Government Spending and Waste

vet323
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8/22/2026 10:07am
soggy wrote:
The top tax bracket is for joint filers earning over 750k at 37%. How stupid is it that’s it’s that low. We should have brackets for...

The top tax bracket is for joint filers earning over 750k at 37%. How stupid is it that’s it’s that low. We should have brackets for $1m + 10m+ $100m and 500m+ a year as an example.

In 1970 the top earning tax bracket was 70% for joint filers earning over 200k a year which is $1.6 in today’s money. you wonder why the deficit has been moving in the wrong direction for?

If we applied 1970 tax code today we’d have a 2.8trillion dollar jump in income tax revenue. Now I’m not saying we have to be that drastic but when you constantly decrease federal income tax revenue over time (inflation adjusted) you get a deficit. 

truck wrote:
Expecting anyone to turn over 37% of their income to the government is absurd. Taxing the rich isn't going to get us out of this mess...

Expecting anyone to turn over 37% of their income to the government is absurd. Taxing the rich isn't going to get us out of this mess even if all the tax the rich dreams came true. Based on principle alone I believe everyone should have skin in the game. It's crazy that so many people look forward to tax day because they're either making money or believe they're making money after over paying all year. Why would they care about a budget if the expectation has been set that it won't be their problem to fix when it all falls apart? 

Play around with this and see what you come up with. 

https://us.abalancingact.com/federal-budget-simulator

 

soggy wrote:

Well you can’t have your cake and eat it too.   The government can’t cut $3 trillion in spending so it’s got to come from somewhere

Can you post graph showing federal income tax revenue dropping year over year? (Even adjusted for inflation).

Show us a graph showing what the top 1% or 5% has historically paid in effective tax rates since 1945. According to what you have said earlier, you should be able to demonstrate a recent radical drop in incone tax revenue from the top brackets.

I'd be interested in seeing what percentage of income tax revenue came from the top bracket back when they were paying (according to you) over 90% income taxes.

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byke
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8/22/2026 10:51am

Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that often pay nothing, start paying. Id also like to reduce corporate subsidies. Id be for increasing revenue in areas that close loopholes, but not by increasing numbers. Other than that, cuts are necessary, increase efficiency,  and zero tolerance for fraud. Lay down the absolute hammer on fraud.

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8/22/2026 11:09am

The federal government employs 2.7 million people at a total labor cost of $666 billion per year. Doing the math, that's an all in labor cost of $246,666.67 per employee, per year. Start there. 

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byke
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8/22/2026 12:00pm

And no more pensions. They can pay into a 401k like everyone else does. No more of this do-less-and-get-more bullshit.

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The Shop

APLMAN99
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8/22/2026 12:19pm
The federal government employs 2.7 million people at a total labor cost of $666 billion per year. Doing the math, that's an all in labor cost...

The federal government employs 2.7 million people at a total labor cost of $666 billion per year. Doing the math, that's an all in labor cost of $246,666.67 per employee, per year. Start there. 

I don’t think those numbers are quite correct. The $666 billion dollar figure is dramatically higher than all federal civilian AND military compensation for 2024, but I don’t think that the $2.7 million people figure includes the military. 

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1
8/22/2026 3:44pm
APLMAN99 wrote:
I don’t think those numbers are quite correct. The $666 billion dollar figure is dramatically higher than all federal civilian AND military compensation for 2024, but...

I don’t think those numbers are quite correct. The $666 billion dollar figure is dramatically higher than all federal civilian AND military compensation for 2024, but I don’t think that the $2.7 million people figure includes the military. 

That number was presented as cost of labor for all civilian and military personnel, not wages. It's the total package.

Ob917
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8/22/2026 4:19pm Edited Date/Time 8/22/2026 4:20pm
ns503 wrote:

Seems DOGE was/is a scam, no?

It was just a copy and paste of Regan’s campaign promises. Look up Grace Commission, same fake BS. 

