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| Are you paying your fair share? |
I assume that most people who are in favor of a totally flat
tax (every citizen pays the same dollar amount in taxes) find the flat tax fair
because each person basically uses the same government services. But I disagree. Here’s
why:
First off, the flat tax would pose a problem because to
raise enough revenue, the amount of taxes the low and middle class taxpayers
have to pay would need to increase significantly. Most low and middle class
individuals and families are out of work or working but already struggling to
pay their bills. What will we do when those millions of citizens are unable to
meet their tax obligations? Prisons are already full in increasing the ranks of
the homeless and destitute by such a large margin would not be good for the
country. What would that image do to the strength of our T-bill and our credit
rating?
So let’s examine the concept that all citizens use the same
amount of government services. I recall my situation during my “college years”
(quotes used because I spent most of my college years not going to college). I
was struggling to find my way in the world and I was earning $10,000 - $18,000
per year during that time. I didn’t travel because I couldn’t afford time off
for vacation, let alone a trip anywhere. I did not need the services of the FAA
or the TSA. I wasn’t making any road trips so I wasn’t using the state,
interstate and federal highways.
These days I earn a comfortable living and find myself on an
airplane several times each year. I enjoy taking road trips to my friends’
houses and to visit with family. I certainly use the FAA, TSA and highway
system, and I’m glad the highway patrol is there if I need them. It is easy to
see that for these services it is fair that I should pay more in taxes than I
did during my “college years”.
For any wealthy person that enjoys boating: would you feel
safe on the open seas and continue boating if there was no Coast Guard to
assist you if something hit the fan? Have fun out on the water. But recognize
that for you to enjoy that luxury safely requires a great deal of government resources
and taxpayer dollars.
Think of any person that started a business in this country and
achieved great success and wealth. Did they ship products through the US mail
or on the highway system? Did they send bills and receipts through the mail?
Did they utilize the intranet to advertise, take orders and process sales? Did
they utilize US airspace or waterways? Did they get a public school education or government backed student loans? All of these things were provided by
and/or developed by the government. How can they now say that they don't want to help provide the same opportunities for the next generation? Don’t such companies and individuals owe
something back to the government, beyond the empty promise to create jobs if
they’re given more tax cuts?
The flip side, of course, is that poor many people get food
stamps, welfare, housing and transportation assistance, etc. How do these
government services stack up monetarily against the government resources used
by the wealthy? I haven’t done the math so I couldn’t say. But government services
aren’t provided to poor people out of a sense of fairness or “entitlement”. It
has always been done because people in this country have traditionally been
unwilling to stand by idly while their neighbors starve to death. In our
nation’s past, we have wanted to have a safety net, for ourselves--in the event
that we find ourselves in need--and also for members of our communities that
may need assistance. Are we now becoming a country that would prefer to turn
its back on needy children, the mentally handicapped, single mothers and
schizophrenics?
That brings us to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan: does
anyone really believe that we invaded those countries for national security?
Those wars were (and are) government-sponsored corporate ventures. The invasion
of Afghanistan secured a lucrative pipeline deal for U.S. corporations and taking
over Iraq was intended to grant U.S. oil companies access to Iraq’s oil
reserves. Haliburton sure profited handsomely from the invasions, as did Blackwater
(now Xe). And everybody got a cost plus 10% deal from the government which
rewarded them for wasting U.S. taxpayer dollars, which they did in no small
measure. I’m sure companies in other industries were also excited about the
prospect of opening new markets in the Middle East. War profiteering companies
got far wealthier while our soldiers shed blood and lost lives. And our
citizens were burdened by increased gas prices, the reduced value of the dollar
and the effects of a shaky economy. I certainly feel that
those who benefited from the travesty of the wars owe a debt to the rest of
us.
Finally, we subsidize the wealthy to support their hobbies, vanity and whims. Didn’t know that? Every time someone donates $10 million to some bogus charity like a religious organization that’s already richer than god or a wealthy university that will erect a building in the name of the donor, they avoid paying taxes on that income. Each time you send you child off to an under-funded school, just pray that they can somehow get into Columbia or Harvard because only then may they reap the benefits of our broken tax system.
~R. Charan Pagan
information systems technologist, musician, writer, filmmaker
Los Angeles, CA 90017
http://www.reclaimingourbirthright.blogspot.com/
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