“Nothing is certain but death and taxes”, they tell us. And we know how the Feds love our tax dollars. They love spending so much that they spend a LOT more than they make. It’s a shame they don’t have debtors’ prisons anymore or we could simply lock up the government and be free from their misfeasance.
Still, one may be astonished to discover the ‘certain’ thing used to only be death. Before the First World War there was no income taxes (except for a few “special” times like the Civil War – but Lincoln was good for that sort of thing) to feel ‘certain’ about. The tax was supposed to help finance the war… but you know how the government is: once they feed on a funding source, they require more and more. It is like they have a growth disorder… or an addictive habit with a docile supplier.
And being permitted to spend like some compulsive consumer in a snake oil paradise, they can drive us further and further into debt.
The “oversight” committees, who are supposed to make sure there is no government waste, have been “out to lunch” for the last four score and seven years.
You wonder how the government could have survived for its first 120 years without income tax. Very simple: they did not throw money around like a drunken sailor in a whore house. But as the robber barons got more and more of a hold on the federal purse strings, the trough has gotten deep and wide. (Remember: they are called robber barons, not robin hood barons.)
The best thing for the country financially, other than a complete reconstitution of the government, would be a flat tax (NO deductions – everyone pays exactly the same percentage). The result would be that the middle class would have LOWER taxes.
Let me show you what I mean.
Years ago, when Rockefeller had the confirmation hearing for vice-presidential appointment, people were amazed that he paid over two million dollars in taxes. Many reporters said that it proved the rich DO pay their fair share… God! You just gotta love the media for spreading their wild insinuations! Admittedly, two million dollars is far more than most of us could pay, but I looked at the percentage of income his taxes equaled. His income for the year was over two hundred million, so he paid just under 1% in taxes!! That year my taxes amounted to 28%. Imagine how little I would have paid if HIS percentage had been raised. Hell! One tenth of one percent more for Nelson would have been ten times what my taxes were.
The Federal trough would be even fuller if the wealthy were taxed on a flat rate basis, but that is never going to happen. At least not while the rich are in control. Who do you think has their snout pressed deepest in the public trough?
Not normal taxpayers like me, that’s for sure!
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