Some BloggingStocks readers have been kind enough to comment on my blog post regarding the tax protest undertaken by Mr. and Mrs. Brown of New Hampshire. It seems to me that in light of the many ways in which our government has mishandled issues with its citizen over the last several decades, the issue of taxation should be taking more of a front seat. Not a one of us enjoys paying taxes, but most all of us agree that they are a necessary evil. Many of us see serious inequities and abuses in the system. I'll clarify some of my positions on the subject and I'll certainly provide some fuel for debate.
I don't disagree that the Browns have a right to protest their taxes in their own way, but what they are doing is, in my opinion, selfish, short sighted, ill-thought-out, and probably illegal. They are acting like the little child who hurls insults at the boogie man from under the covers. They buttress their actions by claiming that the system is so completely broken that any attempt to work with it is useless. Therein lies my reason for suggesting they should go elsewhere. There are a hundred ways that the Browns could stage an open, effective, and legal protest. They, however, have chosen to hide themselves in protest. In my opinion, they are shameful, loud-mouthed cowards.
Does our government overtax us? You damn bet they do. When hard-working citizens reach a certain income level, their governmental tax load is between 30% and 40% of their income. It approaches 50% if you add in all the permits, licenses, user fees, and a host of other city, county, and state hidden payouts. To me this is completely unacceptable. I've been saying for quite some time that, if you consider that our incomes start with a finite 100% and the governments keep taking one additional percent after another, how long will it be before we no longer have the funds to effectively operate as a public? Even more upsetting to me than the amounts of the funds taken is the fact that we have little to no say in how that money is spent. Taxation without (effective) representation? It wouldn't be too hard to argue that such is the case.
So what are we going to do about it? Well, I for one am not going to hide under my bed whining that I won't pay. I think that first, the system in place needs to be shored up to reduce the number of people who don't pay what they are expected to, but mostly I think that the system needs to change. I have heard of the "Fair Tax" strategy and on the surface it sounds good to me, but I lack any technical knowledge of the intricacies. We do need an across the board overhaul of our tax system. We've been putting bandages on a diseased system for far too long.
The biggest change I would make, and I'd do it right now, would be too grab the entirety of our government leadership by the scalp and drag them right alongside us into the existing system. They should be treated exactly the same as every other wage earner in this country. That includes payroll taxes, health care insurance premiums, and most importantly the Social Security system. I want my boys, Herb Kohl and Russ Feingold exposed to the exact same system as me. I want them to cut the perks, cut the fat, and cut the crap. I want them to burn their golden parachutes. If they want to continue to foist their politically correct, the world is flat, socialist agendas on me, then they can just come down to my level and see how we do it in the real world.
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