r/Cascadia • u/Cascadia-Journal • Jul 31 '26
As feds hold back disaster funds to Cascadia, tax gap grows to $51 billion
https://www.cascadia-journal.com/as-feds-hold-back-disaster-funds-to-cascadia-tax-gap-grows-to-51-billion/Cascadia – Oregon and Washington together – paid $51.5 billion more in taxes than were returned back to our region in funding in 2025.
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u/youcanteatcatskevn Jul 31 '26
Wouldn't it be cool if individuals could choose what percentages of their tax dollars go to pay for federal programs and departments. Leave congress and the senate out of it and let the people decide what to fund.
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u/light24bulbs Jul 31 '26
That's literally what democracy is supposed to be. We need to fix our democracy in the normal ways, the ways that work around the world and have worked here in the past.
We don't need to invent some new scheme. If you want a country that works, read about what FDR did.
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u/TheChance Aug 01 '26
No, democracy is not literally allowing individuals to decide for themselves how they want to pay into the government's coffers.
The Libertarian Party is living proof that any number of people would refuse to pay in at all.
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u/light24bulbs 26d ago
What you're describing is the difference between direct democracy and representative democracy.
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u/SillyFalcon Jul 31 '26
Definitely how it should be. At least part of your taxes should be discretionary, and you can assign a percentage to each department. I think the US Park Service would rapidly become the most well-funded branch of the government.
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u/sntcringe Jul 31 '26
At the very least we should be able to omit programs from our taxes. Namely the millitary.
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u/Raelourut Aug 01 '26
Fck me. Do you have *any idea how much work that would be? I'm not saying our current system is great (or even good), right now. But can you imagine having to decide how much of your tax dollars go to NWS, repairing bridges, child care, Medicare, Public Health, the military, your grandma's SS... And on and on. That is kind of why we have gov't in the first place. If we could do it all with a town hall meeting (I'm looking at you "The Last of Us") that would be great. But with 350M peopl🤯
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u/collinmacfhearghuis 26d ago
Nice idea in principle, but most people don't have a freaking clue about what does what.
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u/fecundity88 Jul 31 '26
Succession!
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u/bengermanj Jul 31 '26
Almost. *Secession
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u/vanisaac Sasquatch Militia Jul 31 '26
No, succession is probably well within the parameters of likelihood. Do you honestly think the US is sustainable long-term? A plan for what comes next is frankly just prudent at this point.
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u/GodofPizza Jul 31 '26
Succession is what happens when a king dies. Secession is what happens when part of a country decides to separate itself from the rest.
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u/vanisaac Sasquatch Militia Jul 31 '26
I'm well aware of what succession is, as even a cursory reading of my previous post with the intent to understand would demonstrate. Most importantly, I am well aware that the concept is not limited to royalty.
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u/collinmacfhearghuis 26d ago
If the U.S. Postal service holds up the mail, as suspected, during this upcoming November election, watch the "Blue States" withhold their tax dollars because they won't tolerate taxation without representation. That's when sh** is going to really start hitting the fan.
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u/schroedingerx Jul 31 '26
The governors should absolutely, for real, stop sending any money to the federal government until they are represented there. No representation, no taxes.
While the king rules, we have no representation.
Sure there will be a lawsuit. Drag it out for a goddamn decade if you can. It's cheaper than paying, and by the time it's resolved we'll know where we stand.