"Here's the problem: Based on current law, nearly 25 million people will be ensnared by the alternative minimum tax for 2007, up from only four million last year. That's because temporarily higher exemption levels from the alternative minimum tax, or AMT, expired at the end of 2006."
"Getting rid of the tax altogether would be even more expensive: more than $1 trillion over the next decade, by various estimates. Budget experts doubt that Democrats can do it without reneging on their promise to reduce the budget deficit or winning an agreement from Republicans to raise taxes elsewhere."
The REAL PROBLEM is the government aka the POWERS THAT TAX(PTT)is too big!
WE THE PEOPLE get taxed when we make money AND we get taxed when we spend money. Talk about double taxation!
WAKE UP AMERICA AND SMELL THE HYPOCRISY.
Sunday, December 09, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Below is text pulled from two important documents in US history.
From the United States Constitution
(http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Constitution.html):
"WE, the PEOPLE of the UNITED STATES, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
From the Gettysburg Address (http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/Gettysburg.html):
"and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
Great words from great people. We haven't heard words like those in some time. I don't believe our politicians care about the majority of citizens of this country, they only care about gaining power and promoting their party's political agenda. They will say or do whatever they think will get them your vote (we have a recent example of this from Senator Obama while campaigning during the 2006 Senate race: http://myrightmind.blogspot.com/2006/11/two-faces-of-barack-obama.html, and who could forget Senator Kerry out goose hunting: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/22/politics/campaign/22kerry.html?n=Top/News/Science/Topics/Animals). The politicians have shown us that they have no restraint when it comes to spending our money unwisely. They have total disregard for the work we've put in and the sacrifices we've made to earn that money. Nowadays I feel that we have a government of the politicians, by the politicians, and for the politicians. What happened? Somewhere along the way the politicians forgot that they are supposed to be servants to the public. Instead they see the public as a servant to them. The politicians also seem to have lost sight with the form of government our founders gave us. It may come as a shock to many to find out that our founders gave us a republican form of government, not a democracy (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=42248). James Madison pointed out some of the reasons for choosing this form of government in Federalist Paper 10: The Union as a Safeguard Against Domestic Faction and Insurrection (http://federalistpapers.com/federalist10.html).
Assuming we want to, how do we fix this?
First, people need to be more in tune with politics to ensure they make a good choice when electing officials. For politicians who have shown they are not putting the needs of the citizens foremost, elect them out of office. Don't pay too much attention to what politicians say but what they do and how they act. This, of course, is easier to do for incumbents as they have a track record. Congress's site, http://www.thomas.gov, is very informative. It has information on all current and past bills, who voted on those bills and how they voted, and who sponsored the bills. We should also understand the role of government. The role of government is not to shelter, feed, cloth, or care for its citizens (assuming we're not talking about a socialist government). With respect to the general welfare of its citizens, government should be an enabler not a doer. You may be familiar with the saying "Give a man a fish and you'll feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you'll feed him for a lifetime.". This is a very wise and truthful saying. Doing for someone doesn't promote them, helping them do for themselves does.
Second, we need to put more power in the hands of the people. For major issues facing us today where congress has shown they're putting either their own or their party's interest before the needs of the citizens (e.g. filibustering) we should bring the issue to the citizens to decide. Additionally, and the first prong of a two pronged approach to drastically reduce the unwise use of our tax dollars, we should amend the constitution with the following:
"No tax shall be levied against any citizen of this country unless a majority of voters of those SAME citizens vote in the affirmative to have such a tax. Any tax with different rates for different citizens needs to be voted on separately per rate."
What this means is that if the government wants to raise the tax by 5% for all citizens then a majority of voters of the citizens must vote in the affirmative to have such a tax. It means that if the government wants to raise the tax by 5% for people making over $200,000 then a majority of voters of the people making over $200,000 must vote in the affirmative to have such a tax. It means if the government wants to raise the tax by 10% for people making over $200,000 and 5% for people making over $100,000 then a majority of voters of the people making over $200,000 must vote in the affirmative for the 10% raise to have such a tax and a majority of voters of the people making over $100,000 must vote in the affirmative for the 5% raise in order to have such a tax. It means for a state wishing to create a "home sale" tax for its citizens a majority of voters of the citizens of that state must vote in the affirmative to have such a tax.
