Former Chief Justice John Marshall once said, “The power to tax is the power to destroy.”  And boy, was he right.  Confiscate enough of people’s wealth and you’ve turned them into veritable serfs toiling dawn till dusk just to keep their heads above water.  We’re not yet serfs in this society, but we’re getting closer all the time.  As of now, the government takes 30-60% of our income and this translates into working until May of every year for Uncle Sam – and our hours are getting longer.  You see, every year the government grows, and what does this mean?  It means it creates new programs and programs require money to administer.  It means that every year it creates new laws, regulations and mandates, and the bureaucracies which are necessary to enforce them require money to operate.  But not just money – LOTS of money.  Money is the lifeblood of government; it is what keeps the heart of the big government beast beating, and this growing boy needs lots of transfusions.

Distressing as it is that this government vampire is sucking us dry through an open wound, more distressing still is the salt that is thrown into it.  What is this?  It’s the fact that after forcibly extracting an exorbitant amount of our resources from us, the government then uses our own money to tyrannize us.  After all, the laws, regulations and mandates that our booty is used to enforce take away our freedoms.  Statist Karl Marx said, “When we hang the capitalists, they will sell us the rope.”  I’d say that the spirit of Marx lives on in the statists in Washington and they are hanging us, and we’ve given them the rope.

Unfortunately, the problem can only get worse because the tax system we now have is fatally flawed, as it ensures constant movement towards higher taxes and bigger government.  But there is a way to put this government beast on a diet and get him in shape, and then put him in the cage that used to be his home.  The solution is a simple, three-pronged tax plan that would strike fear into the hearts of the Washington pickpockets, and here it is.

1. Create a law stating that there must be national referenda on ALL tax increases.

What this means is that every time a politician proposed a tax increase, it would have to go up for a vote of the people.  A radical idea, I know, but it would actually have to be passed by a majority of those whose money would be taken before it could go into effect.  I would prefer to make a 2/3rds majority the necessary margin, but if the country wouldn’t find this idea palatable I’d settle for a simple majority.  We could decide this as a nation.  What this would do, though, is truly put power back in the hands of the people.

And that’s what it’s all about.  After all, who should have control over OUR money?  Not some politician who’s willing to sell his soul and use a half a billion dollars of our money to buy another 10,000 votes.  Not some special interest lobbying group that can make limp-wristed politicians’ knees shake and cause them to funnel a billion of our dollars to its pet cause.  We should.  It’s the fruits of OUR labors and before one thin dime of it is taken, OUR permission should have to be granted.          

2. Create a law stating that there may only be ONE form of federal taxation.

This measure would serve to achieve a very important goal, which is the elimination of the multitude of hidden takes that now exist.  There are taxes on virtually everything: plane tickets, phone bills, gasoline, and a long list of others that almost no one is even aware of.  Politicians love these hidden taxes.  This is because raising taxes isn’t popular and Mr. Sneaky Politician knows that if people are aware of his raising of them, he might have to incur the wrath of the voter at election time.  So you see, hidden taxes allow these weasels to raise taxes with impunity; the action never makes it onto the radar screen, so the offending politicians’ careers won’t be shot down.

The first measure [national referenda] alone would put an end to this skullduggery, because if politicians wanted to attempt to raise taxes they would have to do it in the light of day.  The voters would be aware of it, and then they could make informed decisions in the voting booth and hold shameless politicians accountable for their actions.  However, we should simply dispense with these phantom taxes altogether because they ensure that most people won’t be fully aware of how great a tax burden they’re carrying.  If we eliminated hidden taxes, the true degree of taxation would be starkly apparent to everyone.

 3. Make that one form of taxation a national sales tax.

Think about it: if you approached someone on the street and asked him how much he earned per year, what would the probable response be?  Most of us know: he would refuse to answer and state that it was personal information – he would say in essence “none of your business.”  Yet, when people operating within the context of the government agency called the IRS ask us the very same question, we obediently provide that information and much, much more.  We not only tell them how much we make but also how we make it, what we spent much of it on, and whatever other details our feudal lords require us to divulge.  The truth is that we should tell those in government the same thing we’d be told on the street: none of your business – because it isn’t their business.  The income tax as it is now constituted is coercively intrusive and therefore is an affront to the principles of freedom.

Another positive benefit of eliminating the income tax is that the withholding tax would also become a thing of the past.  Established in 1943 to help finance WW II [it ended, didn’t it?], this tax serves a similar purpose to that of hidden taxes, in that it diminishes people’s awareness of and resistance to taxation.  Politicians know this; they know that this incremental, stealthy removal of resources changes people’s perspective because they never have possession of this withheld money – they never see it.  It’s “out of sight out of mind.”  Consequently, not only don’t most people protest this excessive confiscation of their wealth, but many are actually happy when they get their refund checks from this robber baron government.  But, you can rest assured, if Americans instead had to write the government a large, one lump sum check on April 15^th, their tune would change markedly.  A little sidenote here: the income tax is also contrary to the original intent of the founders of this nation and was ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court at the end of the 19^th century.  Only the 16^th Amendment, ratified in 1913, legalized this un-American practice and made it a fixture in the American landscape.

Now, contrast a national sales tax model with the sad state of affairs outlined above.  You wouldn’t have any complicated tax forms to fill out, nor would you have to negotiate the IRS’ labyrinthine trove of rules.  You wouldn’t have to spend money on tax preparers, keep detailed books for your business, or account for every thin dime you make.  And it would give you greater control over your finances because Uncle Sam wouldn’t see one penny of your income until YOU decided to spend it.  Lastly, a national sales tax would be naturally progressive because wealthier people who buy bigger ticket items would pay more in taxes just as a matter of course .   

Politicians wouldn’t like this plan because it robs them of power and control over our lives.  But we should have this power and control because we should be free people – not subjects.  It’s time to say “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore,” and demand that this plan become part of the fabric of our government.  We should remember that money is not just paper - it represents resources.  The ability to feed and clothe our families, to obtain health care, to get a good education and a million other things – it represents the worldly dreams and aspirations of ourselves and our children.  And yes, the power to tax IS the power to destroy, and the power to tax highly is the power to destroy mightily.  This is why the people must control this power – not the political elitists.  It’s time to cut the blood supply and slay this big government dragon and truly make ours, as Lincoln said, “A government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”

Selwyn Duke