It's no secret that I, along with 99 million of my fellow citizens, hate the current, wickedly convoluted, regressive income tax system. It's also no secret that I strongly (strongly!) favor a flat 10% income tax system for all citizens (see below), as opposed to any other proposed revamps of our current income tax system.
Ari Fleischer, a former press secretary for President George W. Bush, kinda sorta agrees with moi (at least on the taxing everyone part).
In his WSJ article, dated today, he correctly states that the top ten percent of all income earners pay over 70% of the income taxes, and likens that structure to an inverted pyramid. (For those who went to gub'mint school, an inverted pyramid means it is upside down, is inherently unstable and requires exhaustive artificial support to prevent dangerous collapse.)
It's bad for our democracy to exempt half the country.
"Mr. Obama is adding to this trend with his "Make Work Pay" tax cut that means almost 50% of the country will no longer pay any income taxes, up from a little over 40% today. A certain amount of income redistribution in a capitalistic society is healthy, but this goes too far. The economic and moral problem is that when 50% of the country gets benefits without paying for them and an increasingly smaller number of taxpayers foot the bill, the spinning triangle will no longer be able to support itself. Eventually, it will spin so slowly that it falls down, especially when the economy is contracting and the number of wealthy taxpayers is in sharp decline.
In addition to exempting almost 50% of the country from income taxes, today nearly every other social cause is given a loophole -- or a preference -- in the tax code. Want to buy a hybrid vehicle? You get a tax break. Do you own a solar water heater? You get a credit. Want to give to charity? You get a deduction. Own a house? There's another tax deduction for you. How about college savings, certain medical costs, and retirement savings? Yes, yes, and of course yes. Did you move, pay alimony, or "provide housing to a Midwestern displaced individual"? More deductions, credits and exemptions there too, if you qualify.
Everyone now has a sacred cow in the tax code. For my money, the most sacred thing of all is our country and its growth, but the sacred cows have turned into a pack of wolves. On both the spending and the tax side, the wolves are devouring our children's future."
While I support the passionate moxie of the 'Tea Party Protests', I fear that this sound and fury will soon be faded memories come the mid-term elections of 2010, unless something more concrete is done to reduce the gargantuan appetite of a gy-normous federal gub'mint.
Until the electorate disposes of 'with holding tax', nothing will be solved!
"Out of sight; out of mind. And the oink-oink politicians know it.
[This is a re-print from 2006 (with minor edits), but the facts and figures haven't changed much (except increase), and Lord knows ponderous tax code hasn't gotten any simpler - so happy reading!]
It's that time of year again.
My annual rant is included with eleventeen ga-jillion other blog sites that blow off on this topic every April. I am convinced the blogosphere would shrink by half if the IRS were to vanish tomorrow.
The tax burden on all tax paying citizens is a drain on the economy, slows the growth of wealth and penalizes hard work and achievement. It costs the businesses & citizens of this nation $500 billion (with a 'B') every year to comply with the ponderous tax code. I say eliminate the dreaded IRS with its boon-doggle, back @ssward, punitive and expensive method of collection, and replace it with a 10 percent flat tax on all income earners.
An 'out sight; out of mind' mentality is a powerful weapon the money hungry politicos in Washington D.C. rely upon to feed this gargantuan federal bureaucracy. And the notion of a 'with holding tax' places the cost and liability on the already over-burdened business owner to funnel those payroll tax dollars into the federal and state coffers. Coupled to this is a 'before tax / after tax' mindset which pacifies the electorate into willing dupes to keep the monetary flow unchecked. Want to see a tax revolt? Eliminate the with holding tax requirement, have millions of tax paying citizens be responsible for their own book keeping, and write one fat check on April 15th. Talk about screaming and gnashing of teeth! More than a few politicians would be out of work the following election.
To solve this strangling stupidity, I recommend a universal 'ten percent flat tax' on everyone. Yes, that includes the precious poor (here's where the leftist utopians scream for my blood). Make them pay their fair share and end this 'gimme, gimme' leach mentality bred from generation to generation. And I'm pretty sure I support the idea of having the responsibility of paying taxes tied to the privilege of voting. After all, if you don't help pay for the system, why should you have a say in how the money is spent? (gasp!)
Sadly, most folks don't get too worked up over taxes and tax cuts. They just grumble and let the government keep bending them over. If you ask most folks, they say it doesn't bother their ravaged wallet too much because, heck, they got a refund! Whoopee. What's totally lost on them is that the govt. still screwed 'em, and they didn't even get dinner out of the deal. More than likely they ended up paying for some one else's free lunch.
The pork politicians of this country have turned the 16th amendment into a social engineering tool and use it to punish hard workers and high achievers. The politician then use those tax dollars to buy votes from the obtuse citizens with duplicitous shell games like the 'earned income credit'. There's nothing 'earned' about it. It is a welfare check and people like you & me are paying for it.
The sad fact is that 48% of the income earners in this country don't pay a dime to fund this government. Most simply have their hand out. The other 52% of the populace pays all the operating costs of the government with the top 5% of income earners (translation: the hated rich) paying thirty-three percent of all taxes to run this government. This is fair? What happened to "equal under the law"? Oh, but we can't have any tax cuts. Oh, no. That wouldn't be fair. Call a waa-mbulance.
Once again, de-construct the IRS and implement a 10 percent flat tax on all income earners; no deductions, no loop holes, no write offs, and no with holding. It's fair, simple and cheap. And don't give me this hogwash about 'making corporations pay their fair share'. The plain truth is that corporation don't pay income taxes; only individuals pay income taxes. Oh sure, corporations fill out a tax return and forward a check onto the government, but corporations view taxes like any thing else; it's a business expense. Like labor or raw materials, taxes are simply incorporated into the price of their goods or services. And taxes can be absorbed into the increased price of goods or services more readily than almost any other component of business because taxes effect everyone equally across the board. Sadly, it is those at the bottom of the economic ladder that bear this government imposed increased cost of goods and services more than others. Let the leftist utopians chew on that fact for a while.
A graduated income tax is one of the hallmarks of a communist philosophy of government and the defunct USSR has proven that it doesn't work. Even the resurrected new Republic of Russia saw the flaw in graduated taxes, and has at the center piece of its new government operating policy a flat income tax. After all, it is the only fair and equal way to treat all citizens under the law.
The U.S. of A. deserves no less. Contact you congress person today.
You don't know who that person is? Then look here."
TY to this guy.
And for all you libs out there who hated GW's 'dangerous spending', you know darn well that Pres. Obama makes the boooshitler look like a parsimonious ol' skin flint by comparison.
Enough already!