Brushfire of FreedomThe Conservative Cowboy
April 15th is a day that many Americans dread. To the other 40% of the nation that doesn’t pay any income tax, April 15th is just another day. The income tax system that we employ in this country is a progressive tax; that means that as your income increases so does the percentage of that income that you will pay in taxes. Tax rates range from 10% to 35% of personal income that is taken by the federal government. For example a single person making $70,000 per year would pay 25% of that or $17,500 in federal taxes. Where does that money get used? Some of it pays for the social programs to take care of the 40% of people who don’t pay taxes, and that doesn’t include the immigrants that are here illegally and still receiving the same benefits. Some of it goes to pay the huge salaries and benefit packages of our elected officials. Some of it goes to our national defense and that is the only tax that I am more than willing to pay. The progressive tax system that we have in place is a horrible fit for our economic system; penalize the successful to pay for what the government would call the less fortunate. Our economy is based on rewarding the successful, that is part of what motivates the people who go to school for eight years to become a doctor, or the business person that has maxed out every credit card to get their business running. These two people, the doctor and business man, work hard for their money yet continue to be penalized for their success by the same Government who wants the economy to keep growing. The worst part is this is just the first tax the government takes from us right off the top of our income.
Not only do we have taxes taken out of our paycheck but we also have to claim any interest or investment income. They are punishing Americans for saving their money, or making money on any investment! This double taxation has helped create a “spend first” mentality in this country that has been in place since after the Second World War. Which coincidently is the same time that the percentage rates for our income taxes rose greatly to help pay for the war. When the people of this country do not have any savings for emergency expenses greater fluctuations occur in the overall economy. Once again the taxes imposed by the Government discourage any growth in the economy.
Now to a real fun issue, the tax rates on our corporations of this country. Please remember that when I am talking about a corporation I am not just talking about the Microsoft’s of the world. These horrible taxes apply to any corporation whether it is publically or privately held. When looking at corporate tax rates we see a pyramid type system is used. The tax rate climbs to an astonishing 39% for corporations that make between $100,000 and $335,000. The rate then starts to drop again until you get back down to the 35% rate for anything above $18,333,333 in income. To put this in perspective Exxon Mobil, one single company, pays as much taxes as the bottom 50% of individual earners in this country. Exxon Mobil recorded record breaking profits last year. The only thing that we saw in the news was the amount of profits; we didn’t see a headline that stated Exxon also paid $27 billion in taxes last year, also a record. This is one of the reasons the Government is so quick to jump in and help the large corporations during this time of troubles. The IRS is the biggest source of revenue for our government, and we have the second highest corporate tax rate in the world. We wonder why our corporations are outsourcing jobs to cut costs. Our corporations are already at a disadvantage in the global marketplace because of these high taxes. The government is again getting in the way of growth and progress.
I have just scratched the surface on the outrageous taxes that our Government imposes on us; I didn’t even bring up property tax, estate (death) tax, or the taxes on specific goods such as tobacco alcohol and gasoline. The 16th amendment to the constitution gives the federal government the ability to tax our income at any rate that they see fit; they can take all of our income in taxes if they wanted to. Now to the solution, or at least a solution that would provide equity to our taxation system. Getting rid of the 16th amendment is the first step in the process to correct the problem. Yes that is right, take income tax away completely. Then we can fund the government with use taxes, just a fancy word for a flat sales tax. A flat tax does not change the rate at which you are taxed based on your income. A tax based on what is consumed creates a choice for Americans on whether or not they want to pay taxes or not, by taxing what they purchase. Creating this type of system would probably cut some of the revenues of the Federal Government and in turn would have to cut some of their budgets.
Here’s a thought, perhaps the salaries and benefits of the Congressmen themselves will have to be cut, what a novel idea. Or maybe some of the social programs like Welfare that perpetuates our entitlement mentality in this country. Basically we need to move forward to put the responsibility back in the hands of the people, and that starts by giving them the means to make themselves successful. Taxing income is taking away that responsibility from the people and putting into the hands of a government. You work hard for your money shouldn’t you have the right to use it in whatever way you see fit?
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