Tax Day

What can I say that hasn't been said by others (see excerpts and links below)?

Not much, other than to note that 47% of Americans pay no income tax.

At the same time, obama's approval rating is at 48%.

Coincidence? I think not.

















In many cases, those not paying taxes get money back from the IRS. Not a refund, mind you, but credits that exceed their withholding. In other words, Uncle Sam (read "you and me") are paying those folks for nothing more than basically living in these United States.

More insidiously, the government is taking money from those of us who do pay taxes and redistributing it to others as a form of social re-engineering: that is, people who behave in a certain way, or who purchase certain goods and services, are being rewarded at the expense of people who don't. As Scott Hodge points out:

The consequence of turning the tax code into a tool for social policy is that we now have a record 52 million filers off the income tax rolls...

The real issue is that millions of Americans no longer have any skin in the game and are becoming inoculated from the basic cost of government. To them, government seems free and politicians can easily convince them to support more and more spending because someone else is going to pay the tab. This trend deserves a broader national discussion than either party in Washington seems willing to engage in.

Sigh...

Other links worth checking out:

The Tax Foundation

Tax Analysts (nonprofit source for tax info)

A Brief Guide to the Flat Tax

Information About the Fair Tax

The Cato Institute's Explanation of Hong Kong's Tax System
(Hong Kong tax form is below - wouldn't that be a welcome change from the mess we have now.)















Final note: In recognition of Tax Day, a new book has been released that contains quotes - 'billions and billions' of quotes - about taxes. You can browse it on-line here. Samples below.

"A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can depend on the support of Paul." - George Bernard Shaw

"The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it's just sort of a tired feeling." -- Paula Poundstone

"No one who has witnessed tax lobbyists' perennial infestation of Capitol Hill can ever again confuse the making of tax laws with the making of sausages: at least when you make sausages, you know the pigs won't be coming back." -- J. Mark Iwry

I feel the need for many, many Shiners...