Living in California we're already taxed more than at least 95% of the nation. My healthcare costs went from approx $300 a month to around $900 under Obamacare. Our deductible has also skyrocketed. My wife & I choose to pay for 4 years of college for each kid (we have 2). If they can't finish in 4, the 5th year is on them. However, once done paying for them, I don't want to cover anyone else college tuition. We shouldn't be forced to pay for other kids education, especially like a liberal arts degree which is useless if you want to earn any real money and not rely on others to support them. Now, CA has the 6-7th wealthiest economy in the world, yet we have the highest gas prices in the nation, We pay over 0.47 a gallon in gas tax for what is supposed to go towards our infrastructure. I don't know if you've ever driven our roads here, but they SUCK! Nothings been done, however they just keep raising our taxes here. Last year alone I paid over $20K in property taxes, the nations average in $4-5K a year. We pay up to 12% in state income tax and yet the state is broke. Now, you want to give out free stuff, have the rest of the country pay the same percentage that we pay here in CA, then I'm good. I just want everyone to contribute the same percentage we shell out. Whats fair is fair!
Lets say, for the sake of the argument, the spirit of your words/intentions are correct.
What *if* you, for the very same (or near) amount of money you are already paying, you could get:
a) Decent healthcare coverage for your family (and others, as a side effect), with better overall indicators.
b) Paid-for tuition for the kids.
Free stuff doesnt exist.
You either pay as taxes, or later pay out of pocket.
Thing is, paying out of pocket (or borrowing money) distorts the market for goods/services with perfect inelastic demand, and ends up in bubbles or skyrocketing prices.
Health? Perfect inelastic demand plus perfect pricing = The astonishing rates you get for medical services in the US. Education, same thing. Tuition prices will keep growing faster than inflation as long as credit is available.
At this point, am pretty sure you are not getting your money´s worth. At least not when compared to other advanced economies. If you add up your actual expenditures for school, health, taxes.. and compare them to other advanced economies taxes, you are not "saving" as much as you´d think.
Forget about it, if you get cancer, need a transplant or any 6-7 digit illness. You´d need a few lifetimes to recoup your "savings" vs the european model.
Certain socialized services also work as anchors for prices.
Cant charge $200k for a college education in Switzerland when you can go to ETH for virtually nothing. Cant charge 1 million for a heart transplant in Europe, when you can get it for 1/100 that at a public hospital next door.
Last edited: