It is not coincidence that these two unofficial taxes--healthcare and college tuition--are soaring in cost, outpacing all other household expenses.
I have long argued that to make an apples-to-apples comparison of real tax rates in the U.S. and other equivalently developed advanced democracies, we have to include two enormous expenses that are funded by the central state in countries such as Denmark and France: healthcare and college tuition/fees.
In The Real-World Middle Class Tax Rate: 75% (July 5, 2012), I estimated that healthcare insurance (if paid out of gross income, as we self-employed workers do) in the U.S. is roughly equivalent to a 15% tax.
Now that the Orwellian-named Affordable Care Act (ACA) is raising costs and deductibles, the true cost of healthcare (a.k.a. sickcare, because being chronically sick is so darned profitable for the cartels) is more like 20% in America.
Correspondent Tim L. (whose daughter is attending a prestigious STEM--science, technology, engineering, math--university) recently called $40-$50,000 per year college tuition what it really is: a tax:
College tuition is just another tax. If you can afford to pay it, you have to. If you cannot, you do not. Anytime you have to pay more for something because you can, you are paying a tax. Between traditional taxes, the college tuition tax, and the health insurance tax (also paid only by those who can afford to), I figure this year and the next three I'm in a 100+% tax bracket.
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Of course it is a tax. That is what the supreme court determined. If it were not a tax, it would be illegal and unconstitutional.
ReplyDeleteI can attest that the college tuition thing is a racket. My kids worked weekends and nights during their high school years and saved a good amount of money to be used for college. When it came time to fill out the dreaded FAFSA (Federal Application for Student Aid) they were not eligible for any help because they had too much money saved up! The neighbor's kid sat on his ass during high school and, since he had no money saved up, he got enough to pay his tuition!
ReplyDeleteCollege tuition is not a tax...that's ridiculous. Taxes are something everyone has to pay - college is a choice
ReplyDeleteIdiot said: "Anytime you have to pay more for something because you can, you are paying a tax."
So the price of my boat is a tax? Give me a break.
7:24
ReplyDeleteThe neighbor probably consulted a tax advisor and a guidance/admissions counselor week in advance of the their child applying to college and were aware of what to do and not to do to be eligible for assistance. Don't take this comment the wrong way since your children will be much better prepared for life by having a work ethic.
"So the price of my boat is a tax? Give me a break." How many other people were given similar boats for free, or at a reduced rate, by the government? Idiotic comparison.
ReplyDelete8:03 try to wrap your mind around this: imagine when you went to buy your boat, you were charged the full non-negotiable retail price of $25,000. The next customer, who had a lower income and fewer assets than you because of choices he made...not finishing high school, kids with three different moms, spends $200 every weekend on booze and dope, paying off DUI fines etc...his price for the same boat is $5000 because his need is greater than yours...Oh, by the way, he can pay the $5000 with borrowed money at a low interest rate subsidized by the government even though he has a bad credit score.
ReplyDeleteBloated and ever-rising college tuition is artificially high due to massive taxpayer subsidies and irresponsible lending. The people who receive the least from government and give the most in the form of taxes are in turn required to futher subsidize the less fortunate, less prudent and less thrifty by paying significantly more for college tuition. College tuition has become a massive tax and income redistribution scheme. Just like Obamacare.
Excellent post 10:01. Socialism has warped the brains of the sheeple.
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