No, but it's constrained by them.
If you try to raise taxes higher than the populace can bear, problems will arise. You'll either:
1. turn large portions of the population into criminals (failure to pay taxes is a federal crime);
2. invite mass insolvency, which will lead to an economic crash;
3. create conditions for peaceful political change (vote the bums out); or
4. invite revolution (as in 1776).
These aren't difficult concepts to wrap your head around, Irv. It's an issue of balance.
Which reminds me, solved that car problem yet?
I always find it amusing when you guys complain about how high your taxes are.
Tax revenue to GDP ratio:
Canada: 31.7%
OECD Av:34.8%
USA: 26%
Of course, the devil is in the details, but still, few people outside the USA would consider it a highly taxed country. It looks like the Boston Tea Party instilled a national mindset that taxes are evil, by nature.
Back in the 1990's, Canada went through it's own debt crisis. The debt to GDP ratio had reached about 64% and the $CDN was worth 64 US cents (they started calling it the "Northern Peso). We were an object of pity and scorn in foreign financial journals. The federal government (a
Liberal government, by the way) slashed spending and almost nothing was spared - especially defense, as it isn't the sacred cow that it is in the US and the cold war was winding down. The debt was wrestled down to about 31% of GDP, which is where it stands right now. So, it can be done, if there is a will.
So, let's look at the US federal debt as a percentage of GDP....holy $hit! It's over 100%!! And, you guys don't even have universal health care! Drunken sailor much? Or, could you be - heaven help us -
undertaxed? Maybe not the plebs, but maybe the rich could chip in a bit more?
What are you guys spending your tax dollars on? First thing that comes to mind is GW2*, which was completely - perhaps criminally - unjustified, as far as I'm concerned. How many billions of dollars have been sunk into the Middle East and South Asia since 2002? Not to mention the destruction and lives lost. Which leads me to perhaps the only utterance to come from the POTUS's mouth with which I agree: that the rest of the western alliance are free riders on US defense. He's absolutely right. Start pulling assets out of Europe. When they have to face the Russians alone, they'll get the hint that they need to pony up some more. I'm not sure what can be done to convince the Canadian government to take defense seriously. Maybe if China starts rattling her sabres at us, we might smarten up. I doubt it though, as a threat to Canada - depending on its nature - would usually be deemed a threat to the US. So, that's one area you could cut back on - defense.
Then, you could get with the 20th century - never mind 21st - and institute a universal health care system. You currently spend twice as much on health care, per capita, than Australia, Canada, France and the UK. Sure, there would be a commensurate increase in taxes, but private insurance premiums plummet, so you still end up with more money in your pocket.
Oh, and stop throwing so many people in prison. It's counterproductive. Unless, of course, Americans are more genetically pre-disposed to participating in criminal activity, which I doubt.
I don't know if you actually read the article, so I'll include the link again for you, or anyone else, who might find it of interest. Public spending on make-work projects is what most people picture when they think of the New Deal. However, the schemes to foster more
private investment look like they may have had more widespread and long term effects. Just one example - the electrification of rural areas - which private utilities couldn't be bothered with, as they considered it unprofitable. From the article:
"As late as 1935, 90 percent of rural homes had no electricity. By 1940, 40 percent of rural America had electricity—a rise of 30 percent in only a few years. Ten years later, in 1950, 90 percent had electricity."
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/03/surprising-truth-about-roosevelts-new-deal/584209/
Oops! I'm commenting on American policies again, where it's none of my business. Sorry about that.
*While Canada didn't - and rightfully so - participate in the invasion of Iraq, we sent troops to Afghanistan as part of the NATO "peace-keeping" force, which ended up being a war-fighting mission.
