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Comment by r00fus | Hacker News Reader

That's not $9M down the drain - it's $9M used to pay the US Government as your startup requires all the infrastructure, legal framework and military protection provided to get where it is (feel free to move your startup to Somalia, where I hear the taxes are close to zero).

That the investor/owner portion of the tax burden will go up slightly from historically low levels doesn't belie the fact that the average American and small business owner pays even more in %.

Remember - during the roaring 90s we had a much higher rate - did that stop the Googles, Yahoos, Akamais, etc?

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it's $9M used to pay the US Government as your startup requires all the infrastructure, legal framework and military protection provided to get where it is (feel free to move your startup to Somalia, where I hear the taxes are close to zero).

I think a few here would feel free to move their startups to -- Germany, with less than 1/3rd of the US' military expenses per capita [0] -- or Hong Kong, where mass transit is privatized [1] -- or Canada, where the number of lawyers per capita is 1/15th that of the US [2]. I dare say some have a positive view of all three of these statistics, despite them being technically "more Somalia-like". Not to say (not at all!) that militaries, infrastructure, and legal systems are useless and shouldn't be funded; but perhaps that they can be less funded (by taxpayers) with a net social benefit.

And that the statement "we should pay more to government agencies for the benefit of startups" is not immediately obvious.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_military_...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTR

[2] https://www.law.harvard.edu/programs/olin_center/papers/pdf/...

> I think a few here would feel free to move their startups to -- Germany, with less than 1/3rd of the US' military expenses per capita

Feel free to do so, as specified by another commenter - you'll end up paying about double to the German Government, then.

Good infrastructure and a fertile business market apparently requires taxes, apparently.

I'm not against any of those things - but we were doing just fine with a lower tax rate. Are these tax hikes going to build roads, buy bombs, or maybe just bail out some Wallstreet friends? Like I said, the government is the best place to invest our hard-earned salaries. Make them figure out how to properly budget money, then maybe allow them more. I'm not arguing to demolish our government, just keep it small. Would you rather give your money to someone who was motivated to do well, like a small business owner, or a lethargic beast like the government, who does not care what it's burn rate is?

All those things you listed that a start needs from the government, they only account for about 26% of the budget. So... $6.6M down the drain.

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