Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Happy Tax Day. Are we getting our money’s worth?

tax forms
Photography by Phillip Rubino/Getty Images

Hill was policy director for the Center for Humane Technology, co-founder of FairVote and political reform director at New America.

Here comes Americans’ favorite day – April 15, Tax Day! In the land of “No taxation without representation,” we Americans throw a fit over how much we fork over to the government, which taps into related complaints over government waste, budget deficits and more.

Considering how much we focus on the amounts we pay in taxes, you would think more people would also shine a spotlight on what we get in return. A thorough tax analysis would need to create a two-sided ledger, in which all the support and services Americans receive are listed on one side, and the amount of taxes and any additional out-of-pocket expenses, fees and surcharges we pay are listed on the other.

Here’s the surprising thing: When you sum up the total balance sheet, it turns out that Americans pay out as much as those "high-taxed" Europeans — but we get a lot less for our money.


In return for their taxes, most Europeans receive a generous support system for families and workers — services for which Americans must often pay exorbitant out-of-pocket fees and surcharges.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

That includes quality health care for every single person, the average cost of which is about half of what Americans pay, even as various studies show that most Europeans achieve better health metrics.

But that’s not all. In return for their taxes, most Europeans also receive affordable child care, a decent retirement pension, free or inexpensive university education, job retraining, paid sick leave, paid parental leave, ample paid vacations, affordable housing, senior care, efficient mass transportation and more.

In order to receive the same level of benefits as these Europeans, most Americans must fork out a ton of money in out-of-pocket payments in addition to the taxes we pay.

For example, most Americans are paying escalating health care premiums and deductibles, which reduces their effective net pay and acts like a steep tax on households. Moreover, 28 million Americans, nearly 9 percent of the population, have no health care at all, even though many are working and paying taxes. But most Europeans receive health care in return for a modest amount deducted from their paychecks.

Many parents in the United States are saving nearly $100,000 for their children’s college education, and most young Americans graduate with thousands of dollars of debt. But European students attend for free, or nearly so (depending on the country).

Child care in the U.S. costs over $18,000 annually – paid out of pocket – for a family with two children, but in Europe it costs about one-third to one-sixth that amount for a family, depending on the country, and the quality is far superior.

Millions of Americans are stuffing as much as possible into their IRAs and 401(k)s because Social Security only replaces about 40 percent of a worker’s income. Many European retirement systems are more generous and replace about 60 percent 75 percent (depending on the country) of workers’ income.

The U.S. also spends a lot less of public health dollars on elderly care, resulting in American families self-financing significant amounts for their own senior services, compared to most European countries.

Americans also pay various hidden taxes, such as $300 billion annually in federal tax breaks to businesses that provide health benefits to their employees. That means Americans with no health care are subsidizing those who do have health care.

When you sum up the total balance sheet, it turns out that Americans pay out just as much as many Europeans — we just end up receiving a lot less for our money. One Norwegian colleague – from a conservative party – remarked to me, “Americans like to talk about family values, but we have decided to do more than talk.” Europeans actually put their money on the barrel.

Certainly, European countries have their own vigorous debate about the right levels of taxation. Income taxes in Europe are high for some people, but the highest rates that generate alarmist headlines in the U.S. are paid only by those in the highest income brackets. Many middle class and low income Europeans don’t pay more taxes than their U.S. counterparts. Especially since Americans also tend to pay more in local and state taxes, as well as in property taxes.

Many U.S. politicians say, “The government should let you keep your own hard-earned money in your pocket,” and there’s something to be said for that. That has long been the American Way. But the European Way takes some of those taxes and designs more efficient and cost-effective support systems for health care, child care, education, senior care and more. Those are services that all families desperately need in today’s quickly shifting economic world to ensure healthy, productive, and happy families and workers.

Most Europeans can count on these forms of support, and for less money out of their own pockets, while most Americans cannot — unless we have the private means to self-pay out of our own bank accounts.

