The Swiss tax most income at 22%. They provide basic health insurance (insurance companies are not allowed to make a profit on the basic level but can on higher end plans) for everyone in the country that does not exceed 8% of their income. They have the best roads in the world even though the geography makes those roads cost more than roads in other parts of the world. The entire country is CLEAN.

Our taxes run about 32% for someone making 90k (the average Swiss income). We have the highest insurance cost and the highest medical care cost and some of the worst roads anywhere. And only the rich areas of the country are clean. 8% of most people's income won't touch even the crappiest health care plan.


While we are taxed at a much higher rate than countries who get it right - my lawmakers can kiss my rear if they want another tax. Cut costs.

going to predict our % of freeloaders is higher than theirs. Don't know how you fix that though

It is. You fix that by paying welfare and foodstamps at the end of a workday. No workday, no pay.

I got an idea for the moochers.

A bus comes to the housing project every day at 8:00 am. Everybody gets on the bus and goes to a community center. Half the adults watch the kids until lunch, while the other half learns/does something productive. Then they switch roles in the afternoon

Hunger is a great motivator. Stop payments and kick them out of government housing after 6 months. And housing should not be like Rosedale Courts here in Tuscaloosa. Freaking granite counter tops, stainless appliances and hardwood floors. Let it be polished concrete and a blow up mattress on the floor. There has to be an incentive to better yourself. If they give you everything you need you will never try harder.

Where do you guys want the money to come from for capital improvements?

Reduce the waste and senseless spending in other areas.

I would be in favor of a 2-3 cent county wide gas tax which would phase out over an established time frame.

I'm no politician, but the smaller countys (referring to population) are desperately searching for revenue to improve/replace roads. Its worth the discussion without everyone pulling knives out and yelling "No New Taxes, but you better damn sure fix my roads"

Taxes never phase out, they grow.

Republicans and Democrats LOVE big gov't and more taxes. They just want it to be THEIR big gov't and THEIR taxes.

From the amount we are already taxed.

Any of y'all ever taken a look at your cities/ counties audits? They are all public records. If you have a solution for funding capital improvement projects without issuing revenue bonds, then please go to your local council and commission meetings and let them know. They don't like to borrow money anymore than the rest of us.

It's like the frog in the pot of hot water. Turn up the temp just a little and the frog doesn't notice. Turn it up a little more and he doesn't notice. Before long he's poached before it turns into a roiling boil.

Not to veer off into horse-beating territory, but the small tax increases that add up are similar to the game-fish laws/regs in each state OR the piecemeal elimination of hunting-fishing seasons/zones/opportunities. A little here, a little there, add one or two more "I don't mind, it's not that bad" laws or remove the ability to trap or hunt in this zone - and then another zone, and then half a state, and then it's gone. The anti-hunters are doing the latter quite successfully in some states.

And it's because, in many cases, the mentality of "Oh, I don't mind. It's just a little bit of an increase." or the "Eh, that doesn't bother me. I'm not a trapper and I don't hunt in that area anyway."

The bill got shut down today, not gonna happen, yeah for the good guys!

Just another penalty for the working man.

Folks in a lot of rural counties are about to see a lot more "paved" roads turned back to dirt so they can be maintained with a grader. This has already been happening in several counties where the pavement is in too poor of condition to travel safely and there is no funding to make repairs. The fact is most low populated counties barely receive enough funding to keep the lights on.

At a cost of about $150,000 per mile to do a basic asphalt resurfacing job on a normal rural county road, local budgets don't make it very far. A lot of county road departments have less than a $2 million dollar annual total operating budget.

I sent a pretty scathing email to him last night about it...still awaiting a response.

Thank you

I'd be all for funding projects like the one described but for at least partial funding I'd drug test ALL people on government assistance and pool the money from all those checks that didn't go out and use it for projects in that county. Those that failed the test would either find a job or starve. If they find a job, they pay taxes into the system so that part is a win/win.