of the modern world based on the world as it exists today, not based on what long-dead folks thought about a world that doesn't exist anymore.

Try using your brain. It's a novel concept.

 

[FA_Q2]

Any thoughts about what Hammurabi would make of our legal code, by the way?
He would hate it, no dictators in all. I mean, Hammurabi may have written laws but he never said that there should be anything like an actual democracy..

Or what Jesus would make of the Religious Right?
He would fall over in pain but we see how well most people fallow the teachings of Christ..

Surely Sir Francis Bacon would have something to say about 21st century mathematical physics!
He would be ecstatic. Science truly has gone far since his time.

Oh shit, you were being sarcastic... oops

 

[Greenbeard]

Try using your brain. It's a novel concept.

Novel indeed! But not nearly as much fun as the "how does someone XX centuries removed react to contemporary political event or circumstance" game.

How does Franklin Pierce react to the Cuban Missile Crisis is always a fun one at parties, though I bet Thomas Jefferson's reaction to the 1973 oil embargo is a close second. I mean, how would he gas up his auto-mobile or fly his aeroplane under those circumstances?

But I take it "what does Ben Franklin think about Obama's proposed tax policies" is foremost on your mind. Have at it, chief!

 

[auditor0007]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

Very much so – he’d be amazed at the great value each citizen receives from his tax dollar: clean, paved streets, schools, hospitals, clean water and sewage treatment – beats dodging the contents of chamber pots thrown out of bedroom windows in BF’s day.

We all know that 90% of the money we pay in taxes goes to support tics on the ass of society. Underground sewers and clean water don't cost $7 trillion a year.

Franklin would be appalled by our current level of government spending.

I'd have to disagree with you. I think it's closer to 95%.

 

[auditor0007]

Does anyone think Franklin would approve of the tax and spend policy of this government?

Very much so – he’d be amazed at the great value each citizen receives from his tax dollar: clean, paved streets, schools, hospitals, clean water and sewage treatment – beats dodging the contents of chamber pots thrown out of bedroom windows in BF’s day.

We all know that 90% of the money we pay in taxes goes to support tics on the ass of society. Underground sewers and clean water don't cost $7 trillion a year.

Franklin would be appalled by our current level of government spending.

Yep, every mother fucker that is on SS or disability is a tick on the ass of society. We ought to exterminate all of them. Fuck em. Line em up in the gas chambers. Better yet, let them all starve on the streets. Fuck em. They don't deserve SS or Medicare.

One thing though, when we do this, we're going to give all of them your name and address.

 

[bripat9643]

I'd have to disagree with you. I think it's closer to 95%.

What's "cuckoo" about what I said? Libturds are always trying to paint anyone who disputes their idiocies as crazy or stupid. It's a technique they pioneered in the Soviet Union.