Friday, October 09, 2009

Blog #22 - Flat tax or progressive tax?

Near the end of this week, we discussed the 16th Amendment and the income tax - its fairness and unfairness. Its opponents have proposed a flat tax that everyone pays the same rate across the board: 20%. That way, if you earn more, you technically pay more. So, in some ways it sounds progressive.

The argument for the flat tax focuses on several arguments:
1. It eliminates special- interests by treating all taxpayers equally. Taxpayers will no longer be able to "scam the system by hiring enough lawyers, accountants and lobbyists."
2. It will boost economic growth by allowing businesses and investors to invest more money (saved by not giving as much money in taxes) into other businesses and ventures.
3. It eliminates the capital gains tax, the estate tax (other people call it the "death tax"), and double taxes on savings (taxed once when you earn it and it's deposited into the bank and then twice at the end of the year as part of your income though it already is in your bank account).
4. It's amazingly simple. Household income tax forms are now done on a postcard. It also treats all businesses the same: "Microsoft to a hot dog stand would play by the same rules."

Arguments for the progressive tax include:
1. All Americans benefit from two of our government's responsibilities, protection (police, firefighters, public health, military) and empowerment (roads, public education, banking system for loans and economic stability, SEC for the stock market, courts, national parks, public buildings, etc.), and they should be available to everyone. We are financially responsible to maintain these so that they may be used for the common good. These protections are maintained through taxes.
2. The wealthy (corporations, investors and other wealthy individuals) pay more into the system because "our taxes create and sustain, [and] empower the wealthy in myriad ways to create their wealth." In other words, they have benefited from the system in place, they should pay to maintain it.

"Consider Bill Gates...Though he has undoubtedly benefited from his unusual
intelligence and business acumen, he could not have created or sustained his
personal wealth without the common wealth [of the United States]. The legal
system protected Microsoft's intellectual property and contracts. The
tax-supported financial infrastructure (phones, electricity, Internet) enabled
him to access capital markets and trade his stock in a market in which investors
have confidence. He built his company with many employees educated in public
schools and universities. Tax-funded research helped develop computer science
and the internet..." and so on.


3. The wealthy are morally obligated to sustain the American system b/c they benefit more from it than the average American. "Ordinary people rarely use the courts; most of the courts are used for corporate law and contract disputes." Therefore, the rich pay more than the poor or middle class b/c the rich utilize the system more often to create and sustain their wealth.

So, I think we have two very persuasive arguments here, but I think we're missing the real questions that we should be asking. The questions we should be asking are:
1. What are we spending our money on?
2. Why are we spending so much of our money instead of letting the American people spend it? 3. Why do we have such a huge national debt?
4. What can we do about it? Are you willing to take on this muckraking project w/ me?

We can educate Groves H.S. about the amount of money spent by our government. We can pressure our Congressmen and women about spending too much. You are the future voters. Get educated now about the National Debt.

More on the progressive tax from the Rockridge Institute - http://www.rockridgeinstitute.org/research/lakoff/progressive-taxation-some-hidden-truths/?forPrint=1

More on the flat tax from the Heritage Foundation - http://www.heritage.org/Research/Taxes/bg1866.cfm

63 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are spending our money on many things including improving our country, supplies for the army and supplies for the poor. We spend money on healthcare, public recreational areas, and our educational services too. We are spending so much of our money because we are constantly trying to make our country better and better. But the government does spend a lot of money from taxes on things that we don’t necessarily need. We have such a huge national debt because when we trade with other countries, we are losing money from the trading. Another reason that we are in debt, is that since 1969, the U.S. congress has spent more money than they have made. This has caused the national treasury to have to borrow money, therefore putting us further into debt. We should stick to our budgets so that we do not have to borrow money from our people and from other countries. I am willing to take on this project.

Alex Valente
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

Scott Crosthwaite
5th hour

1. We are spending our money on many things to advance our country in the years coming. We are spending our money on the army, educational purposes, and services like garbage pickup. We are also spending the money on repairing roads, and medical health, like hospitals.
2. If we didn’t spend so much money, then simple things like getting the garbage picked up right outside your house would not be getting picked up and you would have to take it to the dump.
3. We are in a huge national debt because each year since 1969, congress has spent more money than its income. Also the treasury department has to borrow money to meet the congresses appropriations, which is making us go into more and more debt.
4. We should try not to spend so much money on things that don’t need to be spent on, and also we should not borrow money because after a while if we keep borrowing then we will have to pay all the money back that we borrowed.

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money on things such as police, firefighters, public health, military, roads, public education, courts, parks, public buildings, etc. things that we need to survive and have a succesfully running country.
2. We spend so much money because we enjoy the services that we buy with the money we spend. Although we sometimes take these things for granted things as simple as the trash man or going to the library without them we would be charged a great inconvenience.
3. We are such a huge national debt because Congress keeps spending more money than we have and treasury keeps borrowing money year after year the debt just gets worse and continues to accumulate.
4. Even though taxes pay for some things that we can't replace or afford to cut off such as protection. There are some things that we can find alternatives for and reduce the cost of tax. Such as garbage disposal, but in doing so we will end up putting many people out of job, and I don't believe that americans are ready to do away with garbage disposal just yet, it would be a very long journey for us to get out of the hole we placed ourself in.

Stephen Jones
5th Hr.

Anonymous said...

1. Your money goes to many different things from paying for buildings to paying peoples wages. The money ones to pay for libraries, parks, museums, businesses, roadwork, mints, and prisons.
It also goes to pay the people who work for them like policemen, museum instructors, guards for prisons, guards for mints, guards for museums, and also librarians. The government also uses your money for wars, they pay for the guns, the soldiers, the vehicles both air and land and water. They also pay for astronauts and what they wear and for the rockets, also for the satellites in orbit. It also goes to government buildings and government workers.
2. The government is spending so much of our money instead of just letting us keep it because if they did not spend it many people would be out of work and there wold not be enough money to fight in a war.
3. We have such a huge national debt because the government is spending it on wars, weapons, and giving it to countries so they will help us in wars. Also because we are borrow money from other countries.
4. We can vote. Yes I am will in to take on this muckraking project with you.
Damien Dorre, 5th hour, Wicksham
10-09-09

Anonymous said...

Kevin Ross-5th Hour

1.We are spending our money to improve the country in many different ways. We use the tax money to pay for things like military service and supplies. We spend it on the police and fire departments in our cities. Also on public education public buildings that everyone in that community can use.
2.We have to give some of our money to the government so they can supply us with some of the things mentioned in number one. Even though we are in a struggling economy we still need things from the government and they aren’t free.
3.We have such a huge national debt because everybody were worried about money and stopped spending. To get the economy back up, we need to pay are taxes and by things (preferably American products). I do think that our government spends too much money on the wars that we shouldn’t even be fighting any more.
4.To get the economy back we need to spend money but we need the government to spend less on things that we shouldn’t be paying for.

