Does Free education and healthcare = more taxes?

Question

The cost of living in Europe and Australia is significantly more than in United States even with free college and healthcare.

Answer 1

Since the obvious answer is, "YES", there can be no "Free education and healthcare". Using taxes to pay for these things at the federal level is unconstitutional.

Answer 2

Yes the cost of living is higher because everyone wants to live there.

Answer 3

I'm writing this from my hospital bed after needing emergency surgery. When I leave I will be given medication to take home.



And the bill I will be presented with? Zero because myself and my fellow citizens pay a 2% levy. So I can concentrate on getting back to work sooner.

Answer 4

Yes but the extra tax is 50% of what you pay for those services and no one goes bankrupt due to medical bills.

Answer 5

Simplistically speaking, yeah.



I would be in favor of a single payer healthcare, as in Medicare buy in for all, if we could find a way of not causing a lot of unemployment in the healthcare sector. The concept that Republican hate is that it will lower healthcare costs, so doctors will get about half or a quarter of what they get now, if they get that much. Drug companies will wind up in the same boat. That will cause unemployment.



I am not necessarily in favor of free College education, rather I want money back guaranteed results from College Education.



The guarantee would be:



When you graduate you will earn your grade point average

times minimum wage

times the number of hours you are available for work in a year

up to a limit of 2080, as restricted by the rules of unemployment compensation,

or, you get some portion or all of your tuition, back.



That guarantee would have the impact of deflating grades so that graduating college will become much harder.

.

Answer 6

Taxes fund government spending -- there is no free lunch

Answer 7

Such benefits are not free. Taxpayers are the source of support for such programs.

Answer 8

Yes. Tax rates all over Europe are astronomical. Many people there, not just the rich, lose the MAJORITY of their incomes to taxes.

Answer 9

As opposed to crushing debt your entire life from college loans and medical bills?



You get what you pay for unless you are in a red state, where you get what blue states pay for.

Answer 10

US taxes are no fun and for that you get nothing but a huge armed force.

Answer 11

Oh hell no. Take a look north to debunk that crackpot old US myth.

Canada, after all, is home the richest middle class in Human history thus far:



'Canada is rich in real wealth'

'Canada's middle class richest in world'

'Canadians get rich at a faster pace than Americans'

'The Crazy Rich Canadians Are Getting Even Richer'

'Canada has the richest middle class working citizens'

'Why Is Canada Rich While Other Countries Are So Poor?'

'In Canada, the 'poor' are getting richer faster than the 'rich'

'Richer, smarter, taller: A measure of Canada from the OECD'

'Canada's middle class better off than U.S. counterparts: study'

'Life in Canada, Home of the World's Most Affluent Middle Class'

'Canada Has World's Fastest-Growing Population Of Super-Rich'

'Canada is officially home to the richest middle class on the planet'

'Current generation of young Canadians wealthiest ever: federal study'

'Canadian families are getting wealthier, Statistics Canada study says'

'Richest. Seniors. Ever. How the luckiest generation keeps making money'

'The most prosperous nation in the Americas, Canada ranks first in personal freedom'

'Why Canada Is Able to Do Things Better - the country understands you pay for what you get'

'Canadians the wealthiest ever, with average household net worth rising nationwide to $770,635.00'



Like all advanced nations, Canada also has subsidized education; and Universal Healthcare, too:



'Canada leads world in tertiary, college education'

'Canada leads the world in producing highly educated adults'

'How Canada became an education superpower - BBC News'

'Richer, smarter, taller: A measure of Canada from the OECD'

'10 Smartest Countries in the World and Canada Takes Top Spot'

'More Canadians have post-secondary education than other OECD nations'



'Canadians are happier, smarter and live longer than their southern neighbors'

'Canadian health system more efficient than the one in the U.S.: study'

'Canadians Richer, Healthier, & More Socially Mobile Than Americans'

'Canadians use average of $220,000 in public health care over lifetime'

'US: Worst and most expensive Healthcare in the developed world'

''U.S. Health-Care System Ranks as One of the Least-Efficient'

'Americans Far Less Healthy, Die Younger Than Global Peers'

'Canadians Live Longer, Have Better Health Than Americans'

'Canada vs. US health care: Canadians live longer, pay less'

'US life expectancy drops for second year in a row'

'Canadians healthier, live longer than Americans'

'Canadians healthier, outliving Americans'



But Canada's clearly not wallowing in poverty or teetering on collapse. Or being taxed to death, either:



'These 17 Countries Pay Less in Taxes Than Americans'

'Canadians Paying Lower Income Taxes Than Americans, OECD'

'Think Canadians pay some of highest income taxes in the world? Think again'

'Canadians Pay Taxes for Universal Health Care, and Now They're Richer Than Us'

'The Myth of Low-Tax America: Why Americans Aren't Getting Their Money's Worth'

'Next time you gripe about Canada’s taxman, thank your lucky stars you’re not American'



In point of fact, Canada's reaping huge returns for its investments in education and healthcare:



'Conservative Think Tank: 10 Countries With Universal Health Care Have Freer Economies Than The U.S.'

