JayBandit

People hate taxes, it’s in their nature. Although they are a necessary evil, I still think we can do away with many of them (the taxes, not the people). There are many easy targets I could start with; toll-ways, driver’s license fees, and even that silly communications tax that was enacted to fund the Spanish-American war. No, I will take on the big-daddy of them all: the income tax.

To take from one, because it is thought his own industry and that of his father has acquired too much, in order to spare to others who (or whose fathers) have not exercised equal industry and skill, is to violate arbitrarily the first principle of association, “to guarantee to everyone a free exercise of his industry and the fruits acquied.”

-Thomas Jefferson

One of the biggest problems is that people have no clue about Income Tax History. The income tax was an evolving tax that was “officially” begun with the 16^th Amendment in 1913. The tax has been modified more times than one can shake a stick at, yet there is still the same problem: it’s still here. Varying tax brackets are used to “even” the playing field between the likes of Bill Gates and Bill Sanchez, that guy who served you fries at lunch. However, in today’s America, the income gap seems to be expanding faster than Ted Kennedy’s waist-line.

In addition to the heinous tax that is the income tax we also pay numerous sales taxes on nearly everything. For each one of these taxes, there are government workers that get paid to simply divvy up the funds amongst the targeted destinations (and probably a few untargeted places as well). The administrative costs alone are simply ridiculous. What if we combined all of these taxes into one big tax? Well, that would be great of course! And what could be better than that? Eliminating the income tax at the same time, silly! There would be, “One tax to rule them all,” if you will.

The benefits of a purely consumption-based taxation system are innumerable. My favorite benefit would have to be the fact that the IRS would be null in void. This is because there would be no complex tax code to decipher; everyone would pay the same tax rates no matter who they are. At first glance, one might think that this would benefit the rich and penalize the poor; however, it would do just the opposite. There wouldn’t simply be a flat rate for all items; rather, there will be a plethora of rates for the many types of items we all buy.

The more money people have, the more they spend (just watch and episode of MTV’s “Cribs”). I am confident in saying that the rich would end up paying more taxes than they do under our current system, and they would be happy to do it. People seem to not consider taxes when they buy an item; but they dwell over taxes each week when they get their pay stub. The people that can afford more taxes will pay them, and those that can’t, won’t.

Essential items such as food and clothing would have little to no taxes on them; conversely, items like jewelry, yachts, and “Air Jordan” sneakers would be taxed at the highest rates. Instead of the 5 or 6 tax brackets present in today’s income tax, there would essentially be a different tax rate for every individual American.

This would also address common problems with social welfare. Today, we often see people who are on food stamps wearing $200 sneakers and driving around fancy cars while their children aren’t even getting a proper education. If there was a 30% tax on those sneakers, people would think twice before buying them. The idea is not to punish people for wanting things, but it is to encourage spending within one’s means. The rich would no longer be able to hire the best tax accountants to avoid huge amounts of taxes. It doesn’t matter where you stick your money, you still have to pay with it in the end. The poor would pay less tax than they currently do, which would further aid them in moving up the socio-economic ladder.

Being a man of science, I have to look at the pros and cons of all situations. I’m sorry to say that I see some major problems with my idealistic solution to taxation in America. The most obvious would be how to implement the system. It would be extremely difficult to just switch off the income tax. All of the money is routed through specific paths, and people will fight to the teeth to keep the money that is coming to them. Also, current sales taxes are not federal, they are state, county, and municipality based. This may cause some fighting between federal and lesser governments; these fights are already brewing over internet taxation…or the lack thereof. The other major hurdle would have to do with cash purchases. It is common practice with many industries for people to pay for items in cash so that the buyer and seller avoid paying any taxes. If the rich just keep millions in cash on them, it would negate the benefits of a consumption-based system. Unfortunately, the only solution I see to this problem would be more government prying into our lives.

Of course this tax wouldn’t solve all of today’s problems, but it would be a great start. People would no longer have to deal with all the worry and hassle of paying taxes on April 16^th. Meanwhile, the three class system in which we live would evolve into a system where everyone is at their own level; a world where anyone can truly move up the ladder. I’m sure this post does not do the concept of consumption-based taxing justice; therefore, I point you in this direction for further insight.

Some of this is a bit dated since I haven’t posted in a while, but I’ve been working a lot lately, yadda, yadda, yadda. Without further adieu:

• I’ll start with the sad stuff. The kid who’s tragic paralysis was the inspiration for the highly successful movie “Friday Night Lights,” and the TV show by the same name, died at only 20 years old…
• I hope you’re still not looking for him, because Steve Fossett is dead.
• If this isn’t the final clue that we’re heading for the apocalypse, I don’t know what is.
• Before Google takes over the entire planet, they’ll start with our health records.
• I found this interesting article about the increase in Cook County taxes (and the reactions of the Northwest Suburbs) through one of my favorite Cubs’ blogs, Hire Jim Essian,
• I can’t believe this hasn’t been more widely reported, so I’ll point out that apparently global temperatures are now going down! [For a more in-depth discussion of global warming, I suggest you check out former posts by Brian and yours truly.]
• A lot of people refuse to have “Organ Donor” put on their licenses for big fear of doctors giving them sub-standard care in order to obtain their organs for transplants; When you see even a single story confirming their fear, it’s hard to argue with them.
• Looks like Jimmy Kimmel was able to get back at his main squeeze, Sarah Silverman, for her little “fling” with Matt Damon (Augur enjoyed the original video a bunch).
• It’s really great to see how the uber-rich have no respect for their fellow man.
• And people wonder why video games are tailored towards males…
• I’d like to throw a shout-out & congratulations to the hard-working boys of the Illini Hockey Team for completing an undefeated season. The fanfare at their games is epic, so I suggest you attend a game next season if you can.

Alright, I think that is enough food for thought for now.

Until next time…

EDIT: I actually went back and found the Global Warming Posts that Brian and I wrote last year…or perhaps in ‘06:

Global Warming: Round 1
Indisputable
Global Warming: Round 2
Global Warming: Interlude

Enjoy!

The winter of 1997-1998 was a really bad one for me on the ole “famous person death list”. First we lost Chris Farley just a week before Christmas, and then Harry Caray at the onset of spring training.

Thanks for all the good times, and teaching me how to be a functional alcoholic. Now that we’ve made 100 years without winning the big one, hopefully we can pull it off now that we have Fukudome.

How ’bout one more for the road, big guy:

A One!… A Two!… A Three!…
Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd;
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don’t care if I never get back.
Let me root, root, root for the CUB-BIES,
If they don’t win, it’s a shame.
For it’s one, two, three strikes, you’re out,
At the old ball game.

Harry Christopher Carabina
March 1st, 1914 – February 18th, 1998

As I’ve said in the past, I’m a big fan of conspiracies. They are entertaining at the very least. I have heard various reports of how they’re going to try and form some North American joint country…but this takes that even further. I have to say they make some interesting points:

• The “Amero” just sounds more fun than the U.S. dollar, Canadian dollar, & Mexican peso; so I’ll drink the kool-aid on that one.
• The whole thing at the end about RFIDs gets to be a bit much for myself. RFIDs do not have an infinite range, and they need a power source if they’re going to store as much information as people hope they might in the future (monetary & identification information).
• The talks of us infringing our own rights for the sake of safety is beating a dead horse it seems; yet people still don’t seem to see this happening before their very eyes. There was quite an uproar when the PATRIOT Act was established, but only a few short years later we have just accepted it as another “thing” that the government is able to do.

Any Questions?

EDIT: Augur sent me this interesting story about chipping criminals in England…