• Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Are you under some bizarre impression that the government just hoards everyone’s money when they collect it?

    • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      5 months ago

      Not at all, taxes come after the government spends money and is used to take money out of circulation (destroyed), they are absolutely in no way receiving that money and then using it for anything, it is received and removed from circulation. If the government needs money they make money, they do not depend on anyone to create money, they depend on taxes to appropriately remove money from circulation to control the value of the dollar and inflation.

        • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          5 months ago

          It’s not political in any way, why would the federal government need anyone’s taxes? They create the currency, they don’t depend on anyone’s taxes to do anything. If they need money they create it and it happens constantly. I’m not speaking to local taxes obviously, which are mostly responsible for the roads the original poster complained about anyway which are completely different.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            If you want to know why your “they create currency” argument is ridiculous, look up the Weimar Republic or what happened in Zimbabwe in 2007.

            • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              5 months ago

              Their is a reason controlling the currency and removing money from circulation is important, I never discounted that but the federal government does not wait around to receive tax money before they decide if they have money to spend. They create new money to fund things and destroy the tax funds as they come in.

                • Waraugh@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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                  5 months ago

                  It’s how the federal budget functions. Congress passes a budget, the central bank generates the money, and the money received via taxes gets destroyed. You can make whatever of it you want but that is actually how US currency, and likely any FIAT currency for that matter, functions.

                  • ji17br@lemmy.ml
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                    5 months ago

                    They can’t just print money when they need money. That’s not how it works at all. Sure, they replace money that has been destroyed. The government absolutely needs tax money for education, infrastructure, health care etc.