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Tax Freedom Day Today

(Page 2 of 2)

Indeed, none of these numbers include fiscal disasters yet to come. The Federal Housing Administration is talking about needing a bailout. State and local pension funds are in crisis, prompting Phillip Silitschanu, an analyst at the Aite Group, to predict a bailout: Washington "could provide federal loans, or demand cutbacks as a condition of stimulus money, or there could be a federalization of some of these pensions." The G-20 has proposed an extra $1.1 trillion for the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, and other development and trade institutions, the largest share of which would come from America. And the Congressional Oversight Panel for the Troubled Asset Relief Program approved last fall warns that the financial crisis "is far from over" and "appears to be taking root in the larger economy," which could prompt even more attempts to bail out failing firms and stimulate the economy.

Then there is the more than $100 trillion in unfunded Medicare and Social Security outlays. If these programs are not changed, the red ink flood will grow exponentially. Add up all these numbers and imagine the taxes that will be due in the years to come.

Even at today's "low" tax burden, observes the Tax Foundation, "Americans will pay more in taxes than they will spend on food, clothing and housing combined." When the rest of the government's bills come due and taxes rise accordingly most Americans won't have any money left for necessities let alone discretionary outlays after they pay their taxes.

In the midst of economic crisis, it is tempting to celebrate the Tax Foundation's report on TFD as a little bit of good news -- sort of the tax quiet before the spending storm. Alas, the bad news is really bad. The best case is a big increase in spending, smaller GDP, and much higher tax burden. The worst case is financial crisis and collapse.

Page:   12

Letter to the Editor

Doug Bandow is a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. A former Special Assistant to President Ronald Reagan, he is the author of Beyond Good Intentions: A Biblical View of Politics (Crossway).

Comments

Pingback| 4.13.09 @ 7:47AM

Tax Freedom Day Today - American Spectator | Fizyka links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…nobrAlibaba News Channel/nobr/a/fontbr/font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.com/news?ned=usncl=1332721843hl=ennobrball 26 news articles/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table Original post by Google Inc. and software by Elliott Back Послать ссылку на этот обзор другу по ICQ или E-Mail: Разместить у себя на ресурсе или в ЖЖ: На любом форуме в своем сообщении: Posted by Awaria Subscribe to RSS feed Leave a

SLG| 4.13.09 @ 7:56AM

Just curious, is there a Libertarian site anyone might suggest? As several others have suggested in previous remarks, I am afraid I don't feel fully comfortable when surrounded by those who seem so adament about stemcells, Gay-marriage and anti-abortion measures. Not only is the zeal with which they state their case against "choice," for example so repugnant, but, I can't help but wonder where the libertarian types hangout, without the fear of browbeating and lectures as to how unfeeling they are.
Is there a more open, live-and-let-live, libertarian place with a similar format?
Thank you.

Melvin| 4.13.09 @ 8:02AM

Good intentions will not achieve the required results. My posts have been consistently not in favor of these tea parties that have sprung up all over the Country, because they will achieve nothing but provide amusement to our elected corrupt government Representatives.
Politicians are afraid of two things, loss of their office and loss of tax revenue.
Kicking these homesteaders out of office stands about as much chance as winning the lottery, but there is one thing that we as productive citizens have, and that is our ability to work and produce tax monies that are sent in monthly to our federal government.
Whose to say that the productive citizens and businesses conduct a national strike? This is the one thing that the tax payers still have in our favor, and the loss of tax revenue will have a profound effect on local, state and the federal government officials because this will get their attention and get it quick.
What these Tea Parties can do, is become a National coordination effort to coordinate the producing element of this Nation to conduct a national strike at the most effective time and maximize it for maximum impact.
If businesses and citizens join in on this National Strike and be willing to endure the sacrifice and hardship that will come with it, we can and will get our elected officials attention, because tax monies is like crack cocaine to politicians because if the tax supply line stops where is the polticians going to get their fix. There is only one place and that place is the productive citizens of this country from the sweat off our backs and once again prove to Washington D.C. we control the money and not them.

Big J| 4.13.09 @ 8:45AM

Melvin,

The last part of your post contradicts the first. The former being the purpose of the tea parties. Consensus and coordination has to start somewhere. Americans have been asleep at the wheel for far too long, and they are waking up. Ever heard of going Galt? That's where the productive members of this society are headed, if our government doesn't change it's looting ways. Consider April 15th their last chance to listen to the productive voices of reason. All Americans have a tipping point. You are witnessing it right now.

Hope to see you at one Wednesday.