'Canada: Richer than America and more economically powerful than Europe'

'Canada ranks 1st in G7 for corporate tax rate and cost competitiveness'

'Canada more cost-competitive than the US across all industries'

'Canada races ahead in economic growth versus G7 dawdlers'

'Canada ranked world's most tax-friendly country for business'

'Canada is home to the World's most stable financial sector'

'Canada is More Pro-Business than The United States'

'Canada leads North America in economic freedom'

'Canada is more capitalist than the United States'

'Canada's future under Trudeau looks bright'

'Canada Widens Economic Freedom Lead'

'Canadian capitalism roars to victory'



'Canada leads G7 in economic growth: IMF'

'World Bank: Canada led all G-7 countries in economic growth over the past decade'

'Canada to lead G7 nations in growth for next 50 years: OECD'



'The 25 Safest Countries In The World - Canada standing alone in representing the Americas'

'Millionaire Cities' Abound In Canada As Household Wealth Hits Record High'

'Canadian cities rank top in North America for personal safety and security'

'Canadian cities 'dominate' North American quality-of-life rankings'

'Canadian cities boast highest quality of living in North America'

'5 Safest Cities in World: Toronto And Montreal Make List'

'3 of the 5 most liveable cities in the world are Canadian'

'Toronto remains the safest city in North America'

'Canada's Cities are a Model for the World'



'Should the USA adopt a Canadian-style law making it illegal to lie in broadcast news?'

'A Law Against Lying on the News - Why Canada has one and the U.S. doesn’t'

'TIL it is currently illegal to broadcast false, fake, or misleading news in Canada'

'Supreme Court of Canada ruling makes honesty the law for businesses'

'Reputation Institute: Canada most reputable country in world'

'CRTC ditches bid to allow fake news'



All that just goes on and on, debunking the crazy US myths that Americans can't have nice things, too.

That's why so many Americans fed up with being force to have less are heading north:



'A Growing Trend of Leaving America'

'The American Dream has moved to Canada'

'Canada is a 'full' democracy, U.S. is not: report'

'Fleeing for Canada is a proud American tradition'

'Is the Canadian dream the new American dream?'

'Canada pressured to accept refugees from America'

'More Americans are trying to become refugees in Canada'

'Americans Were Actually Serious About Moving to Canada'

'Canada's migrant crisis: Hundreds crossing US border daily'

'Millions of Americans in Canada downplay links to Uncle Sam'

'Stanford Economist: Move to Canada to Find American Dream'

Thanks to immigrants, Canada sees biggest G7 population jump'

'U.S. citizens applying for asylum in Canada skyrocketed in 2017'

'Former ambassador 'embarrassed' people fleeing U.S. for Canada'

'Can an American become a refugee? Yes, and some already have'

'More US citizens — yes, citizens — are seeking refuge in Canada'

'Moving to Canada? Americans fleeing Trump will have to get in line'

'America falls short of being a full democracy for second year running'

'Head North: Record Number of Americans Illegally Fleeing to Canada'

'Refugees asking for asylum in Canada argue the US is no longer safe'

'A growing number of people seeking asylum in Canada are Americans'

'The American Dream Might Be Dead But The Canadian Dream Still Lives'

'The American Dream is now twice as easy to achieve in Canada than in the US'

'Thousands of Americans seeking asylum in Canada, according to latest statistics'

'Residents near Canada-U.S. border to be paid for asylum seeker disruption: Ottawa'

'Number of asylum seekers crossing into Canada from U.S. continues to rise, feds say'

'American authorities revoke travel visas for thousands headed to Canada to claim asylum'

'Middle-class families, pillar of the American dream, are no longer in the majority, study finds'

'Study by MIT Economist: U.S. has Regressed to a Third-World Nation for Most Of Its Citizens'

'The Number Of Americans Moving To Canada Since Trump Became President Is Skyrocketing'

'Wait time for Canadian asylum claims could hit 11 years, cost $2.9 billion: government analysis'



How and why any sane, rational person in the modern age could believe crazy old nonsense that countries can't have healthcare and education without taxing their citizens & country out of existence is a mystery.

After all, none of them lost their greatness and fell behind like the USA did. That was only America.

Answer 12

Some comparative stats would be nice.

Answer 13

Maybe the cost of living in these places is higher Because of "free" college and health care.

Answer 14

Wait the average citizen is better off. Healthcare as part of the economy is MUCH lower. They also do not have the homeless problems we do. Wealth distribution is a major factor of taxes. Tariffs are a regressive tax.



In the US:



The richest 1 percent now owns more of the country’s wealth than at any time in the past 50 years.



The wealthiest 1 percent of American households own 40 percent of the country's wealth, according to a new paper by economist Edward N. Wolff. That share is higher than it has been at any point since at least 1962, according to Wolff's data, which comes from the federal Survey of Consumer Finances.



From 2013, the share of wealth owned by the 1 percent shot up by nearly three percentage points. Wealth owned by the bottom 90 percent, meanwhile, fell over the same period. Today, the top 1 percent of households own more wealth than the bottom 90 percent combined. That gap, between the ultrawealthy and everyone else, has only become wider in the past several decades.



In the United States, the distribution of that wealth is even more skewed toward the top than the distribution of income.



The top 20 percent of households actually own a whopping 90 percent of the stuff in America — 90 slices of pie! That's exactly 4½ slices per person, nearly triple their “ideal” share according to Norton and Ariely's survey respondents. Their average net worth? $3 million.



That leaves just 10 percent of the pie for the remaining 80 percent of the populace. The next 20 percent of households (average net worth: $273,600) help themselves to eight slices, while the middle 20 percent ($81,700 net worth, on average) split a measly two slices.



Don't go feeling too sorry for that middle quintile, though — at least they get some pie. The fourth quintile of households gets literally nothing: no pie. But they're still doing better than the bottom 20 percent of households, who are actually in a state of pie debt: Their net worth is underwater, meaning they owe more than they have. Combined, the average net worth of the bottom 40 percent of households is -$8,900.



https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/12/06/the-richest-1-percent-now-owns-more-of-the-countrys-wealth-than-at-any-time-in-the-past-50-years/?utm_term=.3b8833b9a8bd



Now republicans gave the rich 70% of the new tax cut, increased the deficit, and will claim the government does not have the money for social programs.

Answer 15

Yes but its a better way to go.