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money things that can improve the U.S.Like paying for, park, schools,libaries,miltary,roads,and supplies for the poor..
2.We spend so much money beacuse people think money can buy happiness but it can't. We also spend to try to improve our contry but sometimes we have to spend our money so people can have jobs and go to work.
3.We are in a huge debt because we keep borrowing money and havent paid it back yet. We also keep spending on the war and weapons for the war.We been in debt since 1969. Then they want to spend more money instead of trying to get out of debt.
4.We need to stop buying stuff that we dont need right now thier is more important stuff. yes i am willing to take on this muckraking with you.
Quinton furman
3rd hour
10-10-09

Anonymous said...

1. I think that our country is spending money on many different things. Some of the things that we are spending money on are useful and some have no use at all and probably shouldn’t have been invested in or purchased. We are spending our money on military items such as vehicles and various new types of technology, Health care, which has been a big issue in recent months, we are spending it on new buildings in the major cities of the country, public schools, and new technologies that will improve various companies.
2. I think that the government is spending so much of the countries money instead of letting the American people (us for example) spend it because they think that it is the safer way to go and they think that they will make better decision on what to spend the money on. I also think that the government thinks that if we spend the money there will be more chaos in the country because there will be more people losing jobs and investing in the wrong things.
3. Our country is in such national debt for a number of reasons. The government does not invest in all the right things and some of the stuff they invest in ends up costing us more in tax dollars. They also make trades world-wide as does every other country but the problem with our government is that when they make these trades for things such as oil and other natural resources they don’t realize that they are losing money instead of making it. The government also spends more than they take in, in an annual time frame. This is the key reason why the US is more that $11 trillion in debt.
4. I think that what we can do is make smarter trades with other countries around the world and we can invest in more beneficial things, ones that help people out including the poor and the government. I also think that the government should go over what they buy and spend annually and decide what is crucial and what is more of a “want than a need”. I guess I am willing to participate in the muckraking project too.

ALex Allen 5th hour

Anonymous said...

Jennifer Levin
1st hour

As tax payers, we are spending our money on paying politicians, congressmen, and government agencies, the military, education, health care, war(supporting troops), energy, and local services(such as roads, police, and fire departments). The reason why we are spending so much money is because we are not efficient at spending it wisely. There is nothing wrong with taxing peoples’ income, but the money needs to be spent fairly and efficiently. Instead of using the money to pay for politicians, big businesses, and banks, for example, that money could be used to eradicate disease, feed and shelter the homeless, and solve other human threats that are not being covered by the current system. The main reason we have such a huge national debt today is because people and banks made too many loans that they weren’t able to follow through with. In other words, the country is spending more than it has. To help fix this problem, or at least prevent it from getting worse, we can stop asking for loans that we cannot pay back, and cut down on spending money on things we don’t really need, focusing on more important necessities.

Anonymous said...

Matthew Brodley
5th Hour

We are spending our money on many different kinds of thinks things like improving our country, and getting supplies for the army and supplies for the poor. We spend money things like healthcare, public recreational areas i.e. water parks etc, and educational services as well. We are always spending so much of our money because we are constantly trying to make our country better and better, but the government does indeed spend a lot of money from taxpayer money on things that we don’t always need to spend money on. We have such a huge national debt with pretty much everyone because when we trade with other countries, we are losing money from the trading. Another reason that we are in debt is that since 1969, the U.S. congress has spent more money than they have made. This caused the national treasury to have to borrow money, therefore putting us further into debt then we already where. We should try to at least stick to our budgets so that we do not have to borrow money from our people and from other countries. I am willing to take on this project so that we can get out of debt and we can stop worrying about this issue.

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending money on the things America needs to run. Most of the money is being spent on public education, the army, roads and bridges, and services like garbage pickup. We are also spending money on the police, firefighters, and public recreational areas.
2. We are spending this money to ensure the safety of the American citizens and to make their lives easier. If there was no garbage pickup, people would have to take time out of their day to bring it to a landfill which can be miles away from their house. Without public education, many children would be uneducated which can result in having no job and being financially shaky.
3. We have a huge national debt because we spend a lot of money that we don’t have on things that we don’t need. The government is spending more money than they actually make. Also, we are making stupid trades to other countries which results in a loss of money instead of making money.
4. To get out of the debt we are in, the government needs to stop spending unnecessary money, make better, smarter trades, and stop borrowing money from other countries that we can’t pay off. I am willing to take on the muckraking project.

Jake Balicki
3rd Hour

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money on the basic things needed for life as well as the wants that come along with it. Americans tend to buy more than we really need. Taxes are paid to help support the government and our country as a whole. Our taxes also help aid those who can’t support themselves, like widows, orphans, elderly, and so on.
2. I think that naturally people are selfish and don’t want to share what they have with others. So people are looking for ways to keep from spending as much money on taxes as possible.
3. We have such a big national debt because of the wars starting with the Revolution. We have had to use more money than we had and we haven’t been able to pay it back. It keeps building and building up. Also, America is helping in projects in other countries with millions of dollars we don’t have.
4. We can only do so much as citizens of America. We can vote for a leader who will put words into action, make sure we all pay what we owe, and etc. there are many things that require absolute honesty and effort to make happen otherwise they just won’t work the way we want them to. I think that applies to this situation. Honestly, I wouldn’t want to get involved in joining you in muckraking this problem. It isn’t all that important to me right now. I don’t pay taxes, and I’m not experiencing anything that is caused by the government.
-Amanda Carrick 5th hour

Anonymous said...

1: We are spending our money on various things for our country. We are buying things for the war, new technology, and new buildings for cities. Our money also goes to public schools and companies. Some of our investments are very helpful, but others I’m sure we could of thought of a better way to spend our money.
2: If the government let us spend our money then a lot of it would be wasted on investments or a lot of people would lose their jobs because they just spend everything. If the government keeps the money then we can vote as what to spend it on, or the government will just make better decisions with it to help out our country.
3: We buy a lot of stuff. When we buy oil and other resources it costs so much we just cant pay it back, so we keep getting more and more in debt. We don’t always make the right decisions in buying things, and you cant realize that until you’ve actually bought something, then there is nothing you can do about it. We just need to think things through better before we buy it.
4: I think we should have a certain amount of money we can spend each year, and to not go over just buy things that will benefit our country and the people. If we also make smarter trades with people then we could save some money. Umm yeah I’m willing to help.

Melissa Pace 1st hour

Anonymous said...

1.We are spending are money on many things in this country, such as, police, firefighters, garbage collection, roads, military and healthcare. We need these things in order to run a stable country.
2.We spend this money because they are our everyday necessities. For example, if we didn’t spend the money on garbage collection, the trash would pile up somewhere and we would then have the problem of unsanitary living conditions. This would increase the spread of diseases and then increase the need for medical attention, which would then increase health insurance costs. Also, if we didn’t spend the money on law enforcement, there would be an increase in crime and there would be yet other expenses to resolve that problem.
3.We have such a huge national debt because we, as a country, keep spending money we don’t have. We keep asking for more money and borrowing it and are never able to pay it back. It is like people spending money they don’t have by charging things and not being able to pay it back. That is why are country is in such bad shape.
4.In order to fix our debt, we need to stick to a budget that is reasonable for us to follow. If we focus on fixing our country first and not always trying to fix and help other countries, we may be on the right track. Yes, I am willing to join in on this project.
Ashton Botsford, 1st hour

Anonymous said...