Third, since the politicians are spending our money unwisely it must mean they have too much money at their disposal. Having a pool of federal money to dip into only worsens the problem. Senator 'A' from State 'X' who under normal circumstances might spend money wisely changes his spending habits knowing that if he doesn't attempt to secure some of the federal money for himself it will simply be left for others to secure. And the government is no different than business when it comes to budgets. Any group given a budget will attempt to spend the entire budget knowing that if they don't their budget will be reduced next year, something they don't want to happen.
The second prong of the two pronged approach to drastically reduce the unwise use of our tax dollars is to reduce the money our politicians have to spend. We can accomplish this by changing the federal tax to 10% of adjusted gross income for everyone. The adjustment to the gross income is to account for the level of income which we deem non-taxable. For instance, we might decide there should be no tax collected on incomes of $30,000 and less per year. This $30,000 would then be the adjustment everyone would make to their gross income. A person or family making $30,000 or less per year would pay no federal income tax. A person or family with an income of $40,000 per year would pay 10% tax on $10,000 (which comes to $1,000). A person or family with an income of $100,000 per year would pay 10% tax on $70,000 (which comes to $7,000). A person or family with an income of $1,000,000 per year would pay 10% tax on $970,000 (which comes to $97,000). Not only will this reduce the money the politicians have at their disposal and thus should cause them to spend our money more wisely, it's also fairer. Everyone pays the same rate. It's based on a percentage so if you make more money you pay more money. There are no deductions. This means a renter does not feel that he/she is at a disadvantage for not having mortgage interest to write off. A single person does not feel at a disadvantage compared to a married couple. A non-excessively rich person does not feel they are paying their share of taxes while the excessively rich are somehow coming up with enough write offs such that they pay little or no tax. Everyone pays 10% of their adjusted gross income, the adjustment being some number which is the same for everyone.
Fourth, be wary of attempts to solve symptoms rather than problems. A great example of this is national health care. Besides the fact that I don't think the role of government is to care for its citizens, the proposed solutions are terrible because they only address the symptom. We should be asking "why do people not have health care?". Some of the reasons are probably:
* Person is not employed and can not afford it.
* Person is employed but employer does not provide insurance and person can not afford it.
* Person is employed and employer provides health care but charges more than the person can afford.
* Person is self employed and can not afford it.
The root causes are then:
* Unemployed
* Health care too costly
Any solution which does not address either of the above is a bad solution. National health care does not address either of the root causes. The same holds true for the child health care bill. Both national health care and child health care have great goals, unfortunately they both have the wrong solution. Additionally, when it comes to child health care we should ask ourselves "who is responsible for the care of the child?". The answer, of course, is the parents. Anyone who is not able to care of a child should not have a child. People need to take responsibility for their actions. A person who has a tendency to act irresponsible would only more likely exercise that tendency if the government (really the tax payers) provided a safety net. In addition to not addressing the problem, government run health care would likely ruin our health care system. We do not have to look too far to see examples of this (http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/05/medical.html).
Fifth, we need to promote from within first. While it's great to be able to support other countries and economies, we should look to promote our own citizens first. I believe there are current restrictions on providing work visas to non-citizens. I'm not sure of the specifics, but I believe you have to show some sort of proof or due diligence that you were not able to find the talent locally. However, for what we're paying for many of these jobs we could not only educate but promote one of our own citizens. This holds true even for some of the outsourcing we do which usually has even a lower cost. Since I'm familiar with the software industry I'll take an example from there. I believe the low end of the software outsourcing is around $35/hr. If we assume $15/hr for education (which comes out to about $21,000 a year, roughly the cost of state education) that leaves $20/hr which I'm sure is a promotion for many. And once they pay off their education they would be earning $35/hr! Again, this is the low end. The non-outsource rate is in the range of $60-$100/hr. Education is the key. Education, which is hopefully followed by employment, should also go a long way in addressing the health care issue.
Sixth, realize that being dependent on any person or group as opposed to yourself for your wellbeing transfers power to that person or group. Many politicians want you to be dependent on them. Why else do you think they would come up with solutions which have citizens dependent on the government as opposed to solutions which promote citizens? The answer is simple. Having the citizens dependent on government secures their job and gives them power.
When I speak of politicians I'm referring to our legislature, the judicial branch, and the executive branch as a whole. I'm sure there are politicians out there who are true public servants, putting the needs of the public foremost. However, based on where we stand today those true public servants are a dwindling minority.
Do you like these views? Would you like to see them coming from the White House? If so, I'm accepting write-in votes for the 2008 presidential election and would be honored to have your vote. Feel free to contact me at nickdu@msn.com with comments and/or questions.
Thank you,
Nicholas Duane
Post a Comment