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There ain't no such thing as a free lunch or a zero cost government program
vanity | by Jim Robinson

Posted on 10/24/2021 5:44:09 PM PDT by Jim Robinson

Nothin' ain't worth nothin' but it's free. But nothing costs more than yet another worthless, never-ending government program.

The first rule of costs - that we all should've learned in grade school - says there ain't no such thing as a free lunch.

And the first rule of costs of new government programs - that most of us learned after we became taxpayers - says they will always cost more, much more, than the proponents estimate. And once started, they never go away.

In other words, there ain't no such thing as a ZERO cost government program or a temporary government program.

Likewise, the first rule of raising revenue by increasing taxes, especially when 'only on the wealthy,' says that they can never raise the revenue projected. The wealthy have a funny habit of investing their wealth where they might expect to earn a reasonable return on their investments with a minimum of tax consequences.

Thus, the tax net must always expand to catch all the little fish, too.

Then there's inflation. Whether through taxation, borrowing or simply creating money out of thin air, the more the government spends, the more they have to siphon off the free economy and the higher the inflation rates go.

And inflation is a regressive tax which will hit the small fry the hardest.

Likewise, increasing the tax on business owners and corporations simply increases their costs. These costs must be recovered through sales, so prices must go up.

It may be a harder lesson to learn, but even though they write the checks, corporations don't actually pay the taxes. They must pass all their costs (including expected taxes) on to the consumers one way or another, otherwise they cannot stay in business.

Labor costs go up, product costs go up, energy costs go up, transportation costs go up, taxes go up, etc, then prices must go up to compensate. It's easy to see that the costs of labor, materials, rents, transportation, energy, etc, must be accounted for in the prices paid by the consumer. But the cost of higher corporate taxes must also be collected from the customer through higher prices, and the appropriate tax portion (based on net income) ultimately passed on to the government. The corporation is simply a middle man.

The end user pays all costs including corporate income taxes embedded in the price they pay for the product or service (assuming the company is to remain an ongoing profit making venture).

Government spending, taxing, borrowing, creating money out of thin air, etc, all have their costs. And ultimately, we consumers (even those receiving the benefits of the government program) and taxpayers must pay that cost.

There ain't no such thing as a zero cost government program.


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1 posted on 10/24/2021 5:44:09 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
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To: Jim Robinson

Everything has a cost. The only free cheese is in the mouse trap.


2 posted on 10/24/2021 5:45:41 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Biden/Harris - illegitimate and everyone knows it.)
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To: ThunderSleeps

If you go bankrupt, the cost disappears..............


3 posted on 10/24/2021 5:47:36 PM PDT by PeterPrinciple (Thinking Caps are no longer being issued but there must be a warehouse full of them somewhere.)
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To: Jim Robinson

As Robert Heinlein taught us: TANSTAAFL


4 posted on 10/24/2021 5:50:35 PM PDT by Yo-Yo (is the /sarc tag really necessary?)
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To: Jim Robinson

Nothin’ from nothin’ leaves nothin’


5 posted on 10/24/2021 5:50:43 PM PDT by SaveFerris (The Lord, The Christ and The Messiah: Jesus Christ of Nazareth - http://www.BiblicalJesusChrist.Com/)
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To: SaveFerris

A good song, some great memories.


6 posted on 10/24/2021 5:53:02 PM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Biden/Harris - illegitimate and everyone knows it.)
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To: Jim Robinson

It’s bad enough that the government wastes billions and trillions of dollars on useless energy policies and disastrous foreign policies such as Afghanistan.

But the real kicker is that they deliberately spend billions and trillions of dollars to pass laws and policies that are in direct opposition to the goals and objectives of a free society. In other words they’re spending my money and your money to destroy us.

Take the latest FUBAR in California for instance. Why are thousands of shipping containers being backlogged offshore? Another example is four dollar a gallon gas. Seem to be five dollars. These are not accidents; these have been deliberately planned so as to punish and harm Americans.


7 posted on 10/24/2021 5:58:47 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd (I love my country. It's my government that I hate.)
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To: Jim Robinson

That’s why we moved to a small government red state.


8 posted on 10/24/2021 6:02:18 PM PDT by Pollard (PureBlood)
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To: ThunderSleeps

Absolutely!


9 posted on 10/24/2021 6:04:08 PM PDT by SaveFerris (The Lord, The Christ and The Messiah: Jesus Christ of Nazareth - http://www.BiblicalJesusChrist.Com/)
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To: Yo-Yo

Ought to be tattooed on the forehead of every politician. Backwards, so it will read correctly in the bathroom mirror every morning.


10 posted on 10/24/2021 6:12:50 PM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: Chad C. Mulligan

TANSTAAFL, that is.


11 posted on 10/24/2021 6:13:51 PM PDT by Chad C. Mulligan
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To: Jim Robinson

The Apollo Program was ended. Of course it actually achieved what it set out to do unlike most Government programs


12 posted on 10/24/2021 6:27:11 PM PDT by Nateman (If the Left is not screaming , you are doing it wrong.)
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To: Jim Robinson

Especially when someone tells you three and a half trillion dollars doesn’t cost anything.

And they tell you in all seriousness.

And it it The President of The United States.

Astonishing.


13 posted on 10/24/2021 6:28:20 PM PDT by rlmorel (Leftists are The Droplet of Sewage in a gallon of ultra-pure clean water.)
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To: ThunderSleeps

Joplin/Kristopherson (sp?)


14 posted on 10/24/2021 6:44:18 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: sasquatch

Kris Kristofferson


15 posted on 10/24/2021 6:47:21 PM PDT by sasquatch
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To: Jim Robinson

My favorite question, to ask libs is….how much welfare is enough? Put a dollar amount to what you think is enough.


16 posted on 10/24/2021 7:17:39 PM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theory” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12 )
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To: Jim Robinson

Yep, I have been preaching against waist and abuse by government for years (see tag).


17 posted on 10/24/2021 7:19:29 PM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: Jim Robinson

The correct word is Waste. I really suck at writing. I keep wasting words, sentences, and disk space.


18 posted on 10/24/2021 7:21:41 PM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: Jim Robinson

Maybe I should just keep waist there. Too many pigs at the trough (I.e. animal farm).


19 posted on 10/24/2021 7:24:10 PM PDT by Liaison (TANSTAAFL)
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To: Jim Robinson

You’re right! No such thing as a free ride! Even those who think they are getting something for nothing will ultimately pay a price, a heavier one in fact, for all the “free” stuff.


20 posted on 10/24/2021 7:32:08 PM PDT by CitizenUSA (Proverbs 14:34 Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people.)
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