In this week’s progressive opinion our leftist columnists try to make the point that it is patriotic to pay your taxes. I couldn’t agree more.
But like most liberal arguments the point is shallow and incomplete. If paying your taxes is patriotic then why should anyone be exempted from some level of taxation? Patriotism is a personal expression of devotion to your country. So if it is your patriotic duty to pay taxes then shouldn’t those who receive the greatest benefit from citizenship pay at least some amount of income tax
Our progressive income tax system promised that those most able to pay would pay more than those less able to pay. The problem is that our system has morphed into a “tax the rich” mentality. Those greedy rich must not only pay all of the taxes, they must willingly make sure we all have free health care, a home, retirement benefits and anything else the less fortunate “need.” That has nothing to do with patriotism.
The other problem with our liberal friends this week is that they continue to argue that it is the greedy “corporations” that need to step up and pay. When are we going to recognize that corporations don’t pay taxes? Individual citizens pay taxes. If you raise taxes on a corporation, then they will employ one of the following strategies: raise prices, lower wages, move to an area where they can pay lower taxes. For profit corporations have one overriding goal – maximize income. It is what the shareholders and employees demand. It has nothing to do with patriotism.
I would agree with our liberal friends that giving the big multinational corporations a “tax holiday” to repatriate the cash they are currently holding in foreign banks is a bad decision. Not for the reasons they suggest however. There is no guarantee that their repatriation of that cash will do anything to improve our economy and it is patently unfair to all of the small businesses in this country who do not have the resources to take advantage of these kinds of tax loop holes.
Liberals love to bash the corporations and the rich. But without either then who exactly will provide the jobs that have made this the wealthiest and most productive society on the planet? The progressives’ answer – the government.
After all, we know that if the government ran the economy they could eliminate fraud, those outrageous corporate profits, and unemployment. There would be no recessions. Everybody would be paid a fair wage. There would be free health care, free public transportation, and clean air and water. In the words of Tiny Tim, “life would be beautiful all the time!”
Truth is it is lie. A divide and conquer strategy utilized by liberal politicians to increase their own political power and rob you of your freedom. Ben Franklin is often quoted as having said that those who would trade liberty for security will have neither.
We are now in a situation where the top 1 percent of income earners are paying 40 percent of the income taxes. And the sad fact is that if we confiscated all of their wealth we would still be unable to pay off the national debt.
Paying taxes is not about our altruistic values. At some level we all need government and we all need to pay for that government. The problem is that too many of our citizens have come to the point where they think it is the responsibility of others to pay their share.
Our politicians are abusing the American taxpayer with a tax system that promotes class warfare and forces our private sector businesses to make choices that are not in the best interest of our national economy. It is not the patriotism of our corporations that should be questioned here. It is the motives of our elected representatives.
We need to throw the tax code on the ash heap of history and start with a new tax system that requires all of us, as individuals, to support our government at some level.
We need a tax system that exempts for profit businesses from taxation. I know that’s a hard pill for progressives to swallow, but it’s the private sector that drives this economy. Make our country the most attractive place in the world to do business and our economy will soar. Jobs will come home and personal incomes will increase.
And if every individual citizen personally contributes toward running the government, our politicians won’t be able to play Santa Clause with other people’s money. That will do more than term limits could ever do to remove the demagogues from their cherished positions of political influence.
