NationStates Jolt Archive


Should there be a tax on babies?

The Andrew Territories
26-11-2007, 01:18
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!
Jello Biafra
26-11-2007, 01:20
Perhaps. It would make people less likely to procreate, which would help with the overpopulation problem.
Thumbless Pete Crabbe
26-11-2007, 01:21
Perhaps. It would make people less likely to procreate, which would help with the overpopulation problem.

Except people who procreate in their own country have far fewer children than immigrants who have to be imported because locals won't have kids. ;)
UpwardThrust
26-11-2007, 01:24
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

But why ... there should be a REASON for the tax, something you are hoping to effect.

For example the death tax is hoping to counter large inherited (rather then earned) wealth. I may not agree with it but it at least has an aim to it
The Andrew Territories
26-11-2007, 01:25
The purpose would be simply to get money for health care system, the health care that the child will eventually recieve.
Potarius
26-11-2007, 01:25
The term "get money back on your baby" would've never rung so true.
Katganistan
26-11-2007, 01:26
Parents are taxed enough by their kids....
[NS]Click Stand
26-11-2007, 01:26
That would at least stop poor people from reproducing. Without any poor people everyone will be rich!:D
Thumbless Pete Crabbe
26-11-2007, 01:29
Parents are taxed enough by their kids....

Heh. Pun. :)
Akavira
26-11-2007, 01:30
Babies are a natural resource that are desperately in need of good exploitation. Why just tax babies? Why not use them for other, more industrial purposes? Babies would be a lot more effective than hamsters if they were the ones in wheels. And we could take the term 'baby chow' to entirely new meaning.
SaintB
26-11-2007, 01:30
Fuck no, thatsa just wude!
Free Socialist Allies
26-11-2007, 01:30
I think it is kind of fucked up for the government to suck someone dry for having kids.

Though I also agree we are overpopulated. Maybe tax breaks for couples without children, but no new taxes on anyone else.
UpwardThrust
26-11-2007, 01:30
The purpose would be simply to get money for health care system, the health care that the child will eventually recieve.

And why this tax rather then doing something like raising income tax to cover the expense of that healthcare
The Andrew Territories
26-11-2007, 01:31
Because the people are supposed to be stupid, and would dislike adding to a previous tax, but would favor adding another tax.
Akavira
26-11-2007, 01:33
I think it is kind of fucked up for the government to suck someone dry for having kids.

Though I also agree we are overpopulated. Maybe tax breaks for couples without children, but no new taxes on anyone else.

We're China! YAY!!! :D
The Andrew Territories
26-11-2007, 01:34
We're China! YAY!!! :DChina? Did you say China? Does that mean I can run over college students with tanks. Kidding, really! I am, or am I...duunnn dunnn dunnnnnn!
IL Ruffino
26-11-2007, 01:46
Absolutely.

It will help the NHCP.
Sel Appa
26-11-2007, 01:51
There's no death tax. I don't know what you're smoking...

We need more children in the West, not less. Birth rates are declining all over the native West and Greater Russia (former USSR & Warsaw Pact).
Katganistan
26-11-2007, 01:53
I'd like to make A Modest Proposal (http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html)....
Marrakech II
26-11-2007, 01:56
I'd like to make A Modest Proposal (http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html)....

I find that whole idea a bit hard to swallow. ;)
Katganistan
26-11-2007, 02:04
I'd like to make A Modest Proposal (http://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html)....

I find that whole idea a bit hard to swallow. ;)

Even with fava beans and a nice chianti?
Smunkeeville
26-11-2007, 02:10
Perhaps. It would make people less likely to procreate, which would help with the overpopulation problem.

the people who tend to pop out kid after kid are not generally the people with their eye on the bottom line, they are generally the poor with little access to birth control. taxing babies won't stop anyone from having them, it will just hurt the babies more because their parents won't have as much money to buy things like formula and diapers.
IL Ruffino
26-11-2007, 02:19
the people who tend to pop out kid after kid are not generally the people with their eye on the bottom line, they are generally the poor with little access to birth control. taxing babies won't stop anyone from having them, it will just hurt the babies more because their parents won't have as much money to buy things like formula and diapers.