Melvin| 4.13.09 @ 9:25AM

Big J I hope your right, and I hope that this movement doesn't burn out like the Fair Tax did, even though the Fair Tax is a outstanding idea. But in order for the Fair Tax to work we need to change the status quo in Washington D.C.

Pingback| 4.13.09 @ 4:03PM

Happy Tax Freeom Day! « Soo Tea Party links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…Day” (TFD) arrived today, April 13. But enjoy your freedom while you can. Today’s tsunami of government spending ensures a much higher tax burden in the future.” Click to the read the rest of Doug’s column 0 Comments Filed under Uncategorized Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Name (required) Mail (will not be published) (required) Website Notify me of follow-up comments via email.…

Bernie| 4.13.09 @ 6:34PM

I knew a libertarian once...he ran for office in our city on the Libertarian ticket. He lived in our development and ranted and raged over the homes association fees he had to pay for services such as lawn mowing, snow removal, and pool upkeep. Pool upkeep drove him crazy because he insisted he never used the pool and only those who used it should pay for its upkeep. After years of rancor with the rest of us who agreed to self-tax ourselves for minimal services, he finally moved out....using as major selling points our amenities of lawn mowing, snow removal, but especially pool upkeep. This is my understanding of who libertarians are: Really contrarians at heart who make life miserable for those of us who agree that some taxation is necessary for a decent quality of life. I do not "enjoy" paying taxes, but I do appreciate having decent schools, bridges and roads, police and fire, safe neighborhoods etc. Now that we finally have an administration in place that will be an advocate for the 95% of us who actually are paying quite high taxes compared to that top 5%, I'm optimistic for the first time in years.

Tripp| 4.13.09 @ 6:41PM

SLG, i'm an ardent libertarian but love TAC and NR as well- however, I do enjoy two libertarian sources of material in particular. These are Reason Magazine, and the Cato Institute's site (the author's employer). Great supplementary material for the thinking conservative. If you like to venture into the weird/outdated/spacey esoterica of the "old right" you could check out the American Conservative, originally thought of by Pat Buchanan but strays away from his (correct) viewpoints quite often, particularly in its harsh criticism of Israel.
Happy hunting!

TS| 4.13.09 @ 8:46PM

Melvin : You are 100% correct...!!!! I have preached this scenario for 20 years.. The biggest obstacle is getting enough people to actually do what needs to be done. Most people live day to day... food, fuel, coffee, atm machine , etc...
People need to realize that the only one looking out for them and their families are themselves...
Personal responsibility.... What an original concept...!
If you had enough of the populace completely stop all consumption for 1 week, it would grind everything to a halt... Let's get started... I 'll be right beside you Melvin... ! Thanks for your service....!!

Bilwick| 4.14.09 @ 11:53AM

I saw a book written by a "liberal" (I forget the title but it was one of a flurry of books that came out during the Bush years that might be grouped under the genre "Der Staat Strikes Back, " and the titles of the books might have all been: "Getting the Tax Serfs to Shut Up: Reclaiming our Power), and there was a section that ridiculed the very notion of "Tax Freedom Day." The argument was kind of convoluted, as I recall, but the basic argument seemed to boil down to the punch-line of a famous NEW YORKER cartoon. The cartoon showed a forlorn-looking shlub sitting in an IRS office, obviously being audited, while the auditor tries to cheer him up. The caption was something like: "It helps, Mr. Jones, if you stop thinking of it as your money."

That's pretty much what coercive redistributionism comes down to. Right, Bernie?

