How Income Tax Hurts
By William L. Pressgrove
December 5, 2008
As I work with my students to help them conceptualize the significance of the ideology the Founding Fathers used as they put together the Constitution I try to cover several topics. First, I want my students to realize the Founding Fathers wanted a Constitution that would provide the power and influence necessary for a central government to handle the affairs of state when dealing in areas such as international affairs, interstate commerce, national defense, the general welfare, and monetary issues. At the same time they wanted to allow the States to have the maximum degree of allowance to manage the affairs of state within their own borders. Second, I want them know that there were differences of opinion on just how strong that government should be. Some wanted it to have a very narrow interpretation with very literal meaning while others wanted a very broad interpretation with vague and malleable meaning so as to adapt it to varying circumstances.
It appears that human nature has played a significant role in just how narrow or broad the Constitution has been interpreted mainly through the different ideologies of the political parties. Depending on which major party was in power, legislation would favor the philosophy of that party. However, politics and statesmanship are not necessarily embodied in the same individual therefore, philosophy often takes a back seat to expediency, compromise, and out and out favoritism much of the time.
Sometimes a political ploy will backfire because the very smart, but sometimes not too wise politicians try to use a strategy that is the exact opposite of what they believe to put an issue before the people thinking that in no way will they embrace such an ideology. Such is the history of the Sixteenth Amendment. It was never supposed to be ratified and it was intended to put the issue of an “income tax” to rest by having the states reject it, but instead they ratified it and it changed the Constitution.
The Sixteenth Amendment was touted to be “fair” because it placed a larger portion of the burden of running the Federal Government onto the backs of the more wealthy members of society and to them that was fair. This paper is to show how that has in reality put enmity between the wealthy and the not so wealthy in this country. The rationale that will be used is the same fundamental logic used by the Founding Fathers when they put the Constitution together and attempted to set forth a plan of governance that would treat each citizen equally.
The Sixteenth Amendment the income tax was to be graduated so that the wealthy paid a larger percentage of their income to the government than the middle or lower classes had to pay. It is difficult to conceive of this as being “fair.” However, it has continued to be so ever since and at various times it has been used to garner votes from certain sectors of the populace to win elections. We have recently had an election where income tax played a major role. The masses were promised that their taxes would be reduced while those of the upper class were told that they would have to pay a larger portion of their income to support the government. How then, when the wealthy should be able to use their wealth to sway the election toward their point of view, could the election be given to those who would be the benefactors of that wealth instead? It is simple, politicians play the numbers game. When there are more people in the middle class and poorer class than there are in the upper class, the upper class would lose the election even if 100% of them voted against that politician and only a fraction (just one vote more than all the wealthy) of the middle and poor class would be needed to out-vote the upper class at the polls.
How can a situation like that ever be considered fair? Why, when they carry a major part of the burden to finance the government, dont the wealthy have more of a "say so" in what government does? They shouldn't because each voter should have just one vote. On the other hand, each person that votes should have equal responsibility for carrying the burden of financing the government. Only then can there be fairness. As it stands, the poor have no vested interest in how the country runs, except as recipients of some of the bounty government has taken from the upper class, because they don't have to pay for any of it. On the other hand the rich have a very strong vested interest because the country is running on the money they provide. However, the wealthy lack the power to influence government at the ballot box because of the sheer numbers of poor and middle class that are being marshaled to out vote them. In order to return fairness at the ballot box, all voters need to be participating equally in the expense of running the country. Equal power at the ballot box requires equal responsibility for paying government expenses. The only way to attain this kind of equality would be for each voter to be paying an equal percentage of their income as their share of the expenses of the government.
What would this accomplish? It would be the first time since the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified that the sovereign of this country, in its entirety, would have equality in their accountablity for paying the country’s bills. When there are no more “free riders” then all people would be more interested in what the revenue is being used for. Congressmen would be hard pressed to make a case of taking more from the rich and giving it to the poor to buy votes from the poor.
Emphasis would then be focused on how government spending is affecting future generations. When people begin to pay taxes they begin to realize that the National Debt is a tax on future generations and those who will have to pay that debt aren’t here to represent themselves and cry “foul, foul, taxation without representation” in the same manner that our Founding Fathers did when Great Britain was taxing them in the same manner.
