Thoughts on taxation and representation
The famous battle-cry of the American Revolution was against “Taxation without representation.” In fact, the phrase that became famous in Boston in the 1760s was, “Taxation without representation is tyranny.” Colonists were angry about being denied representation in the British Parliament while still being forced to pay taxes to the Crown. This anger led to the Boston Tea Party, other public demonstrations against English taxes and, eventually, to the Revolutionary War.
I bring this up out of the blue because something occurred to me tonight: currently, over 40% of Americans pay no Income Taxes (source). Now, as I’ve pointed out before, our current President was elected running on a platform of “Change,” though he was less than completely specific as to what changes he meant. One of the changes he was clear about was a restructuring of the Income Tax system because, according to the White House Issues page, “for too long, the U.S. tax code has benefited the wealthy and well-connected at the expense of the vast majority of Americans.” The President’s American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will, “close loopholes that prevent wealthy companies and individuals from paying a fair share.”
We have a progressive tax system in the US, which means that you pay a higher percentage of your income in tax as you earn more money. So, the wealthiest few pay the highest share of their earnings in tax; right now, the highest bracket is 35% (source).
So, at one end of the spectrum, we have people who pay nothing… a lot of people. And, at the other end, a tiny minority who pay over a third of their annual earnings to the government. And, here’s the kicker: much of that money is used to pay for social programs to aid and assist the unfortunate folks who don’t earn enough money to care for themselves… or pay income tax.
And, remember, from which end of the economic spectrum does President Obama’s support tend to come? Right: the ones who receive services paid for by tax dollars taken from the rich. Now, I’m not lucky enough to be one of the few who pay such an unfairly high portion to cover the many who don’t, but I know that I’d like to be. Or, I used to want to be… I’m not so sure anymore; it seems almost better to just sit back and let someone else foot the bill.
Remember the Bostonian battle-cry I started this post with? The fear of taxation without representation is no longer an issue. It sounds like now, taxpayers should be worried about the opposite: people who have representation without taxation.
