Due to the excess unaccoutablity of Washington and the lack of retun on our tax investment in our nation, we should be asking for financial transparency and a new approach.
While I conducted this analysis some time ago, the theory is still the same, the number may need updating. Our governement raises almost 3.7 trillion per year in only income taxes. So what does $3.7 trillion buy today? What should we as Americans be expecting as a return on our investment in our nation?
My main goal today is to impress upon you what $3.7 trillion can buy. It is A LOT of money. So here we go:
- New Orleans was building one of the biggest new hospitals in the US. Cost is $1.1 billion. New Orleans' $1B Veterans Affairs Hospital Nears Completion | 2016-04-13 | ENR | Engineering News-Record
- Los Angeles was building the tallest most sophisticated new skyscraper in years. Cost $1 billion. Wilshire Grand Center - Wikipedia
- Houston’s massive new highway project which will rebuild all the major freeways around downtown. Cost $7 billion. Houston's $7 billion highway project would widen I-45 and revamp city freeway network
- Katy TX is building the most expensive high school sports complex in the US. Cost $61 million. Additionally, Katy TX is building new high schools, elementary schools and middle schools. Average cost of $45 million. Thus, let’s call it an even $100 million for a pretty nice top of the line school. Ground broken on America’s most expensive high school football stadium | USA TODAY High School Sports
So how many of these things can we buy?
We can buy: 500 new hospitals, 1,000 new skyscrapers, 100 massive highway projects and 10,000 new schools including sports complexes ($3.25 trillion, so a little money left over still). All of these would be paid in 1 year’s taxes. No loans, no debt, no future interest payments. To compound our investment, the government could even rent out the skyscrapers and collect rent which can offset the cost of running the schools or hospitals.
Over time, the cost of education would drop as no fixed costs, hospitals would be paid and new and thus medical costs would drop as well. Income from office rentals can be used to fund the operations and potentially addtional contributions to Social Security for the retirement of Americans. Additionally, this concept can be expanded to provide small businesses the needed foundation to grow and compete on a global stage.
The stuff we spend the money on normally, the 3.7 trillion of unknown, we can borrow for 1 year as we seem to always do. But think of what can happen from all the jobs generated and local activity from these projects. And, guess what, we haven’t even talked about next year’s tax collections.