 

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soggy
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8/22/2026 4:23pm
byke wrote:
Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that...

Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that often pay nothing, start paying. Id also like to reduce corporate subsidies. Id be for increasing revenue in areas that close loopholes, but not by increasing numbers. Other than that, cuts are necessary, increase efficiency,  and zero tolerance for fraud. Lay down the absolute hammer on fraud.

That’s really all I’ve been saying. The zucks, musks, etc. 

Most people will always want to make more money the percentage of tax is irrelevant. whether your taxed 0% or 90% most people want to make more next year then they did this year. 

✌🏻

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APLMAN99
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8/22/2026 4:24pm
APLMAN99 wrote:
I don’t think those numbers are quite correct. The $666 billion dollar figure is dramatically higher than all federal civilian AND military compensation for 2024, but...

I don’t think those numbers are quite correct. The $666 billion dollar figure is dramatically higher than all federal civilian AND military compensation for 2024, but I don’t think that the $2.7 million people figure includes the military. 

That number was presented as cost of labor for all civilian and military personnel, not wages. It's the total package.

If that’s the case, you’d need to add a little over 2M military ‘employees’ to the denominator. 
 

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8/23/2026 6:45pm
APLMAN99 wrote:

If that’s the case, you’d need to add a little over 2M military ‘employees’ to the denominator. 
 

It seems you are correct. Thing is every time you look up the info you get a different answer. Either way the numbers are astronomical. 

9/9/2026 8:38pm

Trump promises to give every American $5,000 if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate at the mid-terms.

Why would he promise money to people who don't vote Republican?

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byke
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9/9/2026 8:52pm

It's speculated that he wants inflation to shrink debt, which would be insanely destructive and shortsighted, so it tracks with his persona. A free $5k could be a first step. It's enough to change the way people vote and only costs about $1.7 trillion. People would be spending and it would temporarily boost our economy quite a bit.

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9/9/2026 8:54pm
byke wrote:
It's speculated that he wants inflation to shrink debt, which would be insanely destructive and shortsighted, so it tracks with his persona. A free $5k could...

It's speculated that he wants inflation to shrink debt, which would be insanely destructive and shortsighted, so it tracks with his persona. A free $5k could be a first step. It's enough to change the way people vote and only costs about $1.7 trillion. People would be spending and it would temporarily boost our economy quite a bit.

Have you received your promised $2,000 tariff payment yet.

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Rawly
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9/9/2026 9:32pm
Trump promises to give every American $5,000 if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate at the mid-terms.Why would he promise...

Trump promises to give every American $5,000 if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate at the mid-terms.

Why would he promise money to people who don't vote Republican?

What a circus our country has become , and Donny is still the favorite clown of some. At least the number is going down on a regular basis. I sure hope that you socialism hating true American patriots refuse the payments if he gets his congress.  Kiss democracy goodbye if he does. Separation of powers is what has held our country together for this long. We need a congress that can tell that dip shit “ no you can’t do that , presidential powers have their limits “   

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truck
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9/9/2026 10:06pm

If he's going to make it conditional on keeping the house and senate, might as well promise the world, because it's not going to happen. 

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1
9/9/2026 11:56pm
truck wrote:

If he's going to make it conditional on keeping the house and senate, might as well promise the world, because it's not going to happen. 

You may be underestimating how much the outcome may be altered.

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early
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9/10/2026 5:46am

Magatard's gonna magatard. Remember when Bush sent us stimmy checks in '08, 6 months before the economy crashed? Republicans are gonna pull another 9/11 or COVID to hide their failures.

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soggy
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9/10/2026 7:21am

Republicans are getting mighty socialist these days. 

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lumpy790
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9/10/2026 7:28am

And yet another republican math of promised reducing spending by tacking on an additional $1.7 trillion putting American even further and further into debt. That can getting kicked down the road sure is getting bigger. 