Alvin Pitris
3rd Hr.
1. We are spending most of our money on past and current military. 54% of our money goes to the military. The U.S. military spends more than the next 15 countries combined! It has spent over 515 billion dollars! And, 200 billion dollars in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars! This is all coming from our income tax. We are spending way too much money on the military. China spends only about 120 million, and they have more people living their! 30% goes to human resources, 11% to general government, and 5% to physical resources. None as much as the military though.
2. The government spends most of our money. They use the money even if the people don’t think they should, just look at the 700 dollar bailout, which was at first denied, but the government just pushed it, almost forcing the representatives to pass it, not listening to all of the people. We need to let the American people spend the money on better things to improve our country.
3. Our national debt is mostly from the military as I mentioned in number 1. We just spend more and more money every year on our wars. And it is not necessary at all. We need to stop the wars as soon as possible, we do have the choice to stop them, people want to stop them, and so we should stop them.
4. We can stop funding the wars, and cut down on military cost. We can also not spend money on ridiculous things such as 79 million dollars on sending a rocket to crash the moon. I am very willing to take on the muckraking project with you.

Anonymous said...

Crystal Oropeza
3rd Hour

1. We are spending our money on educational services and purposes, military, police, parks, highways, medical needs, and garbage pickup. These are important things that our country needs to survive, and be properly ran and together.
2. We are spending so much of our money because we need it to live. For example simple things like getting your garbage picked up every week couldn't be done with out pay. And with no garbage pick up things would not be good at all. Also, having libraries and police/firefighters need to be paid someway.
3. We are in such a huge debt problem because congress keeps on spending more money than it makes. So the more money spent this problem keeps accumulating and getting worse. The debt keeps getting larger and larger.
4. We need to stop borrowing money and limit what we spend money on and make sure its what we really need. What we spend money on needs to be what is best for us, and that won't hurt us financially. Yes i am willing.

Anonymous said...

1. Most of the money America is spending is going towards making our country better, whether it’s economically, environmentally, educationally, or legally. Our country pays for things like law enforcement, schooling, parks and recreation, or emergency services. This includes things like court judges, wars, sidewalks, garbage pick-up and recycling, parks, fire-fighters, police, and school services and equipment.
2. I think we spend so much of our money instead of letting the American people spend it because for the most part, the things that we pay for (see #1) almost everybody uses or benefits from at a point. If every citizen paid for these things separately things would be a lot less organized and more complicated.
3. Our country has such a big national debt because of wars we have participated in or supported in the past. Wars cost a lot of money, including all of the weapons, transportations, salaries, and other various hidden costs, and they cost so much money that it has put our whole country into debt. Borrowing money from other countries does not help either; it just digs us in even deeper into debt.
4. A couple ways we can decrease our debt is by buying American made products. This way we are supporting Americans and American companies who manufacture and sell these products. Another way to decrease our debt is to not pay for goods and services that Americans no longer use. Making smarter decisions about trade, war, foreign relations and support would also help.

Elyse Dumas - 5th hour

ian frederik 3rd hour said...

The American people spend their money on gumballs to mansions, but the real question should be; what should we be spending our money on? In my mind I believe that the American should spend their money on the necessities, and then things to make life more bearable, like a car, a bed, and cool gadgets.
The reason we spend so much of our money instead of the American people is because the American people say “it’s my money! I’ll spend it (or save it) the way I want.” This is foolish because money gets wasted on $1,000 clothes or $500,000 sport cars.
We have a huge national debt because: 1 the American people in general either save all their money or spend it on wasteful things. 2 companies give $1,000,000 bonuses to the CEO’s (and that’s real money not monopoly® money.) 3 companies aren’t always honest on their ledgers. 4 there are people who do not pay taxes.
We can rally, write letters to the congress-people, investigate, live in a cave somewhere, or we could FIGHT THE POWER!!!

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money on things to help and improve America. Our money is going towards libraries, civil services, health care, welfare, better roads, public schools, military services, and more.
2. We are spending so much of our money because we are benefiting from it, helping the economy, or helping other people. We would rather improve our country that not care and throw it into the arms of someone else.
3. We have such a huge national debt because we haven't been spending our money wisely, and we haven't been distributing our money correctly according to how much we are receiving. When we do that, it leaves us with less money than we started with.
4. To fix this, we should spend more time figuring out how to spend our money more wisely. We shouldn't be so ignorant with our money; we CANNOT spend more money than we are able to get back (unless it pays off in the end). Also, even though the wealthy already pay higher taxes than middle and lower class, they could donate some of their money to the cause of helping our country. I'm willing to take on this muckraking project.

Sydnee Cohen
5th hour

Anonymous said...

1.) Most Americans spend their money on useless items, like shoes that will be worn once or a $100 game for the wii that you end up never using. People should be spending their money on items that they need, like housing materials or things for the common good.
2.) I think that we are spending the money instead of the American people because when people get ahold of money, they have the urge to spend it right away. People do save some, but usually will end up blowing it all off.
3.) We have a huge national debt because we buy so much stuff that is useless for the rest of the world. People will either save up all of their money and never let anyone see any of it, or people will spend it right away. Both of these are causing the debt because the government doesn't see this money then to pay off the debt.
4.) I think that the government needs to stop spending money on useless stuff. They need to think about the entire country, rather then themselves. I guess I'll join this project, but if it gets too intense, I may back out.

Malarie French 3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Ryan Williams
3rd Hour

1. I think we are spending our money on things that are necessities to the American people. These are things like schools, jails, public buildings (post office, libraries, and exc.), roadways, the army, and the police. These things improve the standard of living of the American people, and without them life wouldn’t be the same.

2. The government spends so much money so we can keep these things listed above. Things like the army and the police are essential in protecting people from threats, both inside and out of the country. So we have to spend the money on these things to insure things like our safety, and it just happens that these things cost a lot of money, but that’s the price we have to pay.

3. Were in huge dept because, of a lot of things. I think most of our dept comes from wars, like the war in Iraq and Afghanistan which has cost us $915.1 billion dollars. Were also in dept because of the enormous bailouts given to the banks, in which the American people’s money was used to help bail out the banks for their mistakes.

4. We can improve this situation by limiting the wars we’re in, which will hugely reduce our debt. We can also try to limit our spending to things we need, and try to revive the Big 3 to help kick start our economy.

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money on a lot of things. It is all going to help improve the country. It goes to welfare, health care, jails, better roads, the military, and many more things. A lot of it is going to public education because it has become a main focus.

