Canada, United States Have Similar Spending Levels; Americans Are Taxed Less

Jillian Bandes | May 19, 2009 12:42 AM

The Washington Post says that U.S. government spending is nearly the same as the Canadian government's spending, measured as percentage of GDP.

Of course, the Post's writers latch on to the argument that "we should learn from the Canadians," at least in terms of spending trends; Canadians have apparently been on a trend of decreased spending, while Americans have been on a trend of increased spending.

Problem is, Americans don't think they're spending more. Americans incur more debt but are taxed less, while Canadians are taxed more but have less debt.

If we were taxed at the appropriate levels for our current spending like Canadians seem to be — how would Americans react to the massive entitlement plans and spending programs currently being pushed through Congress?

If paying for all the spending was the immediate reality instead of a distant problem — would we really stand for it?