4 posts tagged “taxes”

This just goes to show that the true purpose of taxes is now shifting away from roads, emergencies, etc. to whatever pet projects politicians find that will help them get re-elected.

...cash-per-crash ordinances tend to infuriate motorists, and they often generate bad press, but a lot of cities are finding them hard to resist. With the economy flailing and budgets strained, state and local governments are being creative about ways to raise money. And the go-to idea is to invent a fee — or simply raise one.

So when times get tough and government budgets are stretched thin because of the crazy amount of spending that is going on, this is what you get -- "out of the box" thinking.  And the basic elements of government suffer.  Not the exotic spending programs.

No offense... but the way I see things - my government should not have to think out of the box.  Because the box from the get go should be simple.

The solution is simple for government.  Have a pile of cash to tap into when economic slumps occur and replenish the pile when times are good.

But the true problem with that is politicians hate to see piles of cash sitting on the sideline.  Because they love to spend, spend, spend.

Decrease taxes.  Increase revenue.  It really is simple.

So far this year, tax revenues total $1.505 trillion, an increase of 11.2 percent over the same period last year. That figure includes $383.6 billion collected in April, the largest monthly tax collection on record.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: conservatives who think the key to shrinking the size of the federal government is cutting taxes are always going to be disappointed. President Ronald Reagan proved that tax cuts stimulate the economy and lead to record tax revenue - and Congress proved it can spend every last dollar and then some. (The Reagan era deficits were not caused by tax cuts as revenue growth soared, but instead were caused by Congress passing budgets that spent even more.)

Tax cuts don't shrink government - unless you slash tax rates close to zero - because, as per the Laffer Curve, lower taxes=higher economic growth=higher revenue.

If the liberal Big Government lovers understood that, they'd work with conservatives to keep taxes low at all levels of government, and they'd find themselves with plenty of money to spend on all those things that liberal politicians can't seem to get enough of.

And if conservative Big Government loathers understood that, they'd work to keep taxes low, but instead of calculating the size of government based on the size of the federal budget they would focus their "Small Government" agenda on shrinking the power of the government to intrude on and regulate what ought to be private, personal, family, religious, business and local-community matters.

Ronald Reagan sums it up pretty good though.

The government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

For those moaning about the federal deficit, it looks like it is down.  And it is projected to be down even if Bush's supplemental bill for Iraq goes through.

It is down $164 billion from 2004.

Thank you humming economy.  Oh wait, I thought tax cuts didn't work.

Some of Instapundit's take on this Gore/energy issue:

GORE'S ENERGY USAGE: Al Gore responds to the item on his utility bill, by stressing his carbon-neutral approach.

But if things are as bad as he says, is carbon-neutrality enough? Shouldn't he be paying for all that tree-planting and cutting back on his energy usage? Why be carbon-neutral, if you can be carbon-negative? (And the whole carbon-offset business is kind of iffy anyway).

Capt. Ed is unimpressed with Gore's response: "Purchasing offsets only means that Gore doesn't want to make the same kind of sacrifices that he's asking other families to make. He's using a modern form of indulgences in order to avoid doing the penance that global-warming activism demands of others. It means that the very rich can continue to suck up energy and raise the price and the demand for electricity and natural gas, while families struggle with their energy costs and face increasing government regulation and taxation. It's a regressive plan that Gore's supporters would decry if the same kind of scheme were applied to a national sales tax, for instance."

Excellent points!