Oh boy, as the deficit talks get down to the wire, they are reported to focus more on taxes. Regardless of your view on all this, keep in mind that taking more money from Americans and putting it in the hands of Congress is unlikely to have any lasting effect on the deficit or out of control spending. Sure, initially the added revenue will hit the books of government in a positive manner, but before the ink is dry on the entry Congress will find some new necessary cause for spending the new revenue. Already there is talk of not of using any so-called peace dividend created by withdrawing from Afghanistan to reduce the deficit, but spending it on any number of new worthy programs.
Once the pressure is off spending and on to raising revenue, the game is lost and the fundamental problem is again kicked down the road to the next generation. It doesn’t matter who or what entity is taxed, the outcome is the same; more for the government to spend and less in the private sector.
However, there is one positive aspect of all this. Democrats are reinforcing the critical need for more basic math skills in American schools. Who knew one million dollars is written as $250,000?
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