Change!

Written by: rich^kolker on Jul 2, 2008 9:36 AM EDT

What is Change? 

Change is, instead of playing the usual political games of promising more services while cutting taxes (or increasing them on "someone else") addressing our budget strategically.  What I write below isn't the only solution (Phil has a different one, for example), but it's the kind of wide ranging solution I'd like to hear from the candidates (or anyone else).

Expecting something for nothing is the most popular form of hope.

Arnold Glasow

It seems trivial. Not even worth mentioning. Yet a lack of understanding of a simple truth is the source of much of our controversy and many of our long term problems in Washington and state capitals.

You can’t get something for nothing.

In the context of government, this translates as: we can’t ask government for services unless we are willing to pay for those services through taxes.  Surveys, letters to the editor and to legislators by citizens claim we want better services: education second to none, transportation infrastructure and mass transit sufficient to avoid traffic backups, police and firefighters to protect us against both the normal problems of society and the new potential of terrorism in our back yards.  Yet, when faced with the cost of those services, we vote in favor of candidates and positions best described by that old shibboleth, “Don’t tax you, don’t tax me, tax that guy behind the tree.” 

Nobody likes to pay taxes, but taxes are the price of civilization.  We can choose to be a very low tax nation of low tax states, but only should do so with the understanding that the result will be poor and deteriorating schools, insufficient and unrepaired roads, understaffed and underequipped police and fire departments, and state colleges and universities which either charge tuition as high as private institutions or don’t provide the level of excellence we expect.

We must demand a fair tax system, where taxes paid and services provided are balanced across regions, where those least able to pay are not saddled with spending the highest percentage of their income on taxes: payroll, income and sales and where individuals and business each pay their fair share.   But if instead of rewarding those who try to deal with reality we continue to reward through our votes those who propose we can get something for nothing, then nothing is what we will get.  The situation in county seats, state capitals and Washington right now, to that extent, is our fault, because the message we sent when we elected people who promised us a free lunch is the way for them to keep those jobs is not to govern responsibly, but to keep feeding us happy talk about getting something for nothing.

The two main complaints about the tax system in this country by the average America are that they are unfair (the “fat cats” know how to get all the breaks) and in the case of the federal income tax, difficult to understand  and time and effort consuming to file.  Democrats should promote a tax system that has these three tenets:

•       - Is progressive across the entire breadth of the tax structure: payroll (social security, etc.) taxes, income taxes, sales taxes…

•       - Is simple for taxpayers to pay

•       - Is loophole-free, clear and simple to understand

This is a major reform of our tax system.  If we are going to comply with these three tenets, the result will be a system where many well-loved “tax breaks” will have to go.  The details of implementing these three tenets will be different at the federal, state and local levels.  The people, businesses and industries that get special treatment in our current system will complain mightily.  But in the long run, if the system is seen as fair, is easy to pay and the impression is that everyone is treated equally, it will have the support of the American people.

In the movie “The American President”, the fictional President Shepard says, “America isn't easy. America is advanced citizenship. You've got to want it bad, because it's going to put up a fight.”  If we are going to be the nation that the founders envisioned when they founded our federal and state governments, then we have to take our responsibility as voters as we ask our elected representatives to take theirs.

Tags: