Time For A Revolution

I think our federal government is revealing its true colors, now more than ever. While many think that the government naturally exists to take care of the people, or that it is basically harmless, news stories seem to indicate that our national leaders has reached a new low in both senselessness and selfishness.

It seems clear to me that it’s all about power and money. Warning: the following news story may make you mad.

A recent article entitled Feds to Convince DC Area Taxpayers to Embrace $4.8 Billion Mileage Tax just goes to show the extremes that our government will go to in order to get our money. I have to admit I laughed at the title when I first read it – I mean, getting people to “embrace” a new tax? But when I read the article, I realized that it is exactly what they are trying to do. It seems that since gas tax revenues are down in Washington, DC – because people are driving less or using vehicles with better fuel economy – the government needs to replace the tax shortfall with a new tax. The idea is to install a GPS device on every vehicle, and the owner will pay a fee for every mile driven. No matter what road you drive on. Even if you’re just pulling the car out of the garage to wash it.

There are many crazy implications in this article. Here are just a few:

· The first thing the planning board is going to do is spend $400,000 of taxpayer money for a study “on how best to sell the public on a controversial per-mile tax proposal”. Note the irony – taxpayer money is being spent on a study to figure out how to get more taxpayer money.

· “The funds will pay for a series of telephone surveys and focus groups with residents and special interest groups with an eye to determining how best to package ideas that have generated significant public opposition when proposed in other areas around the world.” So – they know it’s not a popular idea, which will require them to figure out how to “package” the concept. I think “package” may be a code word for “lie about”?

· The GPS required for each vehicle would record the distance traveled, as well as the time and location of each movement. Can you say “invasion of privacy”?

· The reason for the new tax would be to make up for the current shortfall of $420 million – money that used to come from gasoline taxes. The new plan would raise ten times that amount – as much as $4.8 billion. I can only conclude that the law would not exist to replace revenues, but to increase them dramatically. I wonder where the money goes? Hmmmm….

· The article lists all of the current places where taxes are paid by motorists in the area – federal excise tax, state excise tax, personal property tax, vehicle registration fees, car insurance tax, special commercial vehicle tax, and parking/speeding tickets. Do you still think the government isn’t out to get ALL of our money?

· It also states that “The total of all motorist-related taxes in Virginia exceeds the amount spent on road building and maintenance in the state”. If true, why do they need to establish a new tax? Could it be that the money will be diverted elsewhere?

Can there be any doubt about what is going on here? Our current crop of politicians want more money, ostensibly to keep running the same programs that exist today. But we also can deduce that they want to invoke more and more programs, thus increasing and consolidating their power over us.

I have had enough. Our leaders have departed from what made this country great. They are trying to drag us to a place of mediocrity and dependent status. Never forget these words of our predecessors:

"Any people that would give up liberty for a little temporary safety deserves neither liberty nor safety." - Benjamin Franklin

"Government is not reason; it is not eloquence. It is force. And force, like fire, is a dangerous servant and a fearful master." - George Washington

"We, the people are the rightful masters of both Congress and the courts, not to overthrow the Constitution, but to overthrow men who pervert the Constitution."
- Abraham Lincoln

So where does the money go? One wise writer told us a long time ago where it goes, and also about the fate of those who abuse their God-given power:

"The Lord enters into judgment against the elders and leaders of his people: ‘It is you who have ruined my vineyard; the plunder from the poor is in your houses.’" - Isaiah 3:14

I think it’s time for a little revolution!

California Is Still Leading The Way

For years, California has led the way in so many aspects. The state boasts the eighth largest economy in the world – all by itself. And the residents of the state have long prided themselves on their sensitivity to social issues such as the environment, gay marriage, and immigration laws.

Now, California is leading the way in another important category – state bankruptcy. Instead of checks, the state will be issuing IOUs this week to state vendors who are owed money and also to many of the elderly, the disabled, and the college students who receive aid from the state. Once again – these people are expecting a check from their state government and they are going to open the mail and find an IOU slip instead. California’s credit rating is now the worst of all fifty states, and creditors are considering taking it even lower. The effect of this will worsen the crisis, as it will cost the state even more in borrowing costs than they currently pay on the existing debt. By all counts, this is a “death spiral” from which it will be very hard to recover.

How did this happen? I believe it all starts with the arrogance of a government that thinks it should insert itself into every aspect of people’s lives. By claiming such an interventionist role, a cycle of bankruptcy is started - 1) more government programs are instituted to “help” the poor, needy, or those groups who have well-paid lobbyists– and these programs cost a lot of money, 2) taxes are raised to bring in revenue for these programs, 3) taxpayers grow disenchanted with the tax burden under which they live, so they either leave the state for a lower-tax state, or the state economy becomes so bad that businesses start to go under – taxpayers make less money and businesses collect less sales tax revenue, leaving less overall tax revenue collected by the government. Simply put, the spending went up by the government, but the influx of tax revenue went down.

