Taxes - Not Getting Your Money's Worth

Preparing Dinner in Nepal - Photo by JoAnn Sturman

Scott Sturman
fliesinyoureyes.com

It is unreasonable to expect good governance without a tax code that mirrors this ideal. Theoretically tax revenue pools resources to provide benefits tax payers cannot obtain individually. Now into my fifth decade of paying taxes, it is apparent most of these funds are spent unwisely, and politicians have lost sight of fiscal responsibilities and adherence to the provisions of the Constitution.

Taxation is more than redistribution of money. A social engineering component is inherent in any system which rewards or punishes behavior by establishing arbitrary deductions, credits, and incentives or levying penalties and fines. Powerful interest groups are able to influence law makers to enact rules and regulations that benefit the well connected and their constituents. Senior committee chairman solidify their coveted positions by doling out favors and making deals that are not in the best interests of the country. Economic choices are made based on the tax code rather than efficiencies. Compounding the problem is the prodigious amount of time and expense necessary to compute tax bills. These are strong arguments for scrapping the graduated income tax and establishing either a consumption or flat tax.

However small the portion, everyone should pay federal and state income taxes. As fewer people pay taxes, the tax burden becomes “someone else’s problem,” and there is no impetuous to correct underling problems or demand financial prudence.

One of the most unfair and egregious acts perpetrated on my children’s generation is the manner in which the Security System has been administered. They are expected to pay for the retirement of others, including those who never paid into the system, but unless changes occur there is little chance they will receive similar benefits. These are regressive taxes, where everyone pays the same rate irrespective of income. One can argue the relative merits of a government sponsored retirement system, but the original intent of the social security trust fund was to set aside these savings for future retirement. However, during the Johnson Administration, Congress shamelessly made these monies available to the general fund, where they were no longer safe from free spending politicians.

The next generation cannot expect the political establishment to solve these problems without intensive voter involvement. A politician may go to Washington, D.C. or the state capital with the best interests of the electorate in mind. Yet with rare exception, it is too difficult to maintain ones innocence and integrity. The mantra for the next generation should be term limits, social security taxes spent only on retirement benefits, abolition of the graduated federal and state income tax systems, and the initiation of a flat or consumption tax.