Unfortunate Truths

Perhaps the biggest missing piece in the government funding debate is the fact that revenues generated by taxation exceed the amount necessary to cover the interest on the national debt. This important fact has been ignored or glossed over by both left and right. Why?

Political gain and expediency.

For the Democrats, this is an unfortunate truth that belies the notion that the United States must reach a funding accord or the nation will default on its loans. The truth is we need simply to pay the interest on said debt to prevent defaulting.

For the Republicans, this is an unfortunate truth that removes the hammer they wield in the argument over funding the Affordable Care Act.

Another unfortunate truth is that both sides would rather risk the future solvency of the nation than risk losing their jobs. Both parties run to the cookie jar when constituents clamor for more of anything, fearful of the backlash of unhappy voters. Meanwhile the debt grows.

The Republican answer to the debt is to reduce spending. But what spending should be cut? Every dollar spent by the Federal Government is precious to someone who benefits by it. The idea that raising taxes diminishes job growth has helped to underpinned their argument, but not as much as they hoped.

The Democrat answer is to increase taxes. But which taxes? Rich, poor, and everyone in between wants to keep as much of their income as possible. With so much uncertainty in the world, there is a great desire to keep what's been earned for that impending "rainy day." The class warfare angle has helped, but not as much as they hoped.

The answer will come from "We the People." And I'm afraid we won't like the result.

Another unfortunate truth. Without a change in the hearts of citizens, chaos will inevitably ensue. We see it already. The rule of law is becoming an anachronism. From the smallest things, like ignoring red lights and stop signs because they are inconvenient or the rationale that no one will get hurt if I simply don't stop, to students willing to cheat en masse through cell phones rather than study, to elected officials openly admitting they will not obey the laws of their state and nation.

Jeremiah 17:9 says

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it"

The influence of Judeo-Christian values once mitigated much of the damage done in society, but that influence is eroding quickly. The backlash against such influence is fueled in large part out of a desire to fulfill the needs of self over the needs of the many. Truth that inhibits an individual's personal choices is not only inconvenient, it is seen as unfair. Tolerance is the byword, but like the rule of law it is disbursed judiciously, and only when it doesn't conflict with self gratification.

Law breeds contempt. Contempt breeds chaos. Chaos breeds anarchy. Anarchy breeds Destruction.

Jeremiah 17:10 says

I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds."

Incubating Hostility

Yes, its been a long time between postings.

The 2012 elections are only a memory. Obamacare is wriggling its way into our lives, both corporately and privately. The Fiscal Cliff has been sidestepped for the moment. The debt ceiling is proving to be as nimble as the Cheshire Cat.

And yet we survive.

The question is for how long? While special interests jockey for position in the buffet line that is the Federal teat, liberals and conservatives argue over increases in spending, cuts in spending, spending for the sake of spending.

And they kick the can a little farther down the road.

Sooner or later, someone's going to have to pay for all of this. Or, can we really get away with simply printing more and more money? Did it work for the Weimar Republic? Will Greece, Italy, and Spain ever prosper again without the EU printing more and more Euros?

In a perfect world, everyone would have plentiful health care, food, and shelter. Everyone would be in agreement and everyone would be happy to give to those who have not. But this is not the world we are developing.

Big government is an incubator.

Taking from those with more to give to those in need instills a sense of unfairness among those who are being taken from. This doesn't mean they are stingy, miserly, or mean spirited. It means they resent someone else deciding who should benefit from their hard work.

The intent is noble to be sure. And in some instances it takes a governmental institution to get something accomplished. But like everything else in our society we have let the pendulum swing too far.

Rather than encouraging hard working folks to reach into their pockets and give a helping hand to those in need, big government takes what it believes is its fair share and does the redistributing itself. This does nothing to engender philanthropy and everything to develop a bunker mentality when it comes to taxes of any kind.

