American Idiots!

by Dennis Green

Taxation. Probably no subject of citizenship in a democracy is more controversial. Our very first Revolution, after all, was stimulated in part by unfair taxes imposed by King George upon the colonies, the infamous Tea Tax. "Taxation without representation!" became the rallying cry of the original, memorable Tea Party. And at the heart of the Tea Party Movement of today -- behind all the rhetoric about fascism and socialism is the passionate conviction that American government is disconnected from its citizenry.

And nowhere is that more obvious than in the fundamental unfairness of our taxes. Every day, we hand over billions in compliance to a tax code that is so complex only a tax attorney or revenue agent can begin to comprehend it, a tax code that is often regressive, that favors the rich, that provides multi-national corporations with off-shore tax shelters and other loopholes not available to the average citizen.

And how does this vaunted, "democratic" government spend our money? Well, it spends trillions on unnecessary and ill-conceived wars and other foreign entanglements, enriching Pentagon Groupies like Blackwater and Halliburton. It spends hundreds of billions bailing out banks and other financial institutions it allowed to get "Too big to fail." and it maintains an enormous cadre of overpaid civil servants and other flunkies who provide uncertain and unreliable "services" such as de-regulation, intelligence that fails to anticipate terrorist acts, and sweetheart deals for global petroleum corporations.

Corporate welfare is much more costly to we the people than the social kind, and yet President Ronald Reagan didn't make fun of "Welfare CEOs driving Mercedes to pick up their farm subsidies." And today, Conservatives attempt to channel our very righteous anger and resentment toward immigrants rather than BP or Goldman-Sachs.

Another massive population of fat cats living on the dole of our taxes are the public employee unions, including police, fire and teachers. Their retirement benefits far exceed in generosity anything enjoyed by the average citizen, and they also enjoy a lifetime job security and seniority system unknown in the private sector. Such protections as tenure for teachers shield them from job performance reviews, and forego having their salary and promotions tied to the quality of their product, as they are in the real world.

But there is a stirring of long overdue recognition in the heart of the American Idiot, the Taxpayer, that all those trillions he is forking over in income tax, excise tax, property tax, sales tax and parcel tax is the biggest scam and Ponzi Scheme ever perpetrated by a government upon it's people. And we American Idiots are PISSED!

We're beginning to just say "No!" to parcel tax initiatives, to new state tax referendums, to loopholes providing local government and schools with an easy and convenient way around limits on taxation, (such as California's Proposition 13, the Jarvis Initiative limiting property taxes), and runaway growth in government spending. We would rather see our cities declare bankruptcy, as Vallejo did, than continue their profligate ways.

California's credit rating is in the tank, regardless of the fact that it has some of the highest taxes in the nation. Those opposing cuts in spending always point to programs for disadvantaged children as the reason spending should continue at present rates, or even rise! "Give us your hard-earned money or we'll shoot this kid!" they cry. Local school districts do the same, holding "Quality education, excellence in learning" hostage to the next taxpayer bailout. As if good and dedicated teachers would slack off if they didn't get their annual salary increase!

Our demands:

1) A tax code we can all understand. One that can be contained in five simple, easy-to-read pages. No corporate loopholes. No special advantages for the rich. No caps on the amount of income they pay progressive taxes on, or amounts they pay into such programs as Social Security and Medicare. Under Eisenhower, the very rich paid 97% of their incomes in federal taxes!

2) Limit sales taxes, some of the most regressive and unfair taxes we pay, to no more than four percent of the purchase price. Eliminate excise and "luxury" taxes completely.

3) Keep limits on property taxes, and not only keep the two/thirds supermajority requirement for the passage of parcel taxes, but cap each new one at $150 per year per parcel, whether it is residential or commercial, and limit the number of such parcel taxes a property may be burdened with at any one time to two.

In other words, force government and public agencies to live within our means.

Tomorrow: a total alternative to paying taxes at all. Stay tuned.

©2010 Dennis Green