The biggest ever increased spending is winning right?

How many of trumps businesses went bankrupt and are currently barely surviving on massive debt that he refuses to show his taxes on? Wasn’t he suing BBC for 2 billion until it required him turning over all of his financials then poof it mysteriously disappeared ???

The con man is crumbling and loosing his cult followers so he is taking all America down with him.

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9/10/2026 7:38am

I’ve never worried about what the rich do with their money. Or the so called ‘ pay their fair share ‘. I worry about what the free loaders do with my money. 

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T-MAC
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9/10/2026 8:21am Edited Date/Time 9/10/2026 8:30am
Bandito121 wrote:
I’ve never worried about what the rich do with their money. Or the so called ‘ pay their fair share ‘. I worry about what the...

I’ve never worried about what the rich do with their money. Or the so called ‘ pay their fair share ‘. I worry about what the free loaders do with my money. 

Respectfully, I suggest you start trying to expand your understanding of what is happening if this is your position.

What is your definition of rich?

What is your definition of a freeloader?

Are the freeloaders you speak of the folks that world renowned investigative journalist Nick Shirley uncovered? The kid who didn't even know what the word benevolent means?

Funny how all these influential talking heads pop up out of nowhere and get shoved into our faces eh?

 "Flood the zone"

He went after the drug dealer selling dime bags on the street, you need to look further up the chain to find the root of the issue. Just like immigrants, the rest of the world taking advantage of us, etc.

The  1% owns roughly $55 trillion in assets, which equals the combined wealth of the bottom 90% of Americans. I'm mostly referring to the Nerd Reich running the show, not the "rich" guy who owns his own successful granite company and has a few rental properties. We need more of those types.

You are the victim of this, but don't hold a victim mentality. This is good. The dudes holding the bag, and an exorbitant amount of wealth and power, play the victim card constantly.

The empire of illusion is fading fast, however. Enjoy the ride, track is about to get rough. Work on finding smooth lines, and conserve energy. Grit and creativity will be valuable skills I reckon.

EDIT - Something interesting I noticed in your wording. You don't worry about what the rich do with their money, but you do worry about what the freeloaders do with your money. If I was you I'd be exploring this further to better understand how I came to think this way. I have been trying very hard to understand my own thinking a lot lately, too.

6
1
9/10/2026 8:46am

How many employees does Amazon have ? 

2
byke
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9/10/2026 9:01am Edited Date/Time 9/10/2026 9:03am

That point may not have the effect you want. Who is the largest private employer in the US? What percentage of their products come from India and China? 

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T-MAC
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9/10/2026 9:02am Edited Date/Time 9/10/2026 9:28am
Bandito121 wrote:

How many employees does Amazon have ? 

A lot. How many companies did Amazon eliminate? How many are paid right around minimum wage and rely on government assistance programs to make ends meet? 

Same for Wal-Mart. A recent study found over 15k Wal Mart employees receive food stamps, and over 16k on Medicaid. Sounds to me like Wal Mart is leveraging your money to get rich?

I can see it now. Wal mart will have a designated employee camping section in their parking lot. 5min city!

Ask companies that have to deal with either of those two examples if they enjoy doing business with them, or do so out of survival because these entities are eating competition. Thiel said himself, competition is for suckers, build monopolies.

In contrast, I bet the rich guy that owns a granite business in your town with the mansion and sweet truck, has had the same 10 employees for 15yrs, and knows their names, and about their families. If someone is out sick, I bet that rich granite owner can, and does roll up his sleeves to make shit happen.

Were you trying to make a point with this question?

EDIT - The Wal Mart study was conducted on a data set from 11 states. Any guesses on which states, regionally and political leaning, usually take more than they give? Are these states freeloaders by your definition? 

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byke
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9/10/2026 9:09am
byke wrote:
It's speculated that he wants inflation to shrink debt, which would be insanely destructive and shortsighted, so it tracks with his persona. A free $5k could...