This phenomenon is called the Laffer curve. Think of it in this way – if the government set a tax rate of 0%, then it follows that the government’s tax revenue income would be zero. But, if the government set our tax rate at 100% of our income, it’s likely that their revenue income would also be near zero, since none of us would have much incentive to work for money that we cannot keep. The curve rises between these points, and it must peak at some tax rate – at that point where people still feel an incentive to work and pay their taxes. The lesson to learn is that at some point, raising taxes will actually decrease the total revenue brought in by the government. Higher tax rates will then begin driving people away or out of business entirely.

The state of California is going out of business, too. Their only hope is to either get help from the federal government (who has so far refused to get involved) or else start cutting back on government programs and tax rates. This last choice is an extremely difficult one. Cutting back on government services will cause jobs to be lost – unemployment will rise, at least temporarily, until workers are able to shift from the government sector back to the private sector. And lowering tax rates is a fearful action, too, because tax revenues will temporarily go down along with them – at least until the economy turns around. This is tough medicine to swallow, especially for a state that prides itself on its standard of living and cutting-edge social awareness. This combination of events in the state has even led certain people within the state to propose the legalization of marijuana or same-sex marriage as methods to solve the budget crisis (they make dubious arguments as to how this will happen, but hey, it’s California).

Unfortunately, it seems that our federal government is now proceeding to make the very same mistake. Government programs and government’s intrusion into the private sector are increasing at a dramatic rate. All of this will cost money. So the federal government will propose to raise taxes. And the federal government has one more option that the states do not – they can print more money (and they do). But both of these actions will ultimately result in economic failure. In terms of federal taxation, we are likely already over the peak of the Laffer curve when it comes to tax rates, and inflating the money supply will only weaken the overall buying power of every dollar bill. Will the federal government foresee this, based on California’s example, and make the right decisions now?

Wait and see.

Should We Demand Truth From Politicians?

If anyone still thinks that the media has no bias (and these people have to be a vanishing breed), there can be little doubt after watching what happened this week. More accurately, it’s about watching what didn’t happen this week that points to the bias.

During the presidential campaign of 1988, George H. W. Bush made a pledge during his nomination acceptance speech – “Read my lips. No new taxes.” He gave it a valiant try, but eventually caved to his Democratically-controlled Congress and broke his pledge. The reaction was swift and intense. He was measured against his commitment by the press and the people who voted for him, and his inability to follow through may have cost him the Presidency the second time around.

During the presidential campaign of 2008, Barack Obama made it clear that he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $250,000 a year. This point was driven home time and time again, with the number moving around a bit. But on Monday of this week, when asked specifically if this pledge was still valid, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs basically said “No”. Here is the video of that moment:



I note with some dismay that the press corps seem to be laughing along with his answer. At least they asked the question in a straightforward manner, and some of them even expressed some surprise that the promise is apparently no longer valid. But I have searched the papers and the online news today, and I can’t find these words mentioned anywhere. It’s as if they didn’t happen. Or that people aren’t really interested in holding politicians to promises.

The fault is threefold. The press has a responsibility to publish what happens in politics, and should be doing it in an unbiased manner. I count 191 days since the inauguration of President Obama, just over an eighth of the way through his term, and the fact that his press representative came out and broke his number-one campaign pledge should get some airtime. But I can’t find it in the media (except Instapundit.com, where I first saw this story).

The second fault is in the politicians themselves. They had to know that they were likely to break such a promise when they made it, given all the grandiose government programs that they clearly want to foist upon us. Nationalized health care? Has it really worked anywhere else? Don’t we already have the finest health care in the world – and now we want to go break that? Won’t that cost a lot of money, and where will that money come from? These guys aren’t stupid, and they don’t have stupid advisors. They knew that they would need to raise taxes to pay for their programs. They simply will say anything to get elected, because they lack integrity.

Finally, the fault lies with us if we don’t hold our politicians accountable. The integrity that they require should also be present in us. We should be demanding truth and uprightness from them – not just rolling our eyes and expecting them to lie and cheat. There are certainly times when I feel like giving over to the idea that they are all swindlers and “that is just the way it is”. But this country is worth saving, and it’s our responsibility as citizens to demand the very best from our government. Integrity should be expected, demanded, and rewarded.

I intend to use this as a teaching moment with my kids. “Here is where he made a pledge (the past); here is where is broke that pledge (present); and here is where he paid the penalty (presumably sometime in the future).” We’ll have to stay tuned as to the future and whether or not this story gets told. I don’t want my children to grow up to be politicians, but if they do become leaders of some sort, I want them to be honest ones.

Politicians need to keep their word, and we need to hold them to it. I’m predicting that this event will get more press exposure as time goes on. At every event the President attends, someone should be asking him if he intends to keep his “no new taxes” pledge, or if he is breaking it. Eventually, he is going to answer the question, and seeing him say the words, rather than speaking through a press secretary, will certainly have a greater effect.