In your lifetime have you ever seen a government eliminate a tax, return power to the people, or relinguish control back to the people.
I have seen men land on the moon. I have seen the rise of personal computers. I have seen the evolution of special effects in movies. I saw the Berlin wall fall. And I saw two space shuttles explode. But in my life time I have never seen a government eliminate a tax, return power to the people, or relinguish control back to the people.
Goverment exemplifies the adage "if you give an inch, they'll take a mile". Or for those using the metric system, "if you give a centimeter, they'll take a kilometer".
Income Taxes
A little before my time on October 3, 1913 the United States Revenue Act of 1913 was enacted. The first federal income tax of the 20th century. When it was enacted the people supported it because as originally proposed the act would impose only a very low tax rate on the highest imcomes. Congress inacted it with a top rate of 7% and a high exemption which only affected 2% of all households. Just five years later in 1918 a much heavier and broader tax was enacted that raised the top rate by a factor of 11. (Reference 1)
By April of 2016 the U.S. federal tax code has balloned to 74,608 pages. (Reference 2) Have you read it? I know I haven't, I rely on Quicken each year.
Today the tax code is used to engineer society, penalize behavior, and target individuals and groups. Buy a house get a tax break. Don't buy health insurance pay a tax. And auditing those on the enemy list (remember Nixon).
At over 74 thousand pages and growing, do you ever think you will see it shrink by 10,000 or even 1,000 pages? I'm not psychic but I'll say an emphatic "NO".
Patriot Act and NSA Spying on Americans
After 9/11 all Americans were united and shortly afterward the Patriot Act was enacted October 26, 2001. It originally had a sunset clause beginning December 31, 2005. But Congress has extended it several times and it is now renewed through 2019. (Reference 3)
Then the NSA's Utah Data Center was built.
Officials said it was not storing meta-data or spying on Americans, but we soon learned otherwise. Do you ever think the data on Americans will be discarded? I may have to use a Magic 8-Ball to get that answer.
Capital Controls
Oddly enough the Federal Reserve was established in 1913 too. After the Patriot Act and the 2008 financial crisis, capital controls were implemented. Have you ever tried to get all of your money out of a bank after 2008? They rather have you do an electronic transfer than take possession of the money you deposited.
Oh, and you thought that was your money, ha! The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010 codifies a "bail-in" provision for the United States (remember Cyprus). (Reference 4) You don't have total control of your money that is in the financial system.
Wars
War on Poverty
President Lyndon Johnson declared an "unconditional war" on poverty in 1964. This ushered in
- The creation of Medicare and Medicaid and the expansion of Social Security benefits through the Social Security Amendments of 1965 and an increase in the payroll tax cap and rates.
- Making the pilot food stamps program permanent via the Food Stamp Act of 1964.
- The passage of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 which established the Office of Economic Opportunity (President Nixon distributed its functions to a variety of other federal agencies) and the Head Start program.
- The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 which recently morphed into the No Child Left Behind Act.
The war on poverty has gone on for over 50 years. (Reference 5)
In over 50 years of a declared "unconditional war" on poverty. After spending more than $22 trillion dollars have we won? Well, "one-third of all Americans recieve benefits from at least one welfare program". Think about the poor in other countries around the world. Got a picture of how they live? In the U.S. those in poverty are living comparatively like kings. Here are a few statistics from Rector and sheffield: eighty percent of America's poor households have air conditioning, two-thirds have cable or satellite television, half have a personal computer and 43 percent have access to the internet. (Reference 6) The government's war has created a dependency class of citizens, dependent on the government. The government turns this dependency into control and power. Maybe the war on poverty should be better named "institutionalizing government dependency". In my opinion the "unconditional war" on poverty is here to stay.
“I am for doing good to the poor, but...I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. I observed...that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer.” -- Benjamin Franklin
War on Terrorism
The War on Terror was declared by President George W. Bush on 20 September 2001 in response to the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. This attach on the U.S. unleashed the greatest military power in the world. Now, $4.4 trillion and 15 years later have we extinguished terrorism? It does not appear to be so. The Department of Homeland Security was created and it is still around. (Reference 7) There are tighter controls on travel. Does anyone feel those controls will ever be lifted? You can borrow my Magic 8-ball if you like.
In Summary
No problem has ever been solved by giving government more money, power, and control. Yet the people fall for the pitch from government every time it seems. In my opinion the solution comes from the people not the government. The government layers on buraeucracy and regulations while the people get straight to the heart of the problem.
I'll end with a quote by Milton Freedman, "Nothing is so permanent as a temporary government program".
Sources:
All images found using a Google search
Reference 1, Tax History: Original Intent and the Revenue Act of 1913
Reference 2, Look at how many pages are in the federal tax code
Reference 3, Patriot Act
Reference 4, If You Have Money in a US Bank Account Be Aware!
Reference 5, Everything you need to know about the war on poverty
Reference 6, The War on Poverty Has Cost $22 Trillion
Reference 7, Trump Wants to Add to the War on Terror’s $4 Trillion Price Tag
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Thank you for your up-vote!
Steem on,
Mike
Well done. I will be sharing this with some colleagues who I think will enjoy.
Thank you.
Thank you. It was a topic that came up at work last week. That is when I said no problem has ever been solved by giving government more money, power, and control. Then I got the idea to do some research and write about it.
It just goes to show ideas for blog post can come from just about anywhere at anytime.
Steem on,
Mike
Ive surrendered to the notebook. Ideas dont wait for a convenient time to arrive.
I am learning that more and more everyday. As I think up new topics that are needed by the community, they hit me just about anywhere. I may need one of those notebooks :-)
Steem on,
Mike