2009Sep11 How Do You View Taxes & Government Spending?

Do increased income taxes help or hurt the economy?

Almost ninety percent of respondents believe that increased income taxes are a detriment to the economy. From John Kennedy to Ronald Regan to George W. Bush, all of whom pulled tax rate reductions from Congress, lowering tax rates has always increased the total tax collected by the federal government. The opposite has, also, always proven to be true. Raising tax rates has resulted in less tax collection than Congress anticipated.

 

With historical evidence available from the Congressional Budget Office, it is difficult to understand how the Administration can propose higher taxes to pay for its many new proposals for increased government spending. Slowing the economy further from the current depressed state cannot conceivably be in the best interest of our country or its individual citizens.

 

Will your personal income taxes increase or decrease under the Obama administration?

Almost eighty percent of respondents believe income taxes will increase under the current Administration. And they will as presently structured in our tax law. The current tax rates increase automatically at the end of next year unless Congress acts to extend the current law. There has been no action by the Democrats to do so.

 

Does an increase in government spending help or hurt the economy?

The same number of respondents who expect their taxes to increase do not believe that government spending helps the economy. Government only creates jobs by taking money away from citizens to pay another citizen. In the broad sense, all government jobs are the result of wealth redistribution.

 

Tax individuals or businesses and hire a government employee. Individuals and businesses are deprived of their free choice to create opportunity for themselves and others or to use the money to exercise personal choice in the care and feeding of their own family.

 

Some taxation is necessary for government to exercise its stipulated duties. Our problem today has become a government unwilling to operate within the mandates and limitations of our Constitution. States have surrendered their responsibilities and rights for revenue sharing. The population has followed and demanded entitlements rather than responsibility.

 

Will government spending rise under the Obama administration?

One hundred percent of respondents expect government spending to rise under the current Administration. While platitudes have been repeated about chasing down fraud and abuse, no constructive action has been taken or proposed. Once again, our government’s officials ask us to “trust them.” However, since they acknowledge the existence of massive fraud and abuse of the money they dole out, it seems reasonable to ask them to first deal with their own mismanagement before we give them more or larger responsibility.

 

Would you prefer a candidate who promised to oppose all tax increases over one who promised tax hikes only on the rich?

Almost eighty percent indicated a preference for a candidate who would oppose all tax increases. The IRS facts are that “the rich” are already paying the bulk of all income taxes now. Even if we confiscated 100% of the income of “the rich,” it would be insufficient to support the federal government for more than a few days.

 

Our bigger problem is that we have been excluding so much of our population from participating in the payment of taxes that they have lost interest in holding elected officials accountable for expenditures. This is a road to self destruction.