Monday, March 24, 2008

More Taxes, More taxes, More taxes!


Saved to death by government

Exclusive: Doug Powers rips into candidates for promoting tax hikes to heal economy

Is there a group of politicians out there who will save America? When I say "save America," I don't mean from terrorists or the same declining moral standards that have Silda Spitzer fielding late-night "so you might be single soon" phone calls from Bill Clinton – I mean save America from American government.
A new study from the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan tax research group in Washington, shows that most American states tax job providers at a higher rate than any other country in the developed world. When the Founding Fathers envisioned America becoming a world leader, I don't think this is what they had in mind.
Scott Hodge, author of the study, concluded this: "If federal lawmakers are serious about making the U.S. corporate tax system more competitive globally, they will have to partner with state officials to lower the nation's overall corporate tax burden."
Are you laughing yet? Let's face it, Britney Spears will be voted Good Housekeeping's "Mother of the Year" before the majority of the government agrees to lower the nation's corporate tax burden.
Consider the presidential nominee-to-be, John McCain. All he talks about is raising taxes – mostly due to bogus and/or misdirected attempts to stave off global warming (if giving the government money makes the temperature drop, then even residents of Death Valley should be scraping the freezer burn off their skivvies by now). As a matter of fact, McCain believes corporate America has a ton of money to spare, so they won't miss it when the government takes it. And this is the position of the Republican candidate.
In spite of data presented in studies such as the one above, all the candidates continue to parrot the empty rhetoric of a need to "fix the economy" and call on tax increases to do so, all while putting their hands over their ears and yelling "La-la-la! I can't hear you! La-la-la!" when anybody reminds them the added tax burden will simply be passed on to consumers.
As I've always said, the U.S. government complaining about the economy and unemployment is like the Menendez brothers whining about being orphans.

Of course, the lousy economic conditions aren't merely the fault of the federal government. Here in Michigan, the economy is in the tank and getting, as the president might say, tankier.
When you're hurting economically, what's the first thing you should do? That's right, raise taxes – again. Our state government is considering a 9 cents per gallon additional gasoline tax to pay to fix roads that have the look and feel of 1944 Berlin sidewalks after a B-17 raid.
Yes, the same bureaucratic crack heads who have already brought the state to its economic knees want us to pay even more for gas so they can screw up something else. It's like having a kid at college.
"Dad, can you send $500 so I can buy books?"
"But what did you do with the $500 I sent you for books last week?"
He give you a fancy answer, but you know he bought beer.
Not to be outdone, Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., who has been in government so long even Castro is calling him a power hog, is proposing a 50 cent per gallon hike in the gas tax.
Why? Because incredibly high prices will cut gas consumption – consumption that of course leads to the global warming that's harmful to the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny and Santa Claus.
Countering the argument of John Dingell is … John Dingell. In a 2005 radio address, Dingell offered a plan to lower the price Americans pay at the pump, saying that high energy prices drive up the price of everything. Dingell then, of course, castigated oil company profits on high gas prices. High government profits on high gas prices are completely acceptable, however. Dingell, along with John McCain and countless other politicians' concern about the cost of gasoline has nothing to do with the price – just with who's getting the profit.
Of course, there are many people who don't mind constant tax increases to "pay to fix the roads" or any other excuse du jour – missing entirely the larger picture while going a long way toward explaining why the same politicians who are the cause of our problems are continually re-elected to fix them.
What's Einstein's definition of insanity again?
In the meantime, brace yourselves, America, because there is new political nobility in incredibly high taxes, overregulation and a stagnate-at-best economy. We're being saved to death by the government.

No comments: