TAXES & TAXES IN AMERICA

Dear George...I realize taxes, Mr. Washington especially between Britain and the colonies became a touchy issue. But for a country created largely because of a vigorous tax revolt protesting taxation-without-representation, America from 1776 to 2021 has developed an impressively complicated system of taxes... 

And  l-o-o-m-i-n-g on our immediate horizon is a proposed 3+Trillion borrow-to-spend mission - that if passed 'will' drain much of our future GDP just to cover the interest! So, George, even if you believe in reincarnation, now is not the time to return... 

But long before the1773  Boston Tea Party who's idea was it to levy something called 'taxes'? Curious, naturally, I wanted to know how far back this means of extracting blood-from-a-stone went. 

Amazingly, there is no documented human history prior to the Sumerians, who in their wisdom chose not to 'burden' their people with a system of taxation. This was likely due to the fact that the Sumerians were not a warring people by nature and 'war' [as we well know after 20 years in Afghanistan] is expensive - very expensive. War is also not particularly conducive to innovation or advancement or even maintenance - as in 20 years of neglected infrastructure...Anyway, the taxing of fellow citizens doesn't rear it's burdensome-authority, until the rise of Egyptian dynasties. 

Then, my Fellow-Travelers from the fall of the Sumerians [at the hands of Mesopotamian invaders] throughout the rest of human history right up to present day there is an amazing pattern of taxes levied to pay for decade after decade, century after century of wars. Lots and lots of wars caused by invasions, conquests, rivalry, feuds, greed to control more land and resources. Okay, so if our last 3,000 years of human history hadn't included WAR how much richer would nations be and how more advanced would our species be? You really gotta wonder, right!

Meanwhile back in North America...In 1764 people in the original 13 Colonies got quite irritated by a parade of  taxes on newspapers, almanacs, pamphlets, legal documents, dice and playing cards. Obviously those taxes were designed to limit too much news and information, and also monitor gaming. However, since Britain was in the conquest business all those global invasions were [as I said before] very costly, hence more new taxes. But the next round came in disguise. In the British Parliament the following year there was some fairly crafty lawmakers who passed what they thought was a cleaver means of supporting thousands of what were in effect occupying troops. The Quartering Act required colonial districts to provide British soldiers with housing, food, gun powder and linens, which they did. Soon though, colonists argued their outlay was largely a tax by another name.

Busted...Labeling new requirements, standards and obligations an Act was still a tax and thousands of people who had lined up to sail to the new world - once illiterate and poor - seeking liberty and opportunity were in no mood for a continuation of authoritarian limits.

 All right, it's November 2021 and do you know how 'your' hard earned taxes are spent? We hear what the politicians claim and we read what the press reports, but where's the follow up accounting? [Like the millions and millions and millions of crates of actual cash dollars flown by the CIA to pay the leaders of various Afghan clans for their loyalty and for military information...Really?] Is any of that money that should have gone to neglected projects here, on an accounting ledger?

Monday, Congress [finally] passed a l-o-n-g overdue Infrastructure Bill [see Jan 20 Blog: Infrastructure In America] to update and upgrade roads, bridges, airport and transportation technology, sewers and water pipes, dams and utility grids with other internal systems much of which was 'new' after WWII. That 1.2 Trillion sounds like a lot of money [and it is folks] but even adding up the [old] total amounts that my research found - sadly 1.2T won't cover everything that needs repairing, replacing and updating. Regular maintenance is so much cheaper and more efficient than recovering from neglect.

And make no mistake this will cost us [the colonists] more in taxes, big, huge...But better late than never.

Now, to that 2nd bill, the proposed Social-Structure-Bill. First:, we DO NOT need to 'grow' DC government larger--creating Homeland Security was mistake enough. Larger government is not like a larger fruit tree where our harvest is greater as the tree grows, so hiring 86,852 more IRS agents [or any more federal employees] is a cost added [annual estimated expense $80Billion including benefits] that should go toward housing for homeless foster-teens and veterans and gosh maybe education and heath-care...Ya think...

Second: what this present Congress and this present Administration is proposing is Social Programs supported

by borrowed-money, but it's not just one time it becomes constant . How is it -or- has it ever been possible in any accounting context that borrowed money won't cost anything, as Biden insists? This isn't 'new' math it is new/more debt.  In context, the proposed spending is like you and I getting a new credit card with no spending limit. Then off we go on a tour of Europe, spending willy-nilly--having a gay old time--until a few months later we get back home. After our new credit card statement arrives in the mail we must then live the next several years paying off the balance with compounding interest, 'not' going anywhere for that entire time...This is what will happen with trillions spent on new Social-Structure Programs. This is not an investment, it's financial quick sand because while more Social Programs are being launched, the money needed to keep the updates and repairs maintained [from the actual infrastructure spending] doesn't get budgeted. [Social Programs typically balloon and become election footballs. Does Planned Parenthood have less need to offer abortions now than they did in 1973?]

Third: let's reorganize Social [Entitlement] Programs we already have in place, like welfare, foster care, disabilities, medicaid and prison reform. Reorganizing could save us from additional borrowing because they're already in state and federal budgets--they're just not run efficiently. Could parents on welfare partner with each other so while one parent cares for their kids and those of a second parent, the second parent works, or returns to school? Could nonviolent convicts be put to work cleaning up inner-city parks and neighborhoods or building low income housing? Offering tax incentives to businesses that offer onsite daycare for their staff is doable, perhaps staffed by trained people who were on welfare. Could daycare be an option in certain senior centers or churches or schools? America's people are its strongest resource, but every year we had more people to our dependency rolls with welfare and disability when they should be assisted to develop pride and self-reliance.

Our taxes have taxes in the form of inheritance of assets our relatives already paid taxes on - that we again must pay taxes again over a certain amount. We're still paying taxes on newspapers and literally everything else when we purchase anything anywhere, charged by city, county, state and federal governments. And since you employ those elected city, county, state and federal people--you might let them know you expect them to spend your money wisely and keep to a budget as you do...

https://contactsenators.com/senator-email-addresses 

 

Sherrie Todd-Beshore is an award winning mystery-suspense novelist and former journalist

amazon.com and amazon.ca and patchworkpublishing.com
 

"The Count Of Baldpate"  

 

 

 

 

 

 "Fine Points Malice And Payback"