More on Taxes

Do you deserve that tax cut?

by Heidi Parent
11/01/04

Let's play a game. Let's imagine you have a deadbeat relative. We'll call him Barney. Now Barney needs your financial help to get along in life. To add to your sense of responsibility, you made a solemn vow to Barney's dying mother to always care for him. And for all of your working life you've kept your end of the deal. But lately Barney has come calling asking you for even more money so he can buy his groceries and pay his rent. Curious, you question how he's been spending the money you've given him. When he replies, “it's none of your business” you decide to investigate. Well, lo and behold you discover Barney has been frittering your money away buying ceramic Doberman statues for his bathroom and velvet Elvis wall hangings for the garage. So you decide to draw the line, enough is enough. You work hard for your money; too hard for Barney to waste it. You tell Barney that he needs to better budget the money you give him because you're not giving him a penny more. Barney calls you heartless and tries to shame you into giving him more money. Do you do it?

Now let's call Barney by his real name – the federal government. When the argument is framed in the terms of you and Barney, your answer to the “Do you give him more?” question is (hopefully) no. But when the players are you and government, is the answer the same?

The truth is many taxpayers willingly pony up more and more of their hard earned dollars whenever the federal government comes calling (i.e., raises taxes). Moreover, these same saps continually vote to keep these tax-raising Barneys in office. Why is that? Do they really think government can spend their money more wisely than they can? Yes, sadly, some do.

Take Regina. A few years ago on “Good Morning America” former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill and a typical suburban family were the guests. The topic was the then government surplus and how it would be affected by tax cuts. The mother of the family, Regina, was against tax cuts and questioned why they were even necessary. Instead, she dreamily pondered how wonderful it would be to pool all the “excess” money from the people in her neighborhood so government could “do good things with it.”

Regina's fantasy goes to show just how clueless some Americans are about how much money government wastes. Fortunately there are groups out there keeping tabs.

Every year the group Citizens Against Government Waste issues its annual Pig Book detailing wasteful, or pork barrel, spending by Congress. Here are some of the gems I found on their list: $1 million to study DNA in bears, $1 million for marine mammal population surveys, $500,000 to study catfish health, $270,000 for potato storage research, and $270,000 for wool research (what is there to know other than it's itchy?).

Now, when faced with this kind of wasteful spending, why would any taxpayer willingly offer up more? Moreover, how can any politician stand before us and with a straight face say a tax cut is not deserved? In fact when this wasteful spending is considered, I find it truly offensive when a politician demands that taxpayers give him even more, as if the American worker's only function is to provide government with a bottomless pit of money. Unfortunately, not all taxpayers feel the same.

And one of the reasons for this is surely due to the way government goes about collecting our taxes, taking our money before we even have a chance to miss it. But if Americans understood just how much is being taken, they might have a different view.

For example, each year The Tax Foundation projects Tax Freedom Day, the day on which Americans will finally have earned enough money to pay off their total tax bill for the year. They estimated that in 2004 Tax Freedom Day fell on April 11th. Now April 11th is the earliest Tax Freedom Day in 37 years, but April 11th was still the 102nd day of the year. Furthermore, as if 102 days is not insulting enough, The Tax Foundation also estimates that Americans are able to earn enough money to pay for their food and shelter for the entire year in 97 days; five days less than they need to pay their tax bill. But who notices when the money to pay your taxes is collected before you even see it?

However, if Americans had to write a check to the government each month in order to pay their taxes, or better yet pay their total tax bill up front and work without a paycheck until April 11th, you'd see a march on Washington that would make even Al Sharpton jealous. Unfortunately that will never happen because politicians recognize that the best way to take your money is before you even see it, sneaking off without so much as a whimper. Some taxpayers even celebrate getting a tax refund at the end of the year. What they apparently don't realize is that they're actually celebrating the fact that government overtaxed them for an entire year. I doubt they would show the same enthusiasm if they found out WalMart had been overcharging them for a year and decided to just cut a check at the end of the year making up the difference; a check that of course doesn't include the interest they failed to earn on the money.

But when it comes to government, many taxpayers apparently don't mind being overcharged. In fact, some taxpayers – as Regina proves – willingly pay more than their fair share with hope that government, of all entities, does something good with it. I can't think of anything more ludicrous. Regina, if you and others like you want do “good things” with your money, you go right ahead. After all, that's how it should work. You get to decide what that “good thing” will be and how much will be spent. But the point is, you decide, not the federal government. Because when it comes to the federal government, they've proven time and again they have no intention of spending our money wisely.

And that is why my vote is always the same when I'm faced with a tax increase referendum on my ballot: No. I don't even need to finish reading what it's for. It doesn't matter. I know what the answer is, and should be – N.O. You already get enough of my money, Barney. Learn to spend it more wisely.

“Government does not tax to get the money it needs; government always finds a need for the money it gets.” – Ronald Reagan