site banner
PaperclipPerfector  3mo ago (text post)   3833 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for August 18, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

2
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

The real question is 'can states which are net payers on some tax or other stop paying the tax when refusing federal dollars', to which the answer is likely no

My understanding was that the argument is to keep paying federal taxes while getting nothing back, and figuring out how to make it work through "parallel institutions" and "belt-tightening," though I imagine they were mainly thinking of right-leaning states with better economies than Alaska's.

Texas could, in theory, simply go without federal highway money, given the size of our budget surplus. Giving up federal money en masse would require getting rid of popular services, like CHIPS, unless we figured out a way to wriggle out of federal taxes and collect them ourselves.

The situation is likely similar for states like Utah, Wyoming, Oklahoma, etc.

unless we figured out a way to wriggle out of federal taxes and collect them ourselves.

Again, the idea isn't that the state "wriggles out of federal taxes" — it's that they keep paying them, and then collect the taxes for the now-defunded popular services themselves — your "parallel" system — on top of those taxes. Or else, yes, cut the programs.

So, it seems that you're saying that even for the red states with the best economies, the requisite "belt-tightening" necessary would simply be far more than most anyone is willing to endure (yet). Is that right?

Yes. Texas has the biggest red state economy and is the second wealthiest per capita(behind Wyoming), and is both not a low tax state and dependent on federal block grants to maintain its budget(the federal block grants are less than federal tax receipts from Texas- an independent Texas with the same economy could maintain services with a lower taxation level than current day- but they also make up like 1/3 of the state budget).

Again, states can go without their highway funding or family planning money or other small potatoes for a while if they’re otherwise fiscally healthy. But rejecting all federal funding is a bridge too far; even a strong GOP trifecta with gerrymandering can’t get rid of CHIP and Medicaid and section 8 and food stamps and cut infrastructure spending and etc etc.

While there’s room for taxation to go up in most red states, there isn’t room for tax receipts to rise by a third without massive economic growth.

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats