Just who do these fiscal and economic conservatives think
they are?
Talk of a flat tax, or even of replacing the income tax
with a national sales tax, just doesn't seem to want to go away.
These people esposing such obviously radical views would have us believe
that life under our current graduated tax code is somehow unjust, unfair,
even un-American. Hogwash.
Although our government threatens us with jailtime and/or
financial ruin for not paying it a third to half our incomes, amazingly
enough the vast majority of Americans still find it in their hearts to
"voluntarily" comply. When people named Vinnie and Guido try to do
this to others it's referred to as a "protection racket" or "extortion,"
but the government has it down to a fine (and legal) art. So fine,
in fact, that our current tax code, touted by our government as "the envy
of the world," now numbers some 9,451 pages long (as of late Oct. 1997).
Intent on further expanding--er, perfecting its ply, our government has
amended the tax code over 4,000 times since 1986. With all those
people trying so hard to think of new ways to part us from our money, it
just has to be a fair system, right?
So who do these conservatives think they are? They
would have us believe that punishing success and rewarding mediocrity through
a graduated income tax is not progressive, but actually regressive.
And that the concept of taxing all people equally through a flat tax is
somehow more...equal. No, what this country needs is a good long
ongoing class war. By golly, if we the middle class can't be rich,
well, neither will the rich. After all, they have more money, so
they should be made to pay more, right? But liberals tend to be mathematically
illiterate on economic matters, so it makes no sense that a rich person
would actually pay more than a poorer person even if they pay the same
percentage. No, we can't have equality if everyone is paying
the same percentage now, can we? Slap 'em with a higher tax rate,
so we can encourage a society where everyone is equal (and equally poor).
There are some, of course, who would argue that the Constitution guarantees
not equality of results, but equality of opportunity. But that goes
against Liberal Credo, so it may be conveniently ignored.
Of course, if you are poor, then that makes the middle
class rich by comparison. So the same arguements apply, which means
that the middle class needs to be taxed at a higher rate, and of course
then the rich will have to be taxed at a still higher rate.
These same conservatives who have this odd sense of equality
and fairness also have this irrational belief that it's somehow unfair
that capital gains (e.g. stock profits) get taxed twice, once from income
taxes and again from capital gains taxes. Indeed, some believe that
the capital gains tax should be removed altogether. Have you ever
heard anything so preposterous? Just imagine, people building up
a quarter or a third of a million dollars, then retiring and living
in comfort! Any idea of early retirement and living in comfort without
dependence on Social [In]Security or some other government assistance is,
of course, ridiculous. Besides, everyone knows that earning money
from the stock market is just a "rich guy thing." Why, if we got
rid of the capital gains tax, very nearly anyone could invest, live
a comfortable retirement, heck, even retire a few years or decades early.
Then where would we be?
There is, of course, a vaccine against all this "centsible"
speak. Liberals have been practicing it for years, to considerable
success. All you have to do is villify the rich, engage in name calling,
stereotyping and demonification, throw in a few red herrings and straw
men for good measure, and generally make broad sweeping statements that
have no rational foundation (as long as they sound good).
Use the phrase "the rich" often, so as to perpetuate the us-vs.-them mentality.
Base your statements on assumptions such as all rich people are evil and
don't really pay any taxes anyway. Remind people that every dollar
a rich person makes is one less dollar in your pocket, because after
all, they probably did it at your expense. In short, convince yourself
that no good can come from others being rich, and stick your head in the
sand so as not to be assaulted by "facts" and "economic laws." That's
the liberal way, at least if you're a politician.
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