'Tis the (Tax) Season!

"Tax season" is upon us.  Time to get excited about that anticipated refund or some company's fast and/or free service!  Look closely at the people in these ads - this is how we're supposed to be feeling.

If your feelings aren't reflected here, there is something wrong with you.  You must be one of those selfish right-wingers who hate poor people and think only of themselves.  You must think that the bells and whistles of civilization don't cost anything.  You must be one of those scary anarchist people who live in the hills and belong to a militia.  Shame on you for not caring about the lower classes, for hating powerful, centralized, bloated government.  Shame on you for not knowing your patriotic duty.  Or...

Perhaps your feelings aren't reflected here because you no longer subscribe to the notion that the income tax is the "fairest" system we've come up with.  Perhaps you realize that the only reason people aren't rushing into the poorest neighborhoods of their cities to extol the virtues of the income tax is because there is nothing to be said.  A tax that was sold to the public as the answer to the rich paying their fair share, that would lessen the gap between rich and poor...well?  It's been a full century now.  Still waiting.  When do all those good things kick in?  Do we give it another 100 years, like naive 4-year-olds who believe Santa's sleigh will actually be landing on their roof on Christmas Eve?  Or can we be adults about this and pull the plug?

These people are happy and smiling because they don't see the connection between the income tax and the Robber Baron crowd who literally wrote the legislation to get it off the ground.  I promise you, it isn't the poor who would moan and groan if the income tax were to be abolished.  It's the uber-wealthy who would shit their pants.  The income tax is their gravy train, it lines their pockets, it maintains their insanely rich lifestyles, it allows for a huge military-industrial complex, it is corporate welfare.  And it is all these things by design.  It's not that our income tax money is being misallocated - no.  It's going where it was meant to go - to the wealthy.  When the man who literally wrote the book on why the income tax was being championed a hundred years ago admits that it wasn't needed for revenue purposes, that everything that needed to be paid for by government was already being handled by taxes on foreign goods and a few articles produced here (with a surplus in the Treasury to boot, and without putting people in the Poor House), then why would we fail to suspect that this unnecessary revenue that was going to be raised would end up anywhere other than in the pockets of the Robber Barons who launched the system, and their heirs?

Remember, the tax system that was in place worked so well it created a surplus, and it wasn't responsible for creating the lower class.  The lower class was already there, and already (and understandably) complaining of their situation.  The income tax system was pitched in a way that sympathized with the poor; it was pushed as a remedy to their plight.  (Ever heard of politicians pandering to their constituents, and all the while scheming to line their own pockets and the pockets of their true supporters?  Look it up - it's happened before.)  Of course Congress would approve it.  "Soak the rich!" was the rallying cry behind the income tax.  It all sounds so good, so right, so noble.  But in terms of government revenue, in terms of meeting the government's operating costs, the income tax was to raise a surplus on top of a surplus.  Nothing suspicious there at all.  

Yeah, believing that Santa was going to visit my house on Christmas Eve used to bring a big smile to my face.  I gotta hand it to you - you folks who still believe in the income tax are the true optimists, the true believers.  Smile!

Letter To The Louisiana Governor

January 11, 2013

From: Kurt Henning
Illinois

To: Governor Bobby Jindal
Office of the Governor
Baton Rouge, LA  70804

Dear Governor Jindal,

I am writing from the State of Illinois because I have recently learned that you are considering eliminating the state income tax in Louisiana.  I wish to express that, as a student of American taxation for the last seven years, I am heartily in favor of such a move for the people of your State.

The news media reports that you feel the citizens should be able to have more of the money they have earned in their pockets.  I agree, and I am sure that many of your fellow citizens feel the same way.  I am also sure you realize that your State would become the tenth in the Union that currently meets its expenses without a tax on the income of its citizens.  This would mean that one out of every five of our States have learned they can get along without an income tax.  This is progress!

As well as expressing my support for what you are considering, I would also like to respectfully suggest something as you and your supporters strive to make this significant, positive change.  I would ask that you consider what you are doing in light of every human being’s fundamental right to earn a living, and that a tax on one’s earned income essentially reduces that right to a privilege.

I believe that one’s right to earn a living deserves heightened protection from any burdens laid upon it for two reasons: 1. Because it is primarily through the exercise of this right that we are even able to enjoy our right to live, and 2. Because this right is, in and of itself, one of the primary responsibilities of any adult member of society.  Most rights that we recognize are exercised at one’s discretion.  There are a few rights that we are compelled to exercise as they are among the most basic of human responsibilities.  Among the rights of this nature are the right to work, the right of self-defense, and the right to parent our children.  Some might argue that buying food is a responsibility, and so by the same token should not be taxed.  But working for our living is the wellspring that makes buying the necessities and comforts of life possible, and so deserves that extra measure of protection from being burdened in any way.  No one should be incurring debt as they strive to meet their basic human responsibility of earning a living.

As part of my studies, I have written letters to the governors of all nine states that currently levy no tax on income.  The letters were to simply ask why.  The five responses I received basically came down to economic reasons – that it was economically viable to do away with that form of taxation, and so they did.  I have come to believe that there are more important reasons to avoid a tax on earned income – matters of principle, as stated above.  A California commission reported in 1906 on the question of whether or not to introduce a state income tax: “The Commission believes that it would not be wise to take advantage of this section [of the State constitution which permits an income tax]…Our people have so much respect for labor that what is won by honest toil is regarded as sacred and not to be reduced by direct taxation.”  It is that respect for a person’s labor that I believe needs to be restored in this country.  As your State can easily prove, and as nine others are proving every day, there are other ways, there are other means.

I wish your endeavor all success, Governor.  I hope that it will raise awareness in this country that we are not stuck with the income tax – it is optional.  Most have been taught their entire lives that it is absolutely necessary, inevitable, and eternal, and therefore never look below the surface at the deeper implications of such a form of taxation.  Some still actually cling to the notion that an income tax is the Great Equalizer for society.  After 100 years (of the federal income tax), we are all still holding our breath waiting for that to happen.

Thank you for your service to your great State, and for considering what a neighbor from afar has to say.  Though we are of different States, I take great interest in this subject because I believe that what you and the other nine States do in regard to taxation can have very positive implications for the entire nation.

 

Best wishes to you and to the people of Louisiana.

Sincerely,

[signed]

Kurt Henning

Illinois, USA