Then obviously we should add chemicals that will prevent pregnancy to the water supply in poor areas.
Bann-ed
26-11-2007, 02:36
Even better than a tax on babies...
Forced Labour.
Sure, babies can't move much, but I'm sure they generate about the same electrical current as a potatoe. People have run clocks on the electrical current from potatoes, so a few babies should be able to charge cell phones with little difficulty. It helps the economy and finally puts those putrid pampered pustules to work.
Soheran
26-11-2007, 02:44
No. The disincentives associated with having a child are already strong enough that a tax will have little effect on population growth, and will simply be an additional monetary strain on the family.
Jeruselem
26-11-2007, 02:56
Actually, all it would do is make the poor poorer as the poor have more kids per family then their wealthier counterparts.
Bann-ed
26-11-2007, 02:57
Actually, all it would do is make the poor poorer as the poor have more kids per family then their wealthier counterparts.

You seem to be implying that the poor have rights.
Correct me if I am woefully mistaken.
China Phenomenon
26-11-2007, 05:34
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

No. If anything, babies should be subsidized. Economy needs more babies, and with the possible exception of a few metropolitan areas, there is no overpopulation in the Western world.
Wilgrove
26-11-2007, 06:16
Hell we had a death tax once, why not a birth tax?
Jello Biafra
26-11-2007, 10:48
Except people who procreate in their own country have far fewer children than immigrants who have to be imported because locals won't have kids. ;)Indeed, such is the point. Then the immigrants will have a similar disincentive to reproduce as others.

the people who tend to pop out kid after kid are not generally the people with their eye on the bottom line, they are generally the poor with little access to birth control. taxing babies won't stop anyone from having them, it will just hurt the babies more because their parents won't have as much money to buy things like formula and diapers.This is true. I wasn't actually supporting the idea of a baby tax, but it is an interesting idea to think about.
Nipeng
26-11-2007, 11:07
We need more children in the West, not less. Birth rates are declining all over the native West and Greater Russia (former USSR & Warsaw Pact).
And that's a good thing as long as they stay positive.
BTW people of the Greater Russia greet the people of the Greater... dang, Greater Britain doesn't cut it, must think of something more insulting.
That's more or less like calling the France "Greater Third Reich".
Naturality
26-11-2007, 11:36
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!


The way we are taxed today sucks ass. I'm not tee totally against tax. But as it is.. it is theft. But whatever. That's the way it is. Someone posted about taxes paying for roads on here in another thread. Gas Tax pays for roads.

Once you pay taxes on your home (which i think is bullshit btw -- but anyway) and you work, and pay taxes on your life (your time - energy), and you pay taxes for your home/land, and you buy your home/land. Why should you be expected to continue to pay taxes on this? Do you have any idea how many retired folks have to leave their home when taxes are raised or when a city decides to broaden their limits (to get more taxes of course!)!? For sale signs go up like wild fire.

People that promote this shit are out of their damn mind.

Want to charge a 'city limits tax' on those spoilt fuckers property who live a hop skip and a jump from everything they need (which i dont think is right either.. but anywho)? Sure let the dumb bastards pay it. What is the excuse for people in the county?

One dies. Having paid taxes on their income, every damn thing they have EVER bought .. This home/land they bought and paid for .. then paid taxes every year after it. They die. Taxed again! And year after year after year. There is no justification for that. It is theft. Period.

And exactly who doesn't get taxed in this country? I bet someone doesn't. Babies! Yeah right. even they are taxed .. they just don't know it yet. Meaning the parents or insurance company has to pay taxes on the bill. But yeah tax people who have a kid.. maybe it will cause some to wake up and see how much they are getting ripped off .. in every other aspect of their life.
Fnordgasm 5
26-11-2007, 13:02
No. If anything, babies should be subsidized. Economy needs more babies, and with the possible exception of a few metropolitan areas, there is no overpopulation in the Western world.

Overpopulation isn't just about how crowded a place is, it's about how much resources the population consumes. But you're right. We don't have aproblem at the moment.
Domici
26-11-2007, 13:23
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

There's already a baby tax. Babies are expensive.

Besides, governments generally tax things that they want to stop. The government wants people to have more kids because an inflated labor pool suppresses wages. That's why the government subsidies kids with foodstamps and wic checks for the indigent, the EIC and additional child tax credit for the merely poor and tax deductions for the rest of us.

And the estate tax (to which I assume you are referring with Frank Luntz's assinine 'Death Tax' tag) only applies to multi-millionaires.
Ifreann
26-11-2007, 13:24
Awwww man, babies are so expensive already. Then you have to feed them until they're big enough for a proper meal for the whole family.
Domici
26-11-2007, 13:25
Overpopulation isn't just about how crowded a place is, it's about how much resources the population consumes. But you're right. We don't have aproblem at the moment.

