The American Spectator

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(Page 4 of 14)

p>That is why conservatives must never, ever agree to soften the blow of payroll taxes unless it is part of a real personal account reform. It is absolutely essential to start holding Democrats responsible for the disastrous but largely indirect and hidden effects of their policies on the working class. Democrats must be forced to take full credit for the failure of their policies, because that is absolutely the only way to illustrate for the working and voting public how conservative principles are by contrast workable when applied to public policy. Republicans will be very tempted to "just do the right thing" and cut payroll taxes. Instead they should force a clear choice between two completely different packages. br> -- Eric Richter br> Grand Rapids, Michigan /p>

Misters Douthat and Salam and Ferrara all have excellent ideas, but the a priori assumption of their argument is that the federal government can produce effective programs. An investigation of the history of social programs, especially after FDR's good hearted but wrong headed New Deal, will clearly show that the central government has rarely produced highly efficacious results. The same investigation will show the programs "creep" year after year. Short term programs are never short termed; they are extended well beyond their original purposes and cost estimates. Once these programs are established, federal bureaucrats, the courts, and the general public find (create) rights for said programs to live on well past their advertised expiration dates.

The creep of these programs is understandable. The programs create jobs and are deliver pork to home constituencies. Further, the money seems to be free. The federal government prints and distributes the monies. The thinking goes along these lines, "Since the rich pay for these redistribution of income and I am not rich, who am I hurting by taking advantage of these programs? Hell, it is my right as a tax payer to receive these services." The mind set that the programs are rights is difficult to refute, no matter how reasonable the arguments that are laid down. (William F. Buckley spent his lifetime producing well-argued position papers on conservative principles.)

The Constitution lays down the mutual responsibilities of the federal government and the people; it is the ultimate Social Contract. This glorious document is often forgotten or blatantly ignored in the process of creating over burdensome tax regulations. The government, at all levels, has the right to fair taxation, but redistributing income is not part of the principles on which this country was founded. A flat tax allows the government to fund its legitimate needs without imposing morality through approving, encouraging, or conversely, disapproving and discouraging, public behavior. A flat tax is a morally neutral tax. (This change in tax regulation in no way denies the rights and responsibilities of legislatures for passing ethical and moral laws; it simply transfer culpability back to the authors of the laws from the anonymity of tax bureaucrats.)

Conservatives, such as Douthat and Salam and Ferrara , who wish to impose their morality on the people, either ignore or forget the laws of unintended consequences. The history of government programs demonstrates that these programs often mutate from their original designs into multi-headed hydras that are beyond their creators' control. Ferrara offers excellent rational for some conservative new programs, but he cannot guarantee, or even foresee, what the next generation of these programs will be and how they will be used for, or more probably, against the very people for whom he advocates.

An early lesson one learns in martial arts is that any weapon carried into battle can be used against the one who brings it. Mr. Ferrara, being a libertarian, is part of the "Leave Us Alone Coalition." The nomenclature is sincere; we are not looking for any social programming; we are asking to be left alone.

p>Mr. Ferrara does not trust that the people have the good sense of electing officials who will leave us alone, but then again, history is on his side. br> -- Ira M. Kessel br> Rochester, New York /p>

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