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No new taxes? Not a great idea
Published 4:51pm Tuesday, September 20, 2011By KIMBERLY BARRETT / Guest Columnist
The recent stalemate in efforts to raise the debt ceiling brought into clear view for the world to see a very irrational but popular sentiment held by many Americans — that the key to prosperity is no new taxes, particularly not for the wealthy.
Have we forgotten that taxes are the way that many of the things we commonly enjoy in our society like free primary and secondary education, infrastructure like roads and bridges, not to mention social security and Medicare are funded?
If we want to not only continue but improve these and other aspects of our lives, including access to health care, we obviously need more tax revenue, not less.
So the question we should be asking is not whether we need new tax revenue, but how to get it in a way that is fair and equitable to all members of society.
This issue of fairness speaks to another fallacy at the core of the debate over the national debt. It is the idea of trickle-down economics and that somehow if we allow wealthy individuals, large corporations or prosperous industries to keep more of their income rather than pay their fair share of taxes it will benefit the rest of society. That has just not been the case during the last few decades of Reaganomics and Bush-era tax breaks.
During this time, the rich have gotten richer, the poor have gotten poorer and the middle class has shrunk. For example, according to census data between 2000 and 2009 during the period in which the Bush tax breaks were implemented, the rate of poverty among individuals in Shelby County rose slightly from 6.3 percent to 6.9 percent.
For the state of Alabama and for the nation, the increase in poverty was much more dramatic. Extensive tax cuts for the wealthy and big businesses simply have not resulted in shared prosperity for all.
In light of all this, I am willing to pay more taxes, whether that be in the form of income tax, property tax, or so called sin and luxury taxes for three straightforward reasons. One is so that we can take steps to reduce the burden on those who are less able to afford the everyday taxes we pay, such as those levied on groceries.
Another is to help ensure that all of us in the United States and Shelby County have the basic services that we need. Finally, I’m willing to pay more taxes to do my part to help reduce our national debt. After all isn’t that what all the arguing is supposed to be about?
Kimberly Barrett is the vice president of student affairs at the University of Montevallo.
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!? Did the Shelby County Reporter decide to put in a comedy section? Ms. Barrett, I don’t know you but there is no way you have ever owned a business or have any clue about what makes the economic engine of this State and country run. Your article is chock full of left wing rhetoric that isn’t even accurate. What is your definition of “poverty”? You really need to get out of your office at the “university” and come on down to reality. I own a small business in Helena and I welcome you to actually “learn” about what drives prosperity – here’s a clue, IT AIN’T MORE TAXES! People spend more when they have more to spend. The government has never and never will be able to generate jobs which means more people working and consequently more people spending. Your idea that we can simply tax the “wealthy individuals and large corporations” more and then take that additional tax revenue (which doesn’t equate to a drop in the bucket) and solve the economic issues of this State and country are ludicrous. If you want to generate REAL tax revenue, let businesses get more people working and paying taxes rather than increasing welfare rolls. It may behoove you to take a stroll down to the economics department of your University (assuming you have one) and talk to folks there about your misguided thoughts.
Clearly, you must be joking but if you are not, feel free to pay more taxes, in fact, why don’t you just give 70%-80% of your paycheck to the government every pay period. I’ll bet you my business revenue (which employs 5 other Alabamians who pay taxes) you won’t take me up on it. Put up or shut up!
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Ms. Barrett, I respectfully suggest you study some of economist Milton Friedman’s work. The debt crisis has not been caused by a lack of taxation. It won’t be solved by taxation. You must understand that raising the tax burden (i.e. increasing taxes) is not the same as increasing revenue. It is naive to think that if everyone, or even just the “wealthy”, paid more taxes that it would increase revenue to fund the social programs you mention.
Please define “the wealthy” that you refer to. I really bothers me that someone else gets to arbitrarily determine that I am “wealthy”, and therefore they – not me – get to determine where the money that I earned gets spent. It’s my money. I go to work every day and earn it. Neither you nor the government should have any right to tell me how to spend it, or how much of it I must give out of “fairness”. After you work 2 weeks and get a paycheck, would you be perfectly fine with me deciding how much of that paycheck you get to keep based on what I think is “fair”?
You state: “So the question we should be asking is not whether we need new tax revenue, but how to get it in a way that is fair and equitable to all members of society.” This borders on Marxism, a main tenent of which is “from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs”. I am not calling you a Marxist, nor a socialist. Your view, however, that “the wealthy” need to pay more taxes, i.e. what others refer to as “their fair share”, is a view inconsistent with freedom, capitalism, and liberty.
Under the current tax schedule, the top 5% of income earners pay over 50% of all personal income taxes. The bottom 50% of income earners pay no income taxes. The top 1% of income earners earn about 18% of all income but pay about 38% of all income taxes. People who earn over $1 million in any given year account for 0.2% of all taxpayers. They pay 21% of all income taxes collected by the federal government. Explain the fairness here.
According to the IRS, at every stage from an adjusted gross income of $ 10,000 to $10,000,000 the percentage of taxable income paid to the government in income taxes increases. See this link: http://tinyurl.com/42r2f36
I sincerely commend you for your willingness to pay more taxes to help the local community, State and country. I too am willing to (and do) give of my hard earned money to help the community, State of Alabama, and our great country. The difference is that I should be the one that decides where my money goes, not you nor any governmental official.
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