One of the solutions as to how to raise the revenue needed, without having the Communistic "heavily graduated" income tax system we now have, is to do away with the Internal Revenue System and change the tax system to a national sales tax. This kind of a tax would hold each individual that earns money responsible for their fair share of the burden of government. An organization with a website that explains how this could be done fair and equitably is called fairtax.org. They have worked out every detail. They have even worked in a “prebate” system so income below the poverty line would be reimbursed for taxes paid thus removing an undue financial hardship from those living below the poverty line (however, if they buy on credit and exceed the poverty level for their size family, they would be paying tax just as everybody else has to). When I checked the difference in disposable income between what I am currently paying in income tax and the disposable income I would have with a 23% sales tax in place, I found the fair tax plan would increase my disposable income by 32%. If you check out Senate bill S-1025 which is this proposal, you might find that you are in the same boat.
A blog that puts forth the ideals engrained in the Constitution and how returning to the basic principles the Founding Fathers put into it we can solve the problems we have created for ourselves by straying from these principles. Read The Tapestry (posted at the bottom of the page) it might just give you a new perspective as to what direction this country is headed in. (Note: Older posts are contained in the archives to keep the length of the blog shorter.)
Who am I?
- Bill Pressgrove
- Retired History teacher with special interests in the Constitution and Government.
Fair Tax for America
The Tapestry
The Tapestry
By William L. Pressgrove
Written in 1992, edited Nov 2009
Once upon a time, there was a land far, far away full of beauty. There was lush vegetation like tall trees, colorful flowers, winding rivers, snowy mountains, and grassy plains. The land was exceedingly rich in natural resources because the ruler of the land had blessed it with all things he had the power with which to bless it. The ruler of the land was a jealous ruler so anyone who came to live on this land had to make a covenant to worship him only. If the people ever forgot, or would not worship the ruler of the land, they would be swept off of the land because the ruler of the land would not be mocked.
As the story begins, there is evidence that the land had been peopled several times. Artifacts found in the land indicated that each group had broken their covenant with the ruler of the land and had been destroyed or they had destroyed themselves.
Another people in a distant land heard about this strange and beautiful land and desired to move to it. They made arrangements to move, many having to take great losses as they sold their goods and possessions, but to them the promise of the new land and freedom were worth all their sacrifices. These people became known as "Freemen" because of their love for freedom.
When the Freemen arrived in the new land, they found people already living there. These people were called "Landers" because they were a people who lived off the land and used it to their benefit, somewhat wisely, but the Landers had forgotten the ruler who had blessed the land, thus they had fallen out of favor with him. Therefore, the Landers lived without his protection. The Freemen learned of the ruler of the land and made a covenant with him to worship him and him alone. So, whenever there was a problem between the Freemen and the Landers, the ruler would favor the Freemen. There were several wars between the two groups because the Landers didn’t want the Freemen taking their land and gaining a foot hold in it. The Freemen prevailed and became established in the land. They prospered and began to fill the land, because they remembered their covenant with the ruler of the land.
The Freemen continued honoring the covenant they had made with the ruler, but the mother country from which the Freemen had come didn’t want them to become independent. The Freemen had to break away from the mother country’s hold on them before they could fully live the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They knew if they would break with the old country, the ruler of the land would assist them to become secure in the covenant they made with him.
The old country didn’t want to lose control of their colony in the new land because of its exceeding riches, so it began to exercise more control over the colony and make unreasonable demands on the Freemen. The Freemen had to pay more and more taxes for the goods they received from the mother land. The mother country taxed the Freemen without allowing them to be represented in government.
Even with the help of the ruler of the land, there was a great war between the old country and the colonists in which many of the Freemen paid the ultimate price for freedom. The greatest men of that generation spilt their blood to gain the independence they were seeking.
The people, having won their freedom began to live all the terms of the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They set about to fix laws by which they could remain free in this new land. They hadn’t forgotten the help they received from the ruler of the land, so they incorporated rules and regulations that allowed the people to have the freedom of choice in their new nation. This freedom of choice was a right they fought so valiantly to gain, and they recognized that it was the only way they could truly worship the ruler of the land.