2. If we didnt give some money to the government then many things wouldnt get done. Jobs would be lost, cities dirtier, and the economy would just keep going down. We also buy what the money is going to. Even little services such as the trash getting picked up need money to run.

3. Many of the services we pay for cost a lot of money that the country cannot afford. More security has been enforced and it is all extreamly expensive. Also, the wars we have supported or fought in have taken a lot of money. From weapons and health care and more. These things suck up our money.

4. America needs to learn how to spend our money more wisely. We need to brainstorm ideas on how to decrease the money spent. If we bought more american made products then we wouldnt spend as much on importing and exporting things.

Rebecca Cook
5th Hour

Anonymous said...

Ari Franklin

5th hour

1. We are spending our money on important things through taxes. We are spending our money on stuff like keeping up roads, keeping schools running and helping the military.
2. We need to be spending our money because if we didn’t the little things like the garbage being picked up wouldn’t be able to happen. If these little things aren’t being paid for then it will lead to other things falling apart and maybe the falling apart of America.
3. We are in so much debt because the U.S has been making poor financial choices. A main thing that started our debt is in 1969 the U.S government had spent more money then they had made and then they had to begin borrowing money from other countries.
4. We can work on this by not spending so much money and not borrowing money from other countries. I would be willing to take on the muckraking project.

Anonymous said...

Our tax dollars are spent on national defense, health care, education, national debt, improving public areas and roads, public servants, research, and other things. The reason we are spending so much is because if we do not spend as much as we are on our debt or research, then we could fall behind other countries. The reason we have such a high national debt is because the U.S.A borrowed money from other countries, mostly to spend on our military. However, not only do we keep borrowing money, but the interest on the money we borrow is increasing faster then we can pay it off. This causes the debt to sky rocket incredibly fast and our national debt to rise. To stop this spiral into infinite debt, we should set a debt limit that does not increase except for inflation. We should also be cautious of the money we borrow and make sure we can pay it off before we borrow. Finally, consulting the public before borrowing money from another country could help stop debt from increasing as well.
Jacob Hasenau, 5th hour

Anonymous said...

1. Through taxes we’re spending our money on our protective services like police, firemen, and U.S. military and bailouts for banks. More benefits we receive through taxes are public education, roads, routine garbage pickup and public facilities.
2. We are spending our money because the services provided by the government needs funding too, otherwise we couldn’t have as many of the necessities like roads to drive on or protection when you are among criminals in the streets.
3. Each year since 1969, Congress has spent more money than its income. This causes the Treasury Department to borrow money to meet Congress’s appropriations.
4. One of the only ways fix this problem is to increace taxes or cut some of the governments programs to reduce spending. Yes, I am willing to take on the muckraking project with you.

Keon Collier
3rd hour

Source: http://www.federalbudget.com/

Anonymous said...

1st hour
10/11/09
Natalie Hords

1. As i type, i think about the drivers, the people who take out the trash, those who are fighting in the army, the kid that got sick the other day, the house that caught on fire in my old subdivision, and the teachers looking over papers that were turned in a few days ago. all these things have one thing in common, tax money! from fixing up the roads, to garbage men, to supplies for the war, healthcare, firemen, policemen, and even public schooling all need money in order to operate. that tax money comes from us, yet the government decides what to do with it.
2. we're spending so much of our money because we're trying to improve society. if the American people were let loose with this money, they wouldn't be spending it on the right things like services that help our communities run smoothly.
3. we're in huge national debt because a very good portion of our money is going towards the war. that's only one factor that contributes to our debt. the government spends our money on the wrong things, for example sending more people to the moon... even though i love astronomy, we don't need to be spending billions of dollars on space equipment when our economy is falling apart. also we keep borrowing money and promising to pay it back yet we never do. we have a list of I.O.U.'s.
4. we need to put our money towards things that matter the most, not space travel. we need to help the people who are struggling so in the end they can help build our economy. we need to get out of this war thats dragged on for far too long. we need to invest our money in a smart manner so we don't keep loosing everything.
and sure why not.

Anonymous said...

1. We spend our money on many different things including law enforcement, firefighters, organized military, public schools, buildings such as libraries, hospitals, court houses and prisons. They money also goes to public services like garbage pick-up and road service.
2. We spend this money to make our lives better. Sure if we didn’t have to pay these taxes we might save money but once a week do you want to take your garbage to the dump. Do you want criminals living amongst us because there are no prisons? Spending this money gives every child a chance to attend school and receive an education. By spending this money we are making our country a better place.
3. We are in such national debt because people had spend now pay later sort of attitude meaning, we spend more than we collect in taxes, which cause the government to run to deficits as a result. We are also importing more than we are exporting and we have to borrow money to do this.
4. To try to get the nation out of debt we will either have to stop spending as much our figure out a way for our government to get more money which would most likely involve raising taxes.

Jon Holland 5th Hour

Anonymous said...

alex wong 3rd hour

We are spending our tax dollars on public things as well as some private things that are unnecessary to spend the money on; a couple things we are spending our money on is public schools parks and state projects such as road ways and highways. National taxes pay for interstate highways and national parks and land marks such as the Lincoln memorial and Mount Rushmore

We are spend lots of our money right now on the war in Iraq and we have a large national debt to other countries we have such a huge national debt because we barrowed from lots of countries and have kept barrowing without being able to repay them china for example is one of the countries we barrowed from the most.

We can stop barrowing from china because we owe them lots of money already and we shouldn’t dig ourselves a deeper grave that we can never get out of right now the hole is almost as tall as us and very soon we will be trapped.

Anonymous said...

Blog # 22


We are spending our money on things for our country such as school, healthcare, police and fire departments, the military, streets and railroads, stores and businesses, etc.
We are spending so much of our money instead of letting the American people spend it because the government obviously needs that money to actually provide these things for us. They need our help to make this country a better place to live in. The government needs money to supply jobs for us to make more money for the government.
We have such a huge national debt due to the fact that the government is spending money on unnecessary things that we do not need, like weapons for the war. On top of that, we are spending money we don’t even have. We have been in debt since 1969 and continuously borrow money from the other countries, which makes the situation worse.
We should stop spending so much money every day and create a budget for ourselves. However the government needs to do the same, and actually focus on pulling American out of debt. Yes I am willing to take on this muckraking project with you.

Norell

Anonymous said...

Tim wimbush 5h hour 10-12-09
what i beilive that we are spending are money on now are nassecities because our economy is restricting us from getting our wants so things like ipods and ps3 and new clothes.i think we are spending so much of our money because were thinking it will solve it but we cant let the american people spend it because it will peobably go to the wrong cause.we have such a huge national debt because we spent so much of our money and borrowed so much money to pay for the war and stuff that would make the other surrounding countries against us. what we can do about is try and not spend or cut back on spending on things that hurt us. and try to heal our economy so we can pay off our debts.yes i am willling to take on this muckracking project with you so we can crack down on this lavish spending and wasteful spending and punish the people who are at the bottom of all these issues.

