The Pension Hole for U.S. Cities and States Is the Size of Japan’s Economy

Re:The Pension Hole for U.S. Cities and States Is the Size o... by rayiner on Monday July 30, 2018 @05:51PM (#17648441)

As someone who supports higher taxation, I've come around to the idea that liberals and conservatives are largely talking past each other on this point. Yes, our taxes are too low (if we want to have the kind of welfare state Sweden or Germany have). Yes, our public sector is particularly inefficient, compared to Sweden or Germany (or France or Canada).

In my experience your average voter who opposes higher taxes isn't a Randian. Rather, they feel like they're not getting enough in return for what they pay in taxes. (And when you look at data about how we spend more to get less in education, transit, etc., turns out they're right!)

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:The Pension Hole for U.S. Cities and States Is the Size o... by kodablah on Monday July 30, 2018 @05:58PM (#17648495)

> our taxes are too low [...] our public sector is particularly inefficient

Right. You cannot begin fixing the first problem in a democracy until you begin fixing the second. The solutions cannot happen in parallel either. So we either need to better prioritize our complaints or accept that attempts to fix the first problem is often just flushing people's money that they may need. Perfection is not a requirement, just some level of mediocrity could be enough to restore some trust.

[ Parent | on HN ]