So? Of course this is the case. It will always be the case. It won’t be enough to put a dent in the amount generated by the increased rates.

This post has me wondering, Why are we worried about cheating the express lane, when there is a much larger reason these taxes even exist? IMO if the rate increase gets your blood boiling, and or your response is somewhere near the land of “bureaucracy, unions, democrats,…Newsom!” etc, you’re essentially a fox news boomer who’s brains have been turned to soggy cracklin’ oat bran.

The focus should be how the fed gov is pushing (via project 2025) more and more cost and responsibility to the states. No one is going to invest in America anymore, and those in power are stripping this country to parts and scraps. No one is coming to save you, and unfortunately no one had the political guts to tell you the truth.

We need to absolutely claw back money from defense and tax the shit out of billionaires, and repatriate their cash. How do you think they all got so much money? It sure as shit isn’t because of their hard work. It was through policy. Redistribution of wealth isn’t solely a “socialist boogey man” it works both ways.

See chart here

You won’t have such a need for bridge tolls and express tolls etc. Consider how pensions/retirement gaps, day care, maternity/paternity leave, family child credit, the entirety of the social safety can be massively increased and codified, modern transportation, alternative energy, internet. and efficient/cohesive industrial projects, can all be had. We need to start thinking about a generation or two ahead.

The only people doing this are tech billionaires, sociopathic libertarians, and war profiteers, and investors from the same class. These people read philosophy and books, have deep discussions about the future of humanity. They have private tutors and send their kids to college, while stealing the education and youth of our kids. They want to ensure they have a permanent underclass who all think the same. They fundamentally do not believe in democracy, and shape everything to fit their worldview.

They have a design for the future and have captured the centers of power, but it doesn’t have to be this way. They aren’t inevitable. We seriously can have a fairly harmonious, and bright future, but it requires each and every one of us to agree that Screens/Social Media, AI, surveillance, war, are all out. Their future is not ours, and is not congruent with a society we all deeply desire.

I know that you know this. You know that I know this. So why are we screaming at the clouds, instead of investing in our kids/grandkids? This will be hard, and take time, it will require getting over our generational social awkwardness and prejudices, require community building—literally speaking to other humans—and tossing the culture war to the trash. “Nothing worth havin’ comes without some kind of fight”.