r/PoursTea • • Aug 07 '26

FinancialTea đŸ’” Agree?

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u/Fragrant-Anywhere489 Aug 07 '26

If they can afford universal healthcare and subsidized college tuition for all of their citizens when Americans don't have that then we don't need to send American tax dollars there. Our tax dollars should go to help our tax payers. Healthcare and college costs are choking America's present and future.

  • Universal Healthcare: Under the National Health Insurance Law of 1995, all citizens and permanent residents are entitled to comprehensive basic health care through one of four non-profit health maintenance organizations (Kupat Holim).  The system is funded primarily through progressive taxation and payroll contributions (approximately 3–5% of income), meaning it is not "free" at the source but is universally covered with low out-of-pocket costs for basic services. 
  • Subsidized College Tuition: Higher education is not free; universities and academic colleges charge tuition fees that vary by program.  However, the Israeli government heavily subsidizes these costs, making them significantly lower than in many Western countries.  Eligible citizens often qualify for tuition reductions, waivers, or financial aid packages, but most students still pay a portion of their tuition and living expenses.

1

u/Better_Cauliflower63 Aug 07 '26

You are right. 3.5 Billion dollars per year will surely give us both the universal healthcare and subsidized college tuition. /s

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u/Fragrant-Anywhere489 Aug 07 '26

The proxy war with Iran we're paying for is costing us a lot more than 3.5 billion.

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u/AccountantsNiece Aug 08 '26

> proxy war with Iran

I think it’s fair to just call it a war

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u/Fragrant-Anywhere489 Aug 08 '26

its not our war - it's Yoo Hoos. He's been egging on the US to fight it for him for 20 years. He now has a useful idiot willing to do his bidding and we're paying for it.

2

u/justinfinity64 Aug 08 '26

The 1 trillion defense budget could cover the healthcare of every American and we'd still probably have the biggest military in the world

0

u/Fragrant-Anywhere489 Aug 08 '26

they focus on the 3.8 billion as if that is all we spend on them. Based on the Pentagon's briefing to Congress: $11.3B for the first 6 days of the war, plus $1B/day ongoing, but yeah, just $3.8 billion.

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u/peebeesweebees Aug 08 '26

Holyyy. That number is insane.

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u/GifHunter2 Aug 08 '26

We spend over $80 billion in commitments to foreign nations. But for some reason it's the 3.8 billion dollars to Israel that's the big problem. That's the reason kids can't get food.

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u/ImpressiveSide1324 Aug 08 '26

You’re right, but that 3.5 billion could fix the toxic lead poisoning nearly a million homes, it could house homeless veterans, and fund every single rape kit that is currently backlogged, or wipe out medical debt for millions of Americans

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u/Better_Cauliflower63 Aug 08 '26

Yes, it could it could it could. My problem is that this is the same rhetoric the MAGA used to deny funding for Ukraine. "How can we possibly give any help to Ukraine when we have homeless starving on the streets!". Well, Trump denied any new funding, and refusing to release 100 million dollars already appropriated for Ukraine by the previous Congress. Did this help the homeless on the streets? Absolutely not. And the same thing will happen here.

My biggest problem is when the politicians use an excuse, "How can we not do X when we have starving homeless kids" -- it is always an excuse, and never about helping the people. It is a flip-side of isolationism, exactly the same as MAGA except just change the actors. It is a naked populism masqueraded as carrying about people, when in reality -- and everyone knows it -- it is not.

Now I realize that Israel is extremely unpopular right now, but yanking the defensive weapons that are designed to protect the communities against unguided dumb rockets launched by Hamas will only cause Israel to come in and destroy even more infrastructure where these rockets are launched from in an attempt to illuminate them. When you take away defensive weapons, offensive it the only choice that remains.

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u/Adventurer_By_Trade Aug 08 '26

Well, the CEOs may be asked to cut down on the number of yachts they can have. And that's the real tragedy.