The leaders of the country of Freemen made a tapestry into which was woven the rules of the government they had formed. This tapestry displayed to all the world the freedom the new nation of Freemen stood for. The tapestry was held high and was revered by all who had taken part in obtaining freedom for the new nation and had worked so hard to set up a sound government.
As time went on the Freemen, who had made the covenant with the ruler of the land and had fought beside those who died for it, passed away. Their children remembered the covenant and the tremendous sacrifice their fathers had made by holding the tapestry high and reverencing those who had made their freedom possible as well as the ruler who had help secure it.
Several generations passed away reverencing the tapestry and enjoying the freedom it represented. Eventually, those who were placed into government positions decided that they could improve the laws that the tapestry represented. They began to make these changes and told the people they were for the betterment of the country. As a symbol of each change they removed one thread from the fabric of the tapestry, one thread for every change.
All the changes made the Freemen feel that the government was caring for them and that the changes were making the country better. The tapestry didn’t appear to have suffered from the changes either. The threads that were removed were hardly, if at all noticeable.
As the years passed the Freemen became less self-sufficient and more dependent on the government to sustain them. Politicians began to realize that by making promises of more aid to special interest groups they could garner more votes from the people in exchange for more money from the government coffers. Sadly, the people began to expect more and more support from the government without ever thinking about where the government was getting money.
Before they were aware of it, the people had become so dependent of the government that they began to forget about the covenant their fathers had made with the ruler of the land. The government became more important to them than the ruler of the land. Historians began removing all references to the ruler of the land from the history books used to teach the children about the Founding Fathers of the country. Those in power also began passing laws that prohibited the mention of the ruler of the land in public places. As these changes were being made, the politicians and now even the historians took more threads from the tapestry to make it conform to their new way of thinking.
Even though so many changes were being made to the tapestry, the people still revered it and considered it to be the fabric of the country and said that it was so strong that no one or nothing could ever tear it apart. They held it high on every Independence Day to display to the world how proud they were of it. They would boast of being the greatest nation in the world. They were proud of the strength of their military. They would occasionally show their strength by defending "freedom" by supporting international causes supposedly to keep the peace.
One day, a dispute began among the leaders of the country as to whether the laws the tapestry represented were still valid because times had changed and technology had become so advanced. Some thought that the laws the tapestry contained were outdated and needed to be scrapped and a new one drafted. Others thought that with just a few more changes, that the old tapestry would be just fine. As a graphic representation of this argument, a verbal tug-of-war ensued each side being on opposite sides of the tapestry. As they began the tug-of-war it was plain to see that the tapestry would be torn apart by the argument. Those who wanted the Constitution to remain quickly made some serious concessions to the opposing party with the understanding that they would keep the "old" tapestry as the countries symbols of freedom.
The tapestry was changed so much that it was just a shell of what it had been and so many threads had been removed from the tapestry that it began to look like an old shredded cloth. As the government was discussing more changes to the tapestry, an enemy came into the land and began to take possession of it, killing and enslaving the people as they went. The mighty army was sent out to fight this intruder, but found that it was so weakened by the lack of discipline that it was no match for the invasion. You see, they had become weak because of the lasciviousness that had been allowed by their leaders, that they didn’t have the moral fiber to hold them together as a fighting unit.
Finally citizens, who had been weary of the actions of the politicians, took up their arms and the tapestry as a banner in defense of their country. They were seriously hampered in their efforts because some of the new laws that were passed made it difficult for them to retain their firearms, so they were fighting with whatever they could get their hands on. These citizens were those who had believed in and kept the covenant with the ruler of the land and were sustained by their faith that he would help them to rid their country of the invaders. Joined by those of the military who had recognized the lasciviousness that had overtaken their forces and had maintained themselves apart from those activities, these citizens prevailed and began to repel the invaders.
After much bloodshed this new army prevailed and defeated the invaders, but not before the capital city and those who were in it was destroyed. When peace was restored, the original tapestry was found almost totally shredded into pieces. It was held together by one brittle thread. It was taken to a laboratory to be restored.