Or unless you are a member of Congress, which of course has made sure that its members’ families receive European levels of support.

Happy Tax Day.

Read More

People holding signs against Project 2025 and Donald Trump

Protestors rally against Project 2025 and Donald Trump in New York's Times Square.

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Project 2025: How anti-trans proposals could impact all families

This is part of a series offering a nonpartisan counter to Project 2025, a conservative guideline to reforming government and policymaking during the first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025.

Willie Carver has been a teacher in Kentucky since 2007, now working with college students. For over two years, he has worked with the American Federation of Teachers’ National LGBTQ+ Task Force, an advocacy arm of the influential labor union created to counter the rise and repression brought by anti-LGBTQ+ laws.

One of the country’s most draconian anti-trans measures became law in Carver’s home state last March. The law has required teachers to put politics before the wellbeing of their own students and reshaped how students see and treat each other. It bans them from being taught about gender identity or sexual orientation, using restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity and learning about human sexuality. The law also made gender-affirming care illegal for trans youth.

Keep ReadingShow less
Perston holding a sign that reads "Project 2025 is Christian nationalism"

Opponents of Project 2025 hold a rally at Times Square on July 27.

Selcuk Acar/Anadolu via Getty Images

Project 2025: A blueprint for Christian nationalist regime change

Casey is a former editorial writer for The New York Times and has worked with the Kettering Foundation since 2010.

This is part of a series offering a nonpartisan counter to Project 2025, a conservative guideline to reforming government and policymaking during the first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross-partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025.

The Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 is a “presidential transition project” created as a blueprint for recruitment and indoctrination should Donald Trump become the next president. The plan calls for establishing a government that would be imbued with “biblical principles” and run by a president who holds sweeping executive powers.

Keep ReadingShow less
Department of Justice building
Bo Shen/Getty Images

Project 2025: The Department of Justice

Becvar is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and executive director of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund. Nevins is co-publisher of The Fulcrum and co-founder and board chairman of the Bridge Alliance Education Fund.

This is part of a series offering a nonpartisan counter to Project 2025, a conservative guideline to reforming government and policymaking during the first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025.

The preamble of the Constitution sets up our national aspiration of a government by “We the People” as the basis of a democratic republic predicated on “justice.”

Keep ReadingShow less
President Trump

Former President Donald Trump's platform includes reinstating Schedule F on "day one" of his second term.

Alex Wong/Getty Images

Project 2025: The Schedule F threat to democracy

Barker is a program officer at the Charles F. Kettering Foundation and the lead editor of the foundation’s blog series “From Many, We.”

This is part of a series offering a nonpartisan counter to Project 2025, a conservative guideline to reforming government and policymaking during the first 180 days of a second Trump administration. The Fulcrum's cross partisan analysis of Project 2025 relies on unbiased critical thinking, reexamines outdated assumptions, and uses reason, scientific evidence, and data in analyzing and critiquing Project 2025.

One small change to the rules classifying federal employees could significantly advance the U.S. toward authoritarianism. Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s plan to staff the government with far-right movement activists, hinges on an executive order that could be implemented with surprising ease.

While much attention has been paid to the initiative’s extremist policy agenda, a rules change called Schedule F would massively expand presidential power and fundamentally change the character of the federal government. Understanding the Schedule F threat is critical to stopping it.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Capitol
Richard Fairless/Getty Images

Congress must get serious about its capacity or cede power to courts

Swift is director of government capacity at POPVOX Foundation.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down a cornerstone of administrative law known as the Chevron doctrine represents a seismic shift in the balance of power between the three branches of government.

After 40 years of relying on federal agencies to interpret legislative ambiguities when implementing regulations, it’s now up to courts to discern congressional intent. The Supreme Court did not “return” power to Congress, but it did put the onus on an under-resourced legislative branch to be much more clear in writing laws. If Congress fails to exercise its lawmaking power, it will cede power to the judiciary.

Keep ReadingShow less