David,
1) Again, your DEBT as a percent of GDP is about the same as the US's. So you currently have a budgetary surplus. So what. The US had one too until 2001 and it'll probably have them in the future. Your were trying to argue that we Americans have a credit card mentality when in fact we have the same debt level as you do.
2) What would you know about tax rates being too high or too low? What are your credentials to make such a bold assertion? As a % of GDP, the US's deficit isn't particularly high. If GDP grows faster than spending a bit we would be in surplus again.
3) If you are trying to make it a bragging point that only a small percentage of Canadians make enough (i.e. like $60K US per year) to reach those high end tax brackets then I feel sorry for you. We Americans don't consider a household income of $60K per year to be "rich". Then again, that would explain why the average Canadian household is so poor relatively speaking.
4) I provided links not to some "think tank" but to Canada's own statistics on these matters. Your tax brackets aren't a matter of "analysis" they are what they are. Similarly, Canada's spending as a % of GDP isn't something for analysis, it is what it is. You can't squirm your way out of the fact that Canada Spends a LOT more as a percent of its GDP than the United States does and that its taxes are significantly higher than they are in the United States -- and that's not counting the $500 to $1000 (depending on your province) health care payment.
And if that isn't enough, even with all those taxes, Canada's debt is about the same as the US's. And your response? Canada isn't in deficit at this very second. Whoopie. Let me know when you guys pay off that debt. In about a century or two it should be paid down at your current rate (2003 "surplus" was $7 billion). Your INTEREST on your debt is almost 6 times that amount. So your "suruplus" isn't even enough to pay for your interest payments.
What I find particularly amazing is how someone who lives in a country with a national debt that is over 60% of their GDP can possibly be lecturing the United States on tax policy. Particularly when the federal government of Canada has so much fewer responsibilities. The US, after all, had to pay for the defense of the free world (including Canada) for 50 years of cold war. Most of the US debt was accumulated (as Democrats love to point out) during the Reagan years as part of the huge military build up that ultimately toppled (arguably) the Soviets.
What's Canada's excuse for having such a huge debt? How does a country with a population of around 30 million that doesn't even have to pay for its own defense, whose only neighbor is the richest country in the world end up with a massive debt? Talk about reckless and irresponsible spending. Canada's like the irresponsible teenager who can't even manage their pocket money even though they live in the upstairs loft of their parent's (USA) house.
But on top of that, you don't even seem to know what your thesis is. In one post you say Americans pay too much in taxes because of military spending (do you even know what military spending is in the US as a % of its GDP? It's quite low actually) but then you say that Americans aren't even remotely enough to pay for its public expenses. Well, which is it?
Me thinks you should spend more time analysing your own country as it seems you know very little about Canada, let alone the United States.
I'm not going to bother responding here any further as it's quite apparent at this point you don't know what you're talking about. And when presented with facts and evidence that demonstrate your errors, you just pretend it isn't there, or call it lies, or simply conclude you have disproven these facts simply by stating it -- as if your own arrogance trumps reality.
Given that you couldn't even manage to do a simple math calculation correctly, that you don't know your country's spending per GDP, and have little knowledge of American taxation or military spending it would seem to me that your thread was just an excercise in typical mindless America bashing.