The threads that had been removed were found in the archives and were brought out and laid down side by side so they could be restored to the tapestry. As this process began, the workers noticed that the threads had tiny strands of gold woven in them at various places. When they were all laid down together they discovered a word had been woven into the threads, a word that when embedded in the cloth held the tapestry together tightly but was imperceptible to the naked eye. A word that when removed bit by bit over time had allowed not only the tapestry, but the fabric of the nation to fall apart as well. That word?–God.
By William L. Pressgrove
Written in 1992, edited Nov 2009
Once upon a time, there was a land far, far away full of beauty. There was lush vegetation like tall trees, colorful flowers, winding rivers, snowy mountains, and grassy plains. The land was exceedingly rich in natural resources because the ruler of the land had blessed it with all things he had the power with which to bless it. The ruler of the land was a jealous ruler so anyone who came to live on this land had to make a covenant to worship him only. If the people ever forgot, or would not worship the ruler of the land, they would be swept off of the land because the ruler of the land would not be mocked.
As the story begins, there is evidence that the land had been peopled several times. Artifacts found in the land indicated that each group had broken their covenant with the ruler of the land and had been destroyed or they had destroyed themselves.
Another people in a distant land heard about this strange and beautiful land and desired to move to it. They made arrangements to move, many having to take great losses as they sold their goods and possessions, but to them the promise of the new land and freedom were worth all their sacrifices. These people became known as "Freemen" because of their love for freedom.
When the Freemen arrived in the new land, they found people already living there. These people were called "Landers" because they were a people who lived off the land and used it to their benefit, somewhat wisely, but the Landers had forgotten the ruler who had blessed the land, thus they had fallen out of favor with him. Therefore, the Landers lived without his protection. The Freemen learned of the ruler of the land and made a covenant with him to worship him and him alone. So, whenever there was a problem between the Freemen and the Landers, the ruler would favor the Freemen. There were several wars between the two groups because the Landers didn’t want the Freemen taking their land and gaining a foot hold in it. The Freemen prevailed and became established in the land. They prospered and began to fill the land, because they remembered their covenant with the ruler of the land.
The Freemen continued honoring the covenant they had made with the ruler, but the mother country from which the Freemen had come didn’t want them to become independent. The Freemen had to break away from the mother country’s hold on them before they could fully live the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They knew if they would break with the old country, the ruler of the land would assist them to become secure in the covenant they made with him.
The old country didn’t want to lose control of their colony in the new land because of its exceeding riches, so it began to exercise more control over the colony and make unreasonable demands on the Freemen. The Freemen had to pay more and more taxes for the goods they received from the mother land. The mother country taxed the Freemen without allowing them to be represented in government.
Even with the help of the ruler of the land, there was a great war between the old country and the colonists in which many of the Freemen paid the ultimate price for freedom. The greatest men of that generation spilt their blood to gain the independence they were seeking.
The people, having won their freedom began to live all the terms of the covenant they had made with the ruler of the land. They set about to fix laws by which they could remain free in this new land. They hadn’t forgotten the help they received from the ruler of the land, so they incorporated rules and regulations that allowed the people to have the freedom of choice in their new nation. This freedom of choice was a right they fought so valiantly to gain, and they recognized that it was the only way they could truly worship the ruler of the land.
The leaders of the country of Freemen made a tapestry into which was woven the rules of the government they had formed. This tapestry displayed to all the world the freedom the new nation of Freemen stood for. The tapestry was held high and was revered by all who had taken part in obtaining freedom for the new nation and had worked so hard to set up a sound government.
As time went on the Freemen, who had made the covenant with the ruler of the land and had fought beside those who died for it, passed away. Their children remembered the covenant and the tremendous sacrifice their fathers had made by holding the tapestry high and reverencing those who had made their freedom possible as well as the ruler who had help secure it.
Several generations passed away reverencing the tapestry and enjoying the freedom it represented. Eventually, those who were placed into government positions decided that they could improve the laws that the tapestry represented. They began to make these changes and told the people they were for the betterment of the country. As a symbol of each change they removed one thread from the fabric of the tapestry, one thread for every change.