Giving what it takes from others instills in those receiving a sense of resentment that they must accept handouts, presumably taken from those who are wealthy enough to have more than they need and who are forced through taxation to share. It creates animosity and class welfare. It creates anger in those who receive when they feel threatened at the thought of losing any of the handouts that they need.

Even the nomenclature instills animosity. Entitlements - This is not just needed, it is deserved. Rich- If you own more than I do you are rich and if you are rich you must have gotten that way on the backs of the poor.

Steadily, we are driving a wedge between these two groups.

For the last fifty years, the government has made itself the final arbiter in matters of conscience. We have driven God from the public arena. He cannot be mentioned in schools, courts, or other public venues. We are told this makes our schools, courts, etc, safer for all. We need not worry about someone trying to force their morality on us any longer.

But morality, like space, abhors a vacuum. The religious morality that sought to instill things like a sense of fair play, sharing with your neighbor, kindness to strangers, respect for others, has been replaced with the teaching of the good of the state. The state will tell you what fair is, who your neighbor is, what kindness is, who deserves respect.

We are the government. We have met the enemy, at it is us.

For Richer, For Poorer - Tax Equality?

Here are a few hypotheticals for you.

1. You're rich. It's tax time, and you can reduce your tax bill by simply following the opportunities written into the tax code. You don't have to break the law, just follow it.
2. You're middle class. It's tax time, and you can reduce your tax bill by simply following the opportunities written into the tax code. You don't have to break the law, just follow it.
3. You're barely getting by, living week to week, getting by on a minimum wage salary, subsidized housing and food stamps. It's tax time, and by just filling out the tax form properly you need not pay any taxes whatsoever.

What do you do? Is there any difference in your actions if you are rich, middle class, or in abject poverty?

Does being poor give you a righteous entitlement to take advantage of the law and thus pay no taxes?
What about being rich, or middle class?

Here are two more.

1. You own or run a multi-national corporation. It's tax time, and you can reduce your corporate tax bill by simply following the opportunities written into the tax code. You don't have to break the law, just follow it.
2. You own a small business. Your business barely survives year to year. It's tax time, and you can reduce your small business tax bill by simply following the opportunities written into the tax code. You don't have to break the law, just follow it.

Is there a difference? Should there be?

In order to function, any government, like any household, like any business, needs income. That's why we have a tax system. Over the years ours has become labyrinthine, full of deductions, loopholes, escape mechanisms. About 71% of all taxes in the United States are paid by 10% of the population. Nearly half of the workforce pays no tax at all.
After all, you can reduce your tax bill by simply following the opportunities written into the tax code. You don't have to break the law, just follow it.

So whose to blame for this situation? We are.

Both political parties have had opportunities, periods when they controlled both houses of congress and the presidency, even a super-majority. And yet, here we stand. We can blame "special interests," but the truth is we have had the power all along and have not acted. Everyone believes their Senator, their Representative, their President, is the one that will act in our best interest.

And guess what? They have.

Alexis de Tocqueville noted,

"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. "

Every time we vote to extend tax breaks to businesses, that is what we are doing. But also, every time we extend the welfare net we are doing the same.

What do you think?

Sheep

I don't know which irritates me more- The incessant class warfare or the insistence that our children's education and the safety of our streets will be in danger if we don't increase the budget and raise taxes, or the sheep that hear these mantras and take them for gospel.
The lessons learned in the Soviet Union have not transferred to many in this country. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Tell that man he may only keep an ever shrinking fraction of his fish and he will not work as hard, and he will resent those who do nothing and yet share in his catch.
The excuse that taxes must be raised in order to balance a budget is only true to the extent that the budget cannot be reduced to the level of tax receipts. To use the excuse that taxes must be raised or children will suffer and crime will run rampant is equally fallacious. It suggests that there is no way to either reduce the cost of education and public safety or to reduce funding for other programs.
A citizenry that blindly accepts such claims without question deserves what it gets. Far too many people have bought into the notion that big government is in their best interest. The interest of big government is growing big government, creating more and more dependency upon government, and reducing or eliminating the influence of the private sector.