I did not mean that they are heavy, but that middle class bears a disproportionate share.
On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 03:15:00PM -0400, Wojtek S wrote:
> [WS:] I'd take exception to your statement on the effect of taxation. Taxes
> alone are not particularly heavy in the US - suffice it to compare the EU
> VAT @ 22% and US sales tax that typically is 6-8%.
>
> US families spend more on the so called public goods than their EU
> counterparts not because of taxes, but because payments for these goods have
> been collected by private parties (cf. insurance premium or private
> tuition). The big difference is that these private fees are not cognitively
> frames as taxes but as "voluntary" payments for services. Hence, most
> people do not make a connection between taxes and public services, siunce
> they have to purchase the latter through private vendors. Never mind that
> they have to pay much higher price than their EU counterparts - they see it
> as purchasing something they value, whereas taxes are perceived as 'waste.'
>
> To sum it up - the issue is not taxation per se, but how it is cognitively
> framed in the US - and that this framing is done almost exclusively by
> pro-business propaganda.
>
> Wojtek
>
> On Mon, Apr 19, 2010 at 2:48 PM, michael perelman <michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
> > wrote:
>
> > I was asked by our weekly paper to give some thoughts on the Tea Party
> > movement. Here is what I came up with:
> >
> > The Tea Party movement combines ignorance, anger, and justifiable
> > indignation. For some, this ignorance reflects a degree of racism and
> > ethnic hostility.
> >
> >
> >
> > The anger has been nurtured by the demise of journalism along with a
> > cynically crafted rhetoric of hate. Former Speaker of the House Newt
> > Gingrich was a master of this mode of communication. In 1990, four years
> > before Gingrich ascended to his leadership position, his organization, GOPAC
> > circulated a memo instructing Republicans about the most effective method of
> > communication in the political arena. The memo recommended that his fellow
> > travelers adopt a vocabulary built upon confrontational words, such as
> > "decay, sick, unionized bureaucracy, greed, corruption, radical, permissive,
> > and bizarre." Without a responsible media, this strategy went largely
> > unchallenged until it became common practice.
> >
> > More at:
> >
> >
> >
> > http://michaelperelman.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/thoughts-on-the-tea-party/
> >
> > --
> >
> > Michael Perelman
> > Economics Department
> > California State University
> > michael at ecst.csuchico.edu
> > Chico, CA 95929
> > 530-898-5321
> > fax 530-898-5901
> > www.michaelperelman.wordpress.com
> >
> > ___________________________________
> > http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk
> >
> ___________________________________
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-- Michael Perelman Economics Department California State University Chico, CA 95929
Tel. 530-898-5321 E-Mail michael at ecst.csuchico.edu michaelperelman.wordpress.com