But we do have a problem with suppressed wages. A few decades ago it was possible to raise a family of 4 on the income of one factory worker. Now you can feed and house yourself on such an income, but you won't do it in much comfort.
Domici
26-11-2007, 13:39
Hell we had a death tax once, why not a birth tax?

Again, we didn't. We have an estate tax (with a temporary moratorium) that only applies to the richest Americans, and it's a good idea for several reasons. It takes taxes from those who a) have the most (the rich) b) need the least (the dead). Also the two richest people in the country Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, who would be affected the most, both see why it would be a good thing to keep the estate tax because it's the last line of defense against aristocracy.

Now what would you accomplish with a baby tax? Those who are least able to care for their kids would become less able. They'd become more likely to have more kids (the poor have more kids than the rich) and it would do nothing to keep them from having more kids. Bad idea all around.
Khadgar
26-11-2007, 15:13
Fuck no, thatsa just wude!

You're evil.
Dyakovo
26-11-2007, 15:20
Perhaps. It would make people less likely to procreate, which would help with the overpopulation problem.

My thoughts as well
Belkaros
26-11-2007, 15:21
There should be a tax on people with an IQ less than 90 having children. That will help cull the stupid, maybe even forcing them into slavery. Muhahahaha...
Dyakovo
26-11-2007, 15:22
Awwww man, babies are so expensive already. Then you have to feed them until they're big enough for a proper meal for the whole family.

LOL
The_pantless_hero
26-11-2007, 15:38
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

1) The death tax is a bullshit term used to inflame the idiotic masses that it doesn't affect.
2) The sales tax is a baby tax. Baby is born - please buy 50000 different items immediately.

I think we should immediately and swiftly end the baby tax.
Rambhutan
26-11-2007, 15:39
Only a sales tax for people who sell them.
Peepelonia
26-11-2007, 15:41
1) The death tax is a bullshit term used to inflame the idiotic masses that it doesn't affect.
2) The sales tax is a baby tax. Baby is born - please buy 50000 different items immediately.

I think we should immediately and swiftly end the baby tax.

1) Inflamation of the masses is no laughing matter, please see your doctor for a cream.

2) Here in the UK we pay no VAT(value added tax) on baby items nor children's clothing.
Aegis Firestorm
26-11-2007, 16:02
Here in the U.S. it is against the government's interest to tax babies. The government's "income" comes from taxing people. More people = more tax. Taxing babies will reduce the number of new people that are eventually taxed. There are other factors also:

More children means that the material consumption of a household goes up, hence more sales tax for local and state revenue.

Family incomes need to rise to pay for said children, or savings declines to pay for said childrens wants. So either the federal government gets a nice boost directly from the wage earners of the household, or more people are employed (more federal income tax)to make the materials that are purchased by otherwise unproductive savings. Or both, kids are greedy little monsters.
Anti-Social Darwinism
26-11-2007, 17:00
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

Cool! Let's tax sex (entertainment tax), breathing (after all it produces the dreaded greenhouse gasses), urination (diabetics should be an especially lucrative source), defecation (IBS sufferers would be a prime source here), flatulence, sweat - the list could be endless.
The Andrew Territories
27-11-2007, 00:23
I wrote this thread as a joke among my friends, and you people have made my day by intelligently arguing about something that I strongly would disagree with in the real world. Kudos to you great people.
Bann-ed
27-11-2007, 00:27
I wrote this thread as a joke among my friends, and you people have made my day by intelligently arguing about something that I strongly would disagree with in the real world. Kudos to you great people.

*sings*
NationStates General...
We do what we Must,
because
We can.
New Limacon
27-11-2007, 00:37
Babies are produced everyday, and that means that they should be taxed! Hey, there's death tax isn't there? I'm just putting an tariff on the oppostire end of the circle of life!

No, there isn't a death tax, dying is completely free. It's actually odd, if you think about it: nothing is certain but death and taxes, so it seems like out of this you would get a death tax.
The Andrew Territories
28-11-2007, 00:07
No, there isn't a death tax, dying is completely free. It's actually odd, if you think about it: nothing is certain but death and taxes, so it seems like out of this you would get a death tax.

Well, not exactly. I was actually using the term "death tax" as an umbrella for estat tax and outrageous burial expenses such as graves and caskets. Sorry for the mix up.