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Contents
I. Government Responsibility
Most people have no idea where their tax dollars go or even how much they pay to the government. Government is a type of corporation. It’s big, slow to make changes, and often criticized. It is unique in the fact that its shareholders are also its primary customers. Corporations provide their shareholders with a statement of direction and financial data. Politicians talk about issues, but rarely about a long-term direction. The common shareholder of government would be hard pressed to find financial data similar to what the typical corporation provides. It is our position that the government should publish a small summery of how much money was collected, how it was collected, how much was spent, and how it was spent. This would not be too much extra work as the county and city are required to file more detailed reports with the state and they would have this information published for internal use. If needs be, they could always hire an accounting intern from the university. It is our hope that if people were given this information they would be more active in government actions. II. Tax Policy - Sales tax is the preferred method for general government expenditures. Roads would be best funded by a tax on gasoline. Tax rates need to be set by economic data not fiscal policy. The Wheel Tax should be repealed.
Taxes are the most visible and despised aspect of the government. However, until a better system can be devised they are necessary. Our general policy is to limit taxes to provide enough funds to do only the basic functions of the government. Before the government considers levying a new tax it should have exhausted every other opportunity. That includes improving efficiency or perhaps cutting a program [see Spending Policy].
• Property Tax:
Property taxes are particularly despised within our party. Look at what it says, you pay the government for the privilege of living in your house or sleeping in your bed. Life, liberty, and property existed before government. Government was invented to protect these rights, therefore they are not granted by the government. Back to the main point, fire protection protects both life and property. Police protection protects property from being stolen. Should these be funded by property taxes? Let’s look a bit deeper. Older and lower value housing is more prone to fires due to inferior construction. This would suggest an inverse property value tax. Police protection is also disproportionaly spent on the inner city and lower income areas. It is well known that crime is higher in poorer areas. This would also suggest an inverse property tax with regard to burglary protection. Both of these leave out the protection of life. • Income Tax: Another route may be to have an income tax. This is probably the most hated form of taxation, the most visible, and the most intrusive; paying the