Quote Originally Posted by Xiahou View Post
At what point or in what form was it ever a good idea? Healthcare reform may be a good idea- but at no point did the Affordable Care Act ever resemble anything that could be called "a good idea".

Our healthcare system is a mess- it started circling the drain with The New Deal and has had a steady decline since. But I'm not aware of any country's healthcare system that doesn't have its share of fleas- unsustainable costs, poor service, and so on....
True, but the thing is you pay about 50-100% more than anyone else (in ppp GDP/capita) and it's not noted in coverage nor quality (it's mediocre at best on average), except for a top few people.

That's pretty severe.

Quote Originally Posted by Seamus Fermanagh View Post
In addition, we traditionally have not been willing to accept the rate of taxation necessary to fund such a program as the Austrian two-tier. The total tax burden on yanks with the highest income streams is usually less than 50% including federal income taxes, state and local sales and property taxes/fees, and other minor levies. Our capital gains tax is set at 23.8% for our highest earner brackets (and many of our richest have little or no wage income thus qualifying for the 15 capital gains rate).
A tax reform with fewer brackets and more importantly, place the capital gains tax on a fixed value comparable to the average income holder or even higher, rather than having "legal tax dodging for the rich" avenue open. Have it ever been a real movement to fix the capital gains loophole? It's a such obvious one.