When is humor no longer funny?

[kandrathe]

Got a link? Every number I've seen for German government revenue has been in at least the ballpark of 480 billion Euros, which, depending on the exchange rate, is somewhere between 600 and 800 billion US.

If Wikipedia is to be believed on the issue, even my numbers are low: revenue was 1.277 trillion US in 2006. (Of course, revenue is not all taxed, but I don't think the German government has a revenue stream that exceeds taxation, so it can't realistically be more than double the tax revenue number.)

How about here for a comparative look at taxes vs. GDP? It seems to indicate what I've read everywhere else, that the US is pretty much has the lowest tax-to-GDP ratio of any developed nation, which is in complete contradiction to the argument you're making about Germany, whose ratio is almost 10% of GDP higher.

-Jester

My point was not taxes vs GDP. The point is... How much does a government need to take per capita from its people to provide services? Just because a particular society is more productive should not automatically mean that the "surplus" is available for ones government to sop up like a greedy hog. We can separate a few things for comparison; a) government, b) social programs for citizens c) social programs for non-citizens, and d) defense. I need to run and get the kids, but I'll add more about this later.

And, as it relates to Bush's tax cuts. In 2000, when Bush took office the Revenue as a portion of GDP was pressing to a historical highpoint past 20%, after the tax cuts it plummeted down to near 10% then bounced back up to near 15% again. I'm sure it's dropping again. Historically, in the US the tax rate as a portion of GDP has oscillated around the 15% mark. I think in retrospect, it would have been better to find an offset in the budget or (heaven forbid) raise a tax to pay for the increases due to the Iraq war.