All the changes made the Freemen feel that the government was caring for them and that the changes were making the country better. The tapestry didn’t appear to have suffered from the changes either. The threads that were removed were hardly, if at all noticeable.
As the years passed the Freemen became less self-sufficient and more dependent on the government to sustain them. Politicians began to realize that by making promises of more aid to special interest groups they could garner more votes from the people in exchange for more money from the government coffers. Sadly, the people began to expect more and more support from the government without ever thinking about where the government was getting money.
Before they were aware of it, the people had become so dependent of the government that they began to forget about the covenant their fathers had made with the ruler of the land. The government became more important to them than the ruler of the land. Historians began removing all references to the ruler of the land from the history books used to teach the children about the Founding Fathers of the country. Those in power also began passing laws that prohibited the mention of the ruler of the land in public places. As these changes were being made, the politicians and now even the historians took more threads from the tapestry to make it conform to their new way of thinking.
Even though so many changes were being made to the tapestry, the people still revered it and considered it to be the fabric of the country and said that it was so strong that no one or nothing could ever tear it apart. They held it high on every Independence Day to display to the world how proud they were of it. They would boast of being the greatest nation in the world. They were proud of the strength of their military. They would occasionally show their strength by defending "freedom" by supporting international causes supposedly to keep the peace.
One day, a dispute began among the leaders of the country as to whether the laws the tapestry represented were still valid because times had changed and technology had become so advanced. Some thought that the laws the tapestry contained were outdated and needed to be scrapped and a new one drafted. Others thought that with just a few more changes, that the old tapestry would be just fine. As a graphic representation of this argument, a verbal tug-of-war ensued each side being on opposite sides of the tapestry. As they began the tug-of-war it was plain to see that the tapestry would be torn apart by the argument. Those who wanted the Constitution to remain quickly made some serious concessions to the opposing party with the understanding that they would keep the "old" tapestry as the countries symbols of freedom.
The tapestry was changed so much that it was just a shell of what it had been and so many threads had been removed from the tapestry that it began to look like an old shredded cloth. As the government was discussing more changes to the tapestry, an enemy came into the land and began to take possession of it, killing and enslaving the people as they went. The mighty army was sent out to fight this intruder, but found that it was so weakened by the lack of discipline that it was no match for the invasion. You see, they had become weak because of the lasciviousness that had been allowed by their leaders, that they didn’t have the moral fiber to hold them together as a fighting unit.
Finally citizens, who had been weary of the actions of the politicians, took up their arms and the tapestry as a banner in defense of their country. They were seriously hampered in their efforts because some of the new laws that were passed made it difficult for them to retain their firearms, so they were fighting with whatever they could get their hands on. These citizens were those who had believed in and kept the covenant with the ruler of the land and were sustained by their faith that he would help them to rid their country of the invaders. Joined by those of the military who had recognized the lasciviousness that had overtaken their forces and had maintained themselves apart from those activities, these citizens prevailed and began to repel the invaders.
After much bloodshed this new army prevailed and defeated the invaders, but not before the capital city and those who were in it was destroyed. When peace was restored, the original tapestry was found almost totally shredded into pieces. It was held together by one brittle thread. It was taken to a laboratory to be restored.
The threads that had been removed were found in the archives and were brought out and laid down side by side so they could be restored to the tapestry. As this process began, the workers noticed that the threads had tiny strands of gold woven in them at various places. When they were all laid down together they discovered a word had been woven into the threads, a word that when embedded in the cloth held the tapestry together tightly but was imperceptible to the naked eye. A word that when removed bit by bit over time had allowed not only the tapestry, but the fabric of the nation to fall apart as well. That word?–God.
2 comments:
I think I get it. I find your views interesting and intriguing. Can I give my family members your blog address? A few of them would be interested in this.
Love You, Stephanie Pressgrove
I am in the tax business and I am a conservative who feels that the wealthy pay their fair share already. But here are a couple of things to think about. One would be charitable giving. This would all but go away and non profits and churches would go away. Also if you put it all on a sales tax, which is based off of consumption then lots of people would stop spending. I understand how some income would increase but that doesn't mean everybody would spend it and the tax revenue would redue significantly.
Post a Comment