Anonymous said...

We are spending our money on mostly war expenses. One example the missiles we might fire at the enemy cost $100,000 or more each and that’s just the missiles the attack aircraft and guns and ammo cot even more so where are w supposed to get that money so we get tax on everything except food and not even all of that is enough to pay for everything they say we need for the war
We are spending all the money we can get from tax to pay for the war and all the countries we still owe money to
We have such a huge national because we barrowed money from countries all around the world to pay for the war and so all of that added up to the amount we still owe to other countries. We owe so much money to china that they almost own us.
There is not much anyone can do except not buy anything besides food because we will owe all of those countries for generations so and even longer because of the bad economy we have right now and more tax will just make people angry and higher taxes will make people angry too

B.T. Constantine

Anonymous said...

I think that most of our money is being spent on the war in Iraq, and education. A lot of our money goes to support the war and troops overseas. Much of the money gets spent on health care, supplies food, and education. We also spend our money on communities, recreational parks, and schools. I don’t know the main reason the US is national debt, but, maybe its because the government keeps spending our tax money on unnecessary things we don’t need. Like the war over in Iraq. We are over their reconstructing another country when our country isn’t anywhere near constructed. We spend billions of dollars overseas when many schools are shutting down because we don’t have enough money to keep them running. I think the government needs to let the community spend the money and American people instead of the board. If we spend the money ourselves the economy will go up and we will prosper. National debt is a problem because we don’t strategies about what we spend our money on.

Jalen S.

Anonymous said...

We are currently spending our money on the military presence in Afghanistan and the national debt. The bailout programs for the banks has also taken a lot of our budget up.
The government spends so much of the money without letting the American people spend it because the government costs money. Without the money spent on the country, by the country, many services would not take place. Programs and services like school, police, roads etc would not exist.
The reason we have such a huge national debt is because we ask for help too many times from other countries. We are also inefficient with the way the money is spent. Maybe we hand out too much money, too.
We could save money by cutting down on the paper work the government does with all our services and streamlining the way things are done. We could stop asking other countries to help us out and cut down on military spending.

David Hoffman
October 12, 2009
3rd hour

Anonymous said...

Matt Baker
3rd Hour
1.) The American Government is spending money on many things that may or may not be in the greatest interest of the general public. For example, the Government spends around 50% of Income Tax on Military and Health alone, which most people feel is important to have, but one thing that society might want more of their income tax to be focused on is education, which receives only about 3% of your income taxes.
2.) The U.S. is reluctant to allow its citizens to spend their income tax on what they want because some people can make foolish decisions that can end up working against the country, rather than advancing it for the better.
3.) America has a huge national debt because the government tries too hard to make living conditions in America so good that it ends up bringing our country down.
4.) Society can fight this debt only if they are first exposed to the reality of it, only then will they speak out against the government to stop spending their taxes on things that many Americans don’t find to be very important.

Alex said...

1.) We are currently spending our money on the following: ( highlights of where the funds go)
*Current Military----$965 billion
*Past Military--$484 billion
*Human Resources--$789 billion
*General Government--$304 billion
*Physical Resources---$117 billion
2.) If we spent the money versus the government:
*We need to take care of ourselves first. If we improve education and healthcare we would have healthier and better educated people in this country. We need a healthcare system that everyone can afford-the amount of ill people would decrease dramatically.
*The AIDS and the drug problem are real—and getting worse every day. Drugs doesn’t only involve the “poor or un-educated people—it affects all levels of society.”
*The behavioral health system stinks in this country. As long as you have insurance or money to pay out of your pocket, you will have a better chance of becoming stable to where you can hold a job. The problem is without insurances you either end up in the ED or jail to go through “withdrawals”—and then you end up back on the street anyway. People with mental illness are almost treated sub standard in this country. Hospitals are closed that treated the mentally ill due to no federal funding. These people deserve care too.
3.) The National Debt is huge because over half the public debt is owed to individuals, corporations, and foreign governments who have purchased Treasury Bills, Notes, and Bonds. The rest is owed by the government to itself, and is held as Government Account Securities. Most of this is owed to the Social Security and other trust funds. At $11.6 trillion, the U.S. debt is the highest in the world. It was allowed to get like this because the economy in the U.S. had been so strong and so stable for so long that everyone reasonably expected they would be paid back. The U.S. has been such a large customer that it was allowed to run up a huge tab.
4.) What can we do about the debt? We can work on getting rid of ordinary democrats and run of the mill republicans—they are unacceptable. Research to see what incumbents voted for the comprehensive Social Security amendments of 1983. These amendments appear that they allowed decades of overspending and lies possible.

Alex Victor
10-11-09
Hour 5

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending are money on a lot of things. We spend are money on roads, military, jails, and etc... we need all these things to keep the U.S running efficiently. If we dont then other nations might become a better army then we are and are roads will deteriorate and we wont be able to get around as easy.
2. We are spending so much money because we need to remain the top nation. are army needs to be constantly improving there technology and weapons. so we can keep all the bad guys in jail.
3.I feel we have such a big debt is because of all the bail outs. we had to bail out the insurance companies because if we didn't then we would be in a worse economic down fall.
4. we can cut down all the money so we dont spend as much on things we dont need as much.
blake groskind
HOur 1

Anonymous said...

Luke Rappley
1st Hour
1.We are spending our money on things like protective services, national parks, hospitals, public education and things we take for granted like garbage pickup and road salting.
2.We have to spend so much of our money to keep these services up and running. We also have to pay the government employees.
3.We have such a large national debt because the government spends more money than they take in from taxes. We are spending it mainly in the war.
4.We can end the war in Iraq. We are spending $78.1 billion on the war alone. If we stop funding that then we could greatly reduce the national debt. We could also stop borrowing money from other countries.Yes, I will take on this muckraking project with you.

Anonymous said...

Ezra Woodard
Hour 3
We are spending too much of the tax money on short term needs in both the protection and empowerment categories of the common good. Most of the money goes to the workers in the police/military, firefighters, roads, public education, and other public buildings. What’s left will then go to update their equipment. The government is spending all of our money because they, unlike the majority of us, know what to spend it on and how it will benefit all of us. Sometimes, in some areas the government they had no idea what they were doing, especially when the government spent a lot of the money in the invasion and occupation of Iraq. Another time is when they borrow money from other countries increasing the ever-expanding line of debt. Citizens are financially responsible to maintain this common wealth while the government is supposed to wisely choose a fair way of what to do with it. Instead we should be focusing on the future and what will come. If we do not raise the weight of responsibility and this unwise spending continues then we will not be able to maintain a lively economy and not even a decent education for the future generations of America.

Anonymous said...