Don DeVan| 4.14.09 @ 4:20PM

THE FREEDOM MANIFESTO

I just read an article in Politico on the agenda of MoveOn.org, which explains their new agenda, now that the most liberal politician in our history has been elected President. Got me thinking of what it would look like if the "right" would - hypothetically speaking, of course - develop a plan to resist MoveOn, Obama and the age of huge (hot just big) government. These people at MoveOn did not wait for politicians in Washington to step up to their agenda - they stepped up to the politicians and said "you are going to do this, or else." We Christians and Conservatives, likewise cannot continue to howl and fuss at Republicans who do not fight for the Founding Principles upon which our nation was founded. If MoveOn and the Daily Kos can do it, so can we. And we must. The attack plan below to restore Constitutional government, is just a start but should include: 1.Begin to establish the groundwork for a boycott of the federal income tax. This will require employers to defy a federal mandate to withhold taxes from paychecks. Do they have the courage to do this? What would Patrick Henry do? If you no longer feel the federal government is operating within the confines of the Constitution, you have a moral obligation to become a conscientious objector and simply say NO to the payment of taxes to Washington. Does the Constitution give the Feds the right to bail out labor unions and give non-citizens rights and benefits? If you feel that by doing so, our sovereignty, Constitution and Bill of Rights are null and void then so is any responsibility you may have had for taxes under the 16th Amendment.
2. Begin a vigorous campaign to urge the public to home-school and/or send their children to private schools, with or without vouchers. Then begin a major program to build a private, non-union school system. This is the only way we will crack the huge union dominated government school bureaucracy. 3. Begin to use the legal system to fight big government. If the ACLU can do it, why can't we? We must begin to bring suit on every issue that threatens our nation's original freedoms and traditions. We should call our organization the MFMT which stands for Maximum Freedom, Minimum Taxation, which sums up why we fought for independence in the first place. 4. We begin a systematic march on the media, especially television. TV is the medium through which the liberal agenda is being implemented. The left learned long ago that a picture is worth a thousand words and the best example of this is the pictures of bodies of dead soldiers they broadcast every time we are in a war they do not approve of (usually when a Republican is leading it!). Holding pro-America, Republican rallies at local TV stations would be a great start - especially if the liberals re-implement the "Fairness" Doctrine. 5. Boycott employers who advertise on far left liberal media outlets like NBC. No patriotic American should buy a General Electric household product as long as Matthews, Olbermann and their ilk are permitted to spew their anti-Republican, anti-American hatred. 6. Expose the controlling roll that unions play in growing a totalitarian media/government complex. 7. Establish an underground network of physicians and health care providers that will fight to preserve private sector medicine. 8. Establish Committees of Correspondence and Safety to provide communications and security - just as our Founding Fathers did. 9. Join the NRA.
These are just a few of the actions that are necessary to first stop and then roll back the liberal juggernaut that threatens our basic freedoms and liberty. Patrick Henry said "give me liberty or give me death." It is not too late for us to make that same commitment; in fact it is just in time.
"Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel. Unfortunately, nothing will preserve it but downright force. Whenever you give up that force, you are inevitably ruined."
--Patrick Henry, speech in the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 5 June 1778

TALK IS CHEAP. WHEN DO WE MARCH ON THE MEDIA?
http://www.resistnet.com/ http://www.teapartyday.com/Locations.aspx http://www.smartgirlpolitics.org/

Patrick Henry| 4.14.09 @ 8:15PM

Tax Foe Who Ran for California Governor Admits Evasion, Gets 3-Year Term

When he was a Republican candidate for governor in 2002, George "Nick" Jesson brashly campaigned in red, white and blue attire on a platform that taxes were unconstitutional and easily skirted. On Monday, in a wheelchair and wearing an inmate's jumpsuit, Jesson pleaded guilty in a Santa Ana courtroom to state tax evasion charges.

The admission of guilt to three felony counts of filing false tax returns from 1997 through 1999 resulted in a sentence of three years in prison.

Because he had already pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion in April, he will serve the new sentence concurrently with his 27-month federal prison term.

Jesson's attorney, Michael Ware, said the legal problems that dogged his client since the campaign statements caught the attention of tax authorities had left the businessman financially broken and possibly unable to pay restitution, expected by prosecutors to exceed $238,000.

"Obviously, he's devastated," Ware said.

His wife, Trina, is charged with four felony counts of filing false tax returns and faces seven years in state prison if convicted on all charges.

She will be back in court Aug. 11 to appear before Superior Court Judge Francisco P. Briseno, the same jurist who sentenced her husband.

During Jesson's campaign for governor, the 55-year-old from Fountain Valley took out an advertisement in USA Today to announce that he had stopped withholding taxes for the employees of his multimillion-dollar electronics businesses. The reason, he said, was that the government had no authority to demand the money.

Jesson received 1% of the vote in the Republican primary.

Since that time, his businesses have collapsed and his attorney said Jesson has developed debilitating back pain that requires him to use a wheelchair.

Still, Ware said, "he is a very resilient individual. He is also a very patriotic individual and believes very strongly in this country. His disagreement with taxing authorities is as American as apple pie."

By Garrett Therolf LATimes / July 25, 2006

Pingback| 4.25.09 @ 7:12AM

Doug Bandow » Blog Archive » Tax Unfreedom Day links to this page. Here’s an excerpt:

…money with wild abandon.  Some day we are going to have to pay for the government’s profligacy, and then you won’t want to imagine when TFD will occur.  I cover the issue in a recent piece in American Spectator online. Post a Comment Name (required) E-mail (will not be published) (required) Website Doug Bandow is Vice President of Policy for Citizen Outreach, a Washington-based grassroots political…

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