It's speculated that he wants inflation to shrink debt, which would be insanely destructive and shortsighted, so it tracks with his persona. A free $5k could be a first step. It's enough to change the way people vote and only costs about $1.7 trillion. People would be spending and it would temporarily boost our economy quite a bit.

Have you received your promised $2,000 tariff payment yet.

None, which has turned out to be a good thing.....since they were ruled illegal and half of those funds are being refunded lol. 

Falcon
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9/10/2026 9:48am
byke wrote:
Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that...

Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that often pay nothing, start paying. Id also like to reduce corporate subsidies. Id be for increasing revenue in areas that close loopholes, but not by increasing numbers. Other than that, cuts are necessary, increase efficiency,  and zero tolerance for fraud. Lay down the absolute hammer on fraud.

I like this. Fraud, deception, waste and overspending are the culprits here, not some tax collection gap. 

The tax code should be reduced by about 10,000 pages into something understandable by a Jr. High student. No loopholes at all, period. Everyone pays a small amount, which adds up to a big amount, which represents all the country can afford to spend. No ifs, ands, or buts.  

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T-MAC
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9/10/2026 9:55am
byke wrote:

None, which has turned out to be a good thing.....since they were ruled illegal and half of those funds are being refunded lol. 

Another good point. 

Walmart receives around $2.9B in tariff refunds I think. They will use these funds to lower prices on the shelves to help it trickle down to you.

Amazon received over $600B. Some Amazon customers (re-sellers) will receive direct refund, the rest will be used to "invest in lower prices".

So while you paid more for everything, the entity that sold you the things will see the money back. "None for you, two for me."

@Bandito121 Does any of this fall under the definition of freeloader to you? Pay attention to what the freeloaders do with your money.

3
T-MAC
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9/10/2026 10:02am
byke wrote:
Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that...

Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that often pay nothing, start paying. Id also like to reduce corporate subsidies. Id be for increasing revenue in areas that close loopholes, but not by increasing numbers. Other than that, cuts are necessary, increase efficiency,  and zero tolerance for fraud. Lay down the absolute hammer on fraud.

Falcon wrote:
I like this. Fraud, deception, waste and overspending are the culprits here, not some tax collection gap. The tax code should be reduced by about 10,000 pages...

I like this. Fraud, deception, waste and overspending are the culprits here, not some tax collection gap. 

The tax code should be reduced by about 10,000 pages into something understandable by a Jr. High student. No loopholes at all, period. Everyone pays a small amount, which adds up to a big amount, which represents all the country can afford to spend. No ifs, ands, or buts.  

I agree with you dudes. Byke is on point.

Make sense common again.

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R66
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9/10/2026 10:14am
byke wrote:
Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that...

Generally speaking, rich people pay a fuck ton in taxes. We don't need to change brackets imo. I would like to see the zuck/bezos/trump types that often pay nothing, start paying. Id also like to reduce corporate subsidies. Id be for increasing revenue in areas that close loopholes, but not by increasing numbers. Other than that, cuts are necessary, increase efficiency,  and zero tolerance for fraud. Lay down the absolute hammer on fraud.

Falcon wrote:
I like this. Fraud, deception, waste and overspending are the culprits here, not some tax collection gap. The tax code should be reduced by about 10,000 pages...

I like this. Fraud, deception, waste and overspending are the culprits here, not some tax collection gap. 

The tax code should be reduced by about 10,000 pages into something understandable by a Jr. High student. No loopholes at all, period. Everyone pays a small amount, which adds up to a big amount, which represents all the country can afford to spend. No ifs, ands, or buts.  

T-MAC wrote:

I agree with you dudes. Byke is on point.

Make sense common again.

I agree, but how do we know how much these guys paid in taxes? Anyone seen their tax returns? I haven’t. 

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bonseff
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9/10/2026 10:28am

tax exemptions for churches need to go as well. 

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