Austin Rovinski 5th hour-Wickersham 10/12/09

1. We are spending our money on government projects, company bailouts, and overseas wars. These are the major deficit-causers, but other areas include education, general social services, and law enforcement.
2. We are spending so much of our money because elected Congressmen who have the power to control the national budget are spending money on things that they think are best for the country. Unfortunately because of our representation system, this doesn’t always agree with the views of the general public, and the Congressman also might not do what’s best for the country, seeing as very few, if any, Congressmen have degrees in economics.
3. We have such a huge national debt as mentioned before because Congressmen are voting bills based on what the outcome should be, not the resources required for it. Therefore, they fail to care that they are spending money that they don’t have on projects that may or may not work, and then expect the taxpayers to cover it.
4. The most important thing to do is vote for senators and representatives that support options that will definitely reduce debt. I am willing to take on this project.

Anonymous said...

Dustin Oakwood
3rd Hour

1. Currently we are spending our tax payer’s money on a variety of necessities such as: protection, which includes the police, firefighters, public health, and military. Our money is also going towards the roads that we use everyday, the public education (especially thankful for that one), the banking system (loans and economic stability, etc.) Courts, National parks, Public buildings all are funded by our tax money.
2. We our spending our money currently on paying off our massive debts to other countries, I believe that this is a priority over materialistic things.
3. Our national debt is due to a) our continued unnecessary interference in wars, b) our oil.
4. We can make the American people more aware of our dangerous spending habits. We can advertise better products that use less energy and conserve power and money. We can do a number of fundraisers to raise awareness of the colossal debt we owe. What we need to di is simple, spend less and pay off debts, is it really that hard for the American people to give up some simple things for healthier things?

first post i forgot my name so i added it in this time.

Anonymous said...

Kaleigh Passarelli
U.S. History 1st hour
We are spending our money on public needs such as policemen, firemen, hospitals, etc. We spend so much of our money instead of letting the American people spend it because at times it takes the American people weeks to decide something. Then the money would already be gone, and if we needed to get something because of a crisis happening, it might be over before we even decided what to buy. We spend so much money because people like to have money that they themselves can spend. We have such a huge national debt because during war time the United States borrowed money from other countries and now the total amount we borrowed has added up and now we have a huge national debt.

What we can do is get more people to know about the money they spend; the money our government spends and even how their own school spends money. Yes I am willing to take on the muckraking project with you because people need to know the facts, not "Oh, the national debt is a bunch of money the U.S. owes. Now in 1894..." Stupid, isn’t it. People have a right to know what the national debt really is. They have a right as citizens of the United States of America.

Anonymous said...

Muhannad Al-Bakkour
1st Hour

Our money goes towards things like police enforcement, national parks, public schools and library's all around America. We spend too much of our money on wars and walls on the boarder instead of letting the American people spend it on things they would like to spend it on. Part of the reason we have such a huge national debt is because we spend tons and tons of money on wars instead of helping out the poor in America. Instead of supporting Israel in killing tons of innocent Palestine’s, we should send the money to the kids in Palestine that haven't seen food in days. What we can do is stop supporting Israel, and take at least 25% of we used to spend on the war, and give it to the innocent kids in Palestine. I would be more than happy to do a muckraking project about this with you.

Anonymous said...

Alice Turner 1st hour
1. It seems like lately the country has been putting too much of our money into the “war on terror” and into itself – giving taxpayers money to big corporations to spend it on who knows what. (I’ve found that the big players on Wall Street that were bailed out were never actually required to tell what they spent the money on. The money was given on a don’t ask – don’t tell basis! What the ****?!) We also spend money on things to improve things such as education systems, welfare. and healthcare
2. I think that the government believes that in order for the American people to stimulate the economy by spending money they much first bail out the big corporations so they economy is healthy enough to sustain the money the consumers contribute. (Even though the money that they used from the bailout was the taxpayer’s money… so they’re spending the money for us on the same thing the money would’ve been contributed too… how nice.) I also believe that were putting money into the wrong things. Our priorities are out of order and were putting too much money into things that don’t need it.
3. I think there is such a large deficit because of a lot of bad choices have been made when it comes to spending money. Somehow the nation has twice turned a surplus into a HUGE economic recession. I also think that the fact were in such a bad situation means that obviously somewhere people weren’t informed of everything that wasn’t going on. It seemed to me as if people were happy to bailout or own economy then all of a sudden they realized what was going on thanks to leaks from the media and overnight it seemed that people finally got angry.
4. I think that in order to do something, people need to get informed. I think that they also need to realize that you have to do something before it gets to such a point where total destruction is a possible outcome. If we had tried to change something earlier, it’s possible that this whole economic recession may have never happened. I think it’s definitely a project worth taking on.

Lizzy said...

1.We are spending our money on different things, like food, clothing, payments, and debts. Besides the usual things that the government pays for (public transportation, buildings, police, firemen, Congress, etc), the government is also spending our tax money on “fixing” or trying to fix the economy, the wars we are currently in, and the huge wall that is going in between the U.S and Mexico.
2.The government is spending so much of our money to try and fix the nation’s problems. The economy, for example, is declining quickly. If Americans had more money, they could buy more and circulate more money through the economy. The government is, instead, taking more money from the people and places (schools, businesses, etc) that need and should get the same amount of money, if not more, from the government. Cutting money from schools, and the nation’s future-kids that go to public schools- will not help in the long term, only the short.
3.We have such a huge national debt because the government, the nation is borrowing money from other countries without a way to pay them back. The nation, in order to fix its debt problem, spends more money, which just ends up putting us farther into the debt. Then, the U.S decides to borrow more money to build a wall in between U.S and Mexico to stop illegal immigrants. Instead of finding other, less expensive means to stop them, we simply waste more money for a big, expensive wall. We could start a program to get more illegal immigrants citizenship. These programs could create more jobs for Americans, which will help the economy and put more people into work.
4.We can inform more people about these problems. We can get people and ourselves to write letters to our Congressmen and House of Representatives to fix these problems and national debts without adding more taxes, taking money away from places and people that need it, wasting more money and while creating more jobs.

-Lizzy, 1st hour

Anonymous said...

I think that we are spending money on many things to help improve our country like healthcare, schools and education like books and teachers. Also we are spending our money on the army, more advance technology, and securtie to help keep the country safe.

They are spending so much money insted of letting the american people spend it because if the Americans had the money theyh would spend it on tv's, ipods and things to mostly benefit them and not the counrty. Some might help out the country but i think most Americans would just help out their families.

We have such a huge national debt because of Geaorge Bush and all the unessasry money that we spend in war and we are overspending.

We can not put alot of money into the war and gradually try to bring that debt down dramatically.

No im sorry i am not willing to go on the muckrager project with you i am very busy.

Adam Sugarfree Pauley
10/12/09
2nd hour represent

Anonymous said...

