[mlinsey]

I do not understand why people make such a big deal of the "double taxation" argument specifically in the context of capital gains.

If I hire an employee, I have to pay payroll taxes on the salary I pay him or her, and then I also have to pay business taxes on the value that the employee gives to the company in the form of increased revenue. Is this "double taxation" also a cause for moral outrage?

[nazgulnarsil]

yes. name something good that comes from federal taxes. all of the things that I associate with good government (schools, firefighting, disaster preparedness, zoning, etc.) are all handled by state and local governments. the vast majority of federal taxes go towards socialist pyramid schemes or a wasteful military that got so bored it had to attack iraq.

[mlinsey]

So in other words you have no problem with "double taxation" per se, your issue is with taxes generally.

[fallentimes]

Agreed.

All I can think of is defense (not offense), intelligence, (poorly executed) safety nets, (some) education and (some) infrastructure.

Lot of qualifiers, which exemplifies the problem.

[nazgulnarsil]

the intelligence service is one of the worst offenders. it is the epitome of bloat and corruption.

[fallentimes]

How do you think it should be fixed/organized? I used to live in DC; I cried myself to sleep at night thinking about government waste.

[kingkongrevenge]

The city is a monument to plunder. I walk or drive around and wonder at the wealth you see, which is all stolen from all over the country.

[fallentimes]

That's one of the many reasons I moved. What's funny is how self-important many of the people I met were even though paper shuffling & long job titles are the main currencies.