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alex

Nov 30, 1919, 12:00 AM

Post #1 of 4 (1192 views)

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but you have such nice roads !

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Last weekend we went to pick up some friends in Tijuana : they just got their tourist visas and wanted to see where we lived and to see Los Angeles. We cross into the US about 10:00 pm and I ramp onto Interstate 15.
"Look," I say " we can cruise along at night, 130 kilometers per hour, 5 lanes wide, not a single bump or hole in the road, no cows, no danger."
"Suave" they say.
Later on in the weekend the topic of salaries came up.
"Hold on," I say as I show one of my pay stubs, " So many hundred dollars for Federal, so much for State, Social Security, disability, medical, and then with whats left over another 8% when I spend it." I said whining.
" But you have such nice roads......."
TouchéAlex

matt

Nov 30, 1919, 12:00 AM

Post #2 of 4 (1183 views)

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but you have such nice roads !

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I hope that I don't butcher it too badly, but there's the old joke that one finds amongst Mexicans about the two Mexican border crossing guards. As they stood at a vista overlooking San Diego to the north and Tijuana to the south, the smart guard explained to the foolish one, "Spain once owned all the land that you can see". "But later", continued the smart one, "the area was divided between Mexico and the United States". After hearing this, the foolish guard replied, "That figures, the US always takes the best part!"

Rox Anne

Nov 30, 1919, 12:00 AM

Post #3 of 4 (1182 views)

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That's a good one !

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: Last weekend we went to pick up some friends in Tijuana : they just got their tourist visas and wanted to see where we lived and to see Los Angeles. We cross into the US about 10:00 pm and I ramp onto Interstate 15.
: "Look," I say " we can cruise along at night, 130 kilometers per hour, 5 lanes wide, not a single bump or hole in the road, no cows, no danger."
: "Suave" they say.
: Later on in the weekend the topic of salaries came up.
: "Hold on," I say as I show one of my pay stubs, " So many hundred dollars for Federal, so much for State, Social Security, disability, medical, and then with whats left over another 8% when I spend it." I said whining.
: " But you have such nice roads......."
: Touché: Alex

Richard Ferguson

Nov 30, 1919, 12:00 AM

Post #4 of 4 (1189 views)

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but you have such nice roads !

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Mexico has relatively low tax collections compared to the USA or Europe. (Based on percentage of Gross Domestic Product). Almost all the tax is at the federal level, local governments subsist on grants from the federal government. The overall tax rates are low, and there is a lot of tax evasion. It varies with the price of oil, but I believe that Pemex represents 30% of the government income. Most analysts think that Mexico needs higher tax collections to make a dent in poverty, etc., but the politicians know that higher taxes are not popular. Fox has been trying to raise taxes, to his credit.There is a reason why the US has good roads, a social safety net, a strong military, and that is that we pay a lot of taxes. Not that I am in favor of high tax rates, but we do get benefits for our taxes, as your Mexican friend noted.Richard: Last weekend we went to pick up some friends in Tijuana : they just got their tourist visas and wanted to see where we lived and to see Los Angeles. We cross into the US about 10:00 pm and I ramp onto Interstate 15.
: "Look," I say " we can cruise along at night, 130 kilometers per hour, 5 lanes wide, not a single bump or hole in the road, no cows, no danger."
: "Suave" they say.
: Later on in the weekend the topic of salaries came up.
: "Hold on," I say as I show one of my pay stubs, " So many hundred dollars for Federal, so much for State, Social Security, disability, medical, and then with whats left over another 8% when I spend it." I said whining.
: " But you have such nice roads......."
: Touché: Alex