Rudy Schreier 10-13-09
1.We are spending our money on many things in taxes. For example, we are paying taxes for army equipment/needs, roads, services like snow plowing, public parks, and for the education of many Americans.
2.We’re spending so much money because it is fair and it is very much needed. Instead of letting the rich keep all their money, possibly spending it on goods that would only benefit them, its right to tax them so the people who are less fortunate get parks and community centers in their neighborhood. Not only the less fortunate, but all of us need snow plowing in the cold December of Michigan. Without it, we would have way too many snow days, which aren’t entirely bad, but could really affect our education.
3.We have such a huge national debt because the government is spending more money than its income. They’re spending it on wars and weapons and not being careful about how much they spend.
4.I think we should pull out of the war. We’ve done so much destruction to Iraq; we really have no purpose being there any longer. The money we’re spending there is ridiculous. If we pull out of this war, we could save a ton of money, and try and get rid of this debt.

Anonymous said...

Margeaux Phillips 1st Hour

1. We spend our money on all varieties of things, from the necessities like food and clothing, to debts and other expenses. The government is trying to fix our economy, and the only way to make money is to spend money. We must spend money to pay for all our daily services such as public transportation, public education, healthcare, libraries, police and firemen, military etc.

2. They are spending a large majority of the money instead of the American people, because all of our important services need money in order to run. The American people clearly need public transportation and schools and military. Without these essentials, life would be a lot more difficult.

3. We insist on spending money that we do not have. We think that it’ll benefit us in the long run, but really we’re just digging ourselves deeper and deeper into debt.

4. We need to stop spending money that we don’t have and spend the money only on the fundamentals. Many services that we spend our funds on are not necessarily that important, we should be spending this money on more vital things such as paying back debts and trying to end this recession.

Anonymous said...

Griffin Harms
1st Hour
1.) The money from taxes goes towards many of the things that make America such a great country. These things include local funds(Water, police and fire dept., trash pick-up, and schools), state funds(Roads, state representatives, unemployment funds) and national funds(National defense, national representatives, homeland security)
2.) We are spending our money on taxes instead of letting the American people spend it because people spend their money on things that promote personal gain(House, cars, goods, services) When taxes pay for much of the things that we take for granted(Politics, roads, schools, gov't services) in American society.
3.) We are in a huge National debt because the money is not going towards the right things, instead its going towards big business and wars in other countries. That combined with the current economic recession is what made the US end up with a huge debt.
4.) One thing that we can do to help make sure the money is spent on the right things is inform politicians and the American people of what to do with taxpayers money. I don't have any interest in this muckraking project at this time in my life.

Anonymous said...

Kendal Gunbleton
1st Hour

We are spending our money on many things including the war, improving our country, helping the poor, healthcare, educational systems, and public recreational areas like national parks. The reason why we spend the money and not the American people because it helps pay for simply things that we are so used to we don’t even think about it, like the mail and garbage pickup every week. The reason why we have such a huge national debt is because of thee extremely large amounts of money we spend on war expenses and many other things that our nation spends on things like improving the country and bailing companies out. Things we can do about this are not spending money, or as much money on things we don’t necessarily need. Also we don’t need to spend as much money probably on the war, even though we need improvements to help our soldiers but maybe just not things that cost hundreds of billions of dollars.

Harshita Pinnamaneni said...

1.)We are spending our money on several things. First our local tax money goes to funding for our schools, local libraries, parks, etc… Our federal tax money also goes to many things like welfare for the poor, healthcare, mail, prisons, courts,transportation, and the military. We are spending this much money to maintain the U.S. economy so society can keep on running from the funds our tax money uses.

2.) I think the government is spending so much money to solve for the economic recession and to fix nationbased problems. The Government is also spending money to earn money, like in order for the auto industry to make profits they have to be able to maintain the industry in the first place. Although the government may be gaining more controll (as some people believe we are moving towards a more socialist society)which is partially caused by an increase in spending, it seems that an increase in government spending was caused by the irresponsibility or inability for American people businesses and companies to spend there own money effectively.

3.) I think there are multiple factors that added up to cause our great national debt. FIrst, too many bank loans (another reason why Americans spending may be difficult, rather than the government). Another reason is caused from the competing worldwide economies, causing several U.S. companies and businisses, including the Auto Industry, to fall behind which can eventually cause companies to go banrupt meaning more loans and an increase in the federal deficit. Also competition within the nation could result in the same effects as world wide competing economies. And irresponsible spending from the AMerican people and government also contributes to the national debts.

4.) I think we should educate people on spending their money wisely so the government won't have to interfere as much and spend less money. Also I think the government can distribute our tax payers money more effectively, so the economy can run more efficiently and we can reduce the national debt, and once we start improving our national debt I think less governmental intervention will be needed.

Harshita Pinnamaneni

Anonymous said...

Right now, some of the largest sums of money are going to the army, health care, construction (roads and buildings), new technology, education, and police/fire. I think another large chunk of our money is going toward paying back money we owe to other countries. I think the money is being spent instead of letting the American people spend it because we (or rather the government) thinks that the way it is being spent is the right way to be spending the money. While many of these things are necessary, some of the money that goes towards these things could be eliminated. We have such a huge national debt mostly because of money owed to other countries. This money was borrowed during times of war. Every war, we are helped out by other countries, and over hundreds of years this debt has piled up. There are several things we can do. The government can be smarter with spending and realize what is most important. We personally can only spend money on necessities, and we can also try to expose unnecessary spending by the government. I would be willing to go on this muckraking project with you.
Brad Benghiat 1st Hour

Anonymous said...

Blog # 22- Flat tax or progressive tax
We are spending money on a lot of different things. Mainly our tax payer dollars are being used for government spending. Some examples of this are the government’s need to protect city emergency workers such as police, firefighters, public health, and military units. This money is also used for roads, public education, banking systems for loans and economic stability. I think the American people want these services up to date as much as the government does. Right now in Washington there is a huge debate going on over health care. I believe the people defiantly want free health care. We also have such a huge national dept because Americans and the American government were doing care free spending without thinking of the consequences. A way to make this better and get out of dept which we have been doing is to just be careful about what you buy and how much you spend.
Liam Rush

Anonymous said...

1. The American people are actually spending their hard-earned money on many other things besides protection and empowerment. This includes the war in the Middle-East, bailouts to the insurance companies and banks, and the living requirments of prisons.

2. The government is in control of so much of our money for a very good reason. Whithout the government taking money for taxes, public schools, roads, police, firefighters, and many other things would not exist. All these things would rely on charity for funding. We need the government to take money to support these very necessary things.

3. However, we still have a huge national debt. This is because more Americans are becoming impoverished everyday and cannot pay taxes. Also, a lot of money is funding the Iraq War, which is very costly. These factors hurt the government's income, so they borrow from other countries. But since the economy is in a recession, we cannot pay those countries back.

4. On the other hand, we can do a few things to solve this problem. For one, if we stopped the Iraq War, we would save a whole lot of money. Also, if we stopped government spending on other unecessary things, we would be able to better get America out of this economic collapse.

Isaac - 1st

Anonymous said...

Blaine Bishop
1st hour

1) The american people are spending their money on necessities like schools, jails, roads, street lighting, and etc. Our money is also going towards funding the war in the middle east.

2)We are spending so much of our money for good reasons, if the government didn't take in taxes police, firefighters and other free public services would not be available to us. They are also collecting our money to actually help the average citizen make money in the long run, for example with all these companys going out of business if they are saved by the government then thousands of Americans lose jobs.

3) I beleive we have such a huge national debt is because a good deal of our money was used unwisely in the war. There were times were we sent infantry to places trying to uncover W.M.Ds which never existed in the first place.

4)We could do a few things in order to lessen our nation's great debt, the first of which is to finally get out of the middle east once and for all. I dopn't beleive we should be trying to solve other nation's problems when we have a good deal ourselves.

Anonymous said...

1. The u.s.a. is spending its money on many things including improving our country, supplies for the army and supplies for the poor. The government also uses your money for wars, they pay for the guns, the soldiers, the vehicles.
2. We need to let the government have it to spend it so that our economy will keep growing also we
3. Our debt is really big because we keep taking money from other countries like china and we are over spending and we keep doing that so its like a crazy cycle
4. im not sure on what we should do about it but im sure that if we keep doing what we are doing we are going to go bankrupt and no (i dont like work)

Jake R. - 3rd

Anonymous said...

1. We are spending our money on many things, like military, social security, education, and civil services. All of these things are paid by the government with our tax money.
2. We are spending so much money instead of letting the American people spend it because the government can use the money to help the country as a whole and one person would just spend it on themselves.
3.We have such a huge national debt because of over spending and that we use more money than we have coming in.
4. We could all vote one year to have taxes go strictly to our country's debt to fix the problem. I would be willing to take this on as a muckraker.

Willie Beattie
3rd Hour

Anonymous said...

We are spending our money on things like financing the war or to bail out the failing businesses in our country. We also need to spend a lot of the money to maybe get rid of some of the debt that we have. The government is spending most of the money because they think that by them spending it they will be able to bring our country back out of debt if they are in charge of the money. They are worried that American people will buy things that they really don’t need and that needless spending adds up to pay the rest of the countries we owe. We have such a huge national debt because we had to borrow money for the number of wars that we took part in. So when we were already in debt we had to use more U.S. money to bail out several big businesses that needed our help. I think that if we spent our money wisely most of our debt problems would disappear.

Blake - 5th

Anonymous said...

Brittney Jernigan
5th Hour

1.) We are spending our money on public and private services such as schools, roads, police, fire, healthcare, welfare, the war and much more.

2.)The government, in my opinion spends our tax money better than the American people would. What would it be like if there weren't garbage trucks to pick up our garbage, or a fire department to call when there is a fire? The government uses it somewhat wisely.

3.)We have such a huge national debt mostly because of the war in Iraq, and previous wars. Also our money is going to big businesses that are broke. Sometimes we spend our money on unnecessary things.

4.)We can cut down on military spending, we should actually just end the war all together. I am willing to take on this mucracking project with you.

Anonymous said...

1. Our taxes pay for many things. Such as potection serves like, military, firemen, and police. Also it pays for our education, roads, parks, and things for the common good.
2. We are spending our money on taxes because it is more convenient if we all help each other out. We want the servers it provides, because it makes our lives easier. We value what we get for it, like education and police protection.
3. We have such a huge national debt because we continue to spend money that we don’t have. As we carry on doing this, we become more and more in dept and it piles up. The government it spending more money then they make.
4. To get out of debt, America has to start making a lot of changes. It would be helpful if Americans start buying more American made products. Also if we cut of a lot of the unnecessary things we spend our money on, and made smarter choices, that would really help.

Randi - 1st

Anonymous said...

Erin R. -1st hour
1. We spend our money on health care, education, supplies and pay for the men and women in the army, navy etc., firefighters, paramedics, police women, roads and more. All of these things are important to help us in our everyday life and we pay for these things by taxes.
2. If we didn’t spend our money on these things then we would probably be taken over by another country, our communities wouldn’t be safe without police protection, we couldn’t get to work without decent roads, everything would be very chaotic and hectic if the government didn’t have the funding to hire police, firefighters, the army etc. We would have to step up and do the things that our government no longer pays for.
3. We currently have huge national debt because congress keeps spending money that we don’t have and borrowing money that we can’t pay back and our debt just grows and grows.
4. To get us out of debt, we should spend our money on things we absolutely need and make smarter trades. We should set a limit of what we can spend and try to pack back our debt. Yes, I am willing to help!

Anonymous said...

#1

I don’t think that we had a good reason to go to war with Spain. The U.S.S. Maine did blow up but we still to this day don’t really know if the Spaniards did it. Our if it was just a coincidence and the Spanish were innocent. Also even if they did they offered to back out of Cuba and tried to get out of the upcoming battles. I think that the Spanish knew that America was stronger than they were and they didn’t stand a chance against us in a war. Also we let the media control the government the people wanted a war because the media wanted a war and vice versa. Also the media threw yellow journalism made it seem like the Spanish were guilty. I think that we went to war for the wrong reasons and didn’t do it as a last resort.

Nick P

Anonymous said...

Keith Wright
3rd

#1 I’m not really sure what the question asks as in what are we spending money on as individuals or what our tax money is being used for. So I guess I’ll write about what our county is spending our money on.
Our county is spending our money on keeping our cities and towns safe by paying police and fire fighters and so on. The government is also using our money to arm and train our soldiers to defend our county.

#2 the reason our government wants our money is a simple subject. What does everyone want more of…. Money, that right but they can only obtain money by getting it from us.

#3 Our County is in such a large amount of debt because we keep spending money that does not exist and we keep borrowing money that we can’t pay back.

#4 our county is without a doubt in debt and we need to find a system to get us out of it weather it is increasing taxes or smarter trade or not borrowing money that we can never pay back. We need to fix this increasing problem.

Anonymous said...

1) The U.S. of A is spending money on many things. We are spending our money on or military technology and health care; also on certain buildings we can improve The U.S. is distributing the money the best they can and what they feel is right for the American people.

2) We are spending all this money to improve jails and public buildings such as schools and libraries. We are also spending it on technology to improve living and the military. This is crucial for the future.

3) We are in debt because of the money that we are throwing into the wars. We should put money in the wars but not so much that we are going to be in debt for.

4) I have no view if I want to help

Adam E.

Anonymous said...

Jimmy McCafferty
5th hour
1. We as a country are spending much of our money on education, wages, military, and health care in order to preserve and improve these services and jobs.
2. We are spending our money instead of letting the American people spend it because the money our country gains is best used to preserve, improve, and protect it. I fit was not used for this the US would crumble and the money would cease to exist for the American people to be able to spend it.
3. We have such a large national debt because congress continues to spend more than they receive causing the need to borrow from other countries in order to cover these expenses which, in turn, sinks us deeper and deeper in debt.
4. In order to fix this, cuts must be made in our spending and a budget must be followed in order to keep from falling further into debt.