Please name a state with 5% property tax rate. The problem with the property & other taxes I pay is that the State & Municipalities aren't doing as much maintenance. I think the Cali gas taxes have been siphoned off to the General Fund... I suspect Landis82 may have the answer to that one.
We aren't going into another Depression. People are either paying down debt, having some of it forgiven, or filing for BK. After another few years consumer debt levels will return to normal. The banks are no longer in trouble because they can borrow at 0% and lend at 6-8% for secured loans and 20+% for unsecured. Unsecured debt is much more difficult to obtain nowadays, which is how it should be. We will eventually return to a more normal economic society where people will actually have to save for the things they want to buy. Go figure. The wild card is whether the US Government's/Federal Reserve's debt levels are sustainable. A crisis in this area could certainly lead to another Great Depression. For now, the Depression has been suspended. Stay tuned for further details as they become available. And remember, Surf's Up!
Average Joes were not indebted. Wealthy individuals, and corporation were indebted to their eyeballs.