Death and Taxes. Ok, just taxes.

Thursday, 20 November 2008 04:22 by The Lunatic

 

Americans are spoiled.

We want to have a semi-socialist government that provides entitlements and health care, but no one wants higher taxes to pay for it. We want high wages, but then we complain when everyone buys cheap foreign made goods. We're straddled with trillions of dollars of debt, and no one wants to raise taxes to pay for it. We want it all, and we don't want to pay for it.  Spoiled.

Something has to give!

Believe me, I think our taxes are too high as it is and I don't want to pay any more - especially when the money is being spent on an idiotic war that has no end in sight, on a bailout which has very little chance of saving our debt driven economy, and social programs that give freebies to people that really don't contribute much in return. But let's be realistic.

For 150 years, we've gone back and forth, trying to decide how and how much to tax to make things "equitable".  Let's face it - there is no "fair" system of taxation! If you tax everyone at the same rate (a flat tax), then it puts a higher burden on poor people. A higher tax on the wealthy (a progressive tax) is even more unfair, plus it stifles the economy and decreases the ability for successful businesses to hire more people.  Around and around and around we go. In the meantime, we've kept taxes relatively low and expenses high. What a great combination - everyone wins!!!!  We just put it on a credit card and pay for it later! 

I would love to see us on a path to eliminate personal income taxes.  Completely eliminate them.  I agree with the many studies that show that personal income taxes are mostly wasted on government bureaucracy, and we can fund the entire country's operations on corporate taxes, consumption taxes, property taxes, and the like.

BUT - we have a huge debt obligation to pay off before we can get there, and this debt is the sole reason why our economy is in trouble in the first place.

Can we run a budget surplus and pay down our debt without raising taxes, in a falling economy?  Hmmmmm. I would say ... no.

Can we stop paying interest on our debt? No. See my article on The Role That Our National Debt has Played in our Current Financial Crisis for an idea of what would happen. Our debt is killing us, but we elected the bozos that put us in this situation, and we'll pay for it for a long time.

Can we stop paying for entitlement programs and our outrageously expensive military?  Yes, and I think this should be done immediately, but I'm in the minority on this one. Unlikely to happen.

Can we stop paying foreign aid, farm subsidies, and the like?  Yes, but the gains will be minimal.

Lets face it, for the short term at least, taxes are likely to rise and our debt is still going to go up.

The party is over, mom and dad are coming home, and it's time to clean up.

 

Categories:   Economics | Politics
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Comments (1) -

December 7. 2008 11:45

I used to live in Fremont, Ca and was happy to move to Pleasanton, Ca where they seem to be able to better mange and spend money. I don't think the issue is how high or low taxes are but how they are used. Thanks for reminding me about the Grace Commission, they actually came up with a real plan that was ignore by big government because it meant that the party was over for them, not us. Mom and Dad need to come home to the White House not my house!

Mike G

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