[Vision2020] Cost of Government Day!

[Ron Force]

Ted's right about the creative accounting employed by Grover Norquist for
Cost of Government Day, and Tax Freedom Day. Here's an opinion from a
religious source:
http://www.ucc.org/justice/witness/wfj033103.htm

Tax freedom day only means freedom for some
Guest Columnist: The Rev. Ron Stief


The romantic notion of April is that Spring showers will bring May flowers,
but the reality of April is more likely experienced when we all send our
annual tax payments to federal, state, and local governments.

Every year, about now, the Tax Foundation releases a report showing how long
you, the average American taxpayer, must work to pay your total tax bill for
the year. Tax Freedom Day, as it is called, usually arrives somewhere around
April 27. By their calculations, you will work approximately 117 days for
Uncle Sam and 228 days for yourself. Not a cheery thought.

Many major media outlets pick up on this idea and repeat it as gospel. But
wait a minute. Do our tax payments really break down so neatly into these
two categories?

In his new book, Wealth and Our Commonwealth: Why America Should Tax
Accumulated Fortunes, William S. Gates Sr.—the father of the more famous
Bill Gates Jr.—observes that in a democracy, it is not necessarily true that
what is mine is mine, and what is the government’s is not mine. "One way or
another, a certain amount of money must be paid in taxes to the U.S.
government to support its activities," the elder Gates writes.

Gates observes that the wealthy and powerful have been able to privatize
their personal and family needs through private education, private ownership
of books and learning tools, private transportation, and so on. The rest of
us, however, "depend on the existence of strong community and public
institutions," he says. Libraries, state parks, municipal pools, public
education, police and fire protection, garbage services and dozens of other
public needs come to mind. Who pays for all this? Government.

Even so, do we really use up 117 days of work a year to pay our taxes? Not
according to economists who have criticized the method of calculation used
by the Tax Foundation.

To arrive at the average taxes we all pay, the Tax Foundation simply
averages your salary with the tax bill of people like Bill Gates Jr. or
Oprah Winfrey. It isn’t hard to imagine how that skews the result. Averages
can be deceiving. Economist Robert Reich, who is 4 feet 10 inches tall,
often jokes that the average height between him and Wilt Chamberlain is 6
feet—even though Reich sure doesn’t feel 6 feet tall on most days!

Because this country has a progressive tax structure for federal income tax,
and for some state income taxes, the wealthy pay a much higher percentage of
their income in taxes than the rest of us. This is the way it should be,
because if you had to pay taxes based on the straight average between you
and Bill Gates Jr., you would be required to work your entire lifetime—in
fact, your next several lifetimes—without ever taking a penny home for
yourself. So relax, it’s not as bad as it looks. Your tax freedom day, if
the concept is even valid, probably comes way before April 27.

But here’s a final disturbing thought. There are some in Washington, DC who
want to eliminate the progressive tax system and are hoping that you will
see all the alarmist reports on "the tax burden" this April and do what most
Americans do—support every tax cut that comes along. President Bush, who
obviously enjoys taking advantage of our lack of understanding of tax
policy, is pushing a $726 billion tax cut which prominently features a new
exemption of taxes on investment income. You know, the tax break he’s
talking about. It’s on that extra check you get each month from your huge
stock holdings that are probably worth several million by now.

For the huge majority of us who still depend on public services, this tax
cut translates into guaranteed ongoing cuts in programs as varied as public
education, health care, Medicare, Medicaid, veterans assistance, schooling
for children on military bases, food stamps, farm programs, and first
responder homeland security, such as police, fire and other emergency
protection.

In order to pay for these crucial public services that can no longer be
funded, guess who will receive state and local tax increases next year in
exchange for this year’s federal tax cut for the wealthy? Should Congress
ultimately approve this ill advised tax cut scam, the wealthy will get their
May flowers and the rest of us will be left knee deep in the mud.

The Rev. Ron Stief is Director of the Washington, DC office of the United
Church of Christ’s Justice and Witness Ministries.


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Ron Force	      	  rforce@moscow.com
Moscow Idaho USA
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