the state, condition, or quality of being fair, or free from bias or injustice; even handedness: I have to admit, in all fairness, that she would only be paid for part of the work.
What does that mean? My granddaughter loves a candy called crabby patties, a sickly sweet candy. She could eat them all day. But that's not what's going to happen. Is that fair? She loves the candy. Why can't she have it instead of her veggies? She says "it's not fair". But as every parent and grandparent knows, candy is a nice treat, but if you eat too much of it it can hurt. Too much and there is an upset stomach. Too much and the child gets fat. Too much and other things like diabetes can be on the horizon. So what is fair? To her, all the candy she wants is fair. Sometimes fairness is over rated.
Consider that in our tax code, tax money is the candy. Too much and the Federal Government gets fat. Then they develop problems that are life threatening to the republic. Some tax money is good. We can use it to defend our shores, push ourselves into the future. Develop new technologies. And even provide a safety net to help those less fortunate to get back on the economic train.
When are the taxes collected too much? Different people would have different answers. How about, when economic pressures cause a downturn in our economy, and yet seats of government thrive. Is that too much? As an example, the housing market in Washington, DC has not been nearly as troubled as the real estate markets across the nation. Why is that?
Government has a mentality that it just cannot do with less. With the real estate downturn in our area, school districts were hit hard, they derive a substantial portion of revenue from property taxes. Now, it is important to note that the people living in those houses have seen their investment dwindle, by double digits as the morass continues. Personally our family has lost maybe 10 to 15% of our net worth to this downturn. Yet last year our property taxes went up. Values were down and taxes up, and no voter approved property tax hike. You see in this area, the school district, by law, can raise the taxes at a time like this to match what they would receive if it hadn't happened. Hmmm, wonder if my boss would agree to that. What is the risk then to government? Why should they be 'good shepherds' of the country's assets? They won't suffer, they'll just raise taxes. Putting an additional burden on those already hurt in the economic reality we face today.
Congress needs to consider the every man when they talk budget and taxes. Ours is supposedly government by the people, from the people and for the people. Perhaps our 'leaders' need to take a pay cut to balance the budget. Perhaps we should scrutinize each appropriations bill to maximize it's economic effect, rather than how many votes it will bring, or how much campaign funds will result.
There are times when debt is appropriate, and times for paying down debt. The American people know this and embrace it in their personal lives. Government should be no different. Do we want a fat government, or a lean one? Do we want a sickly government, or a healthy one?
What do you think?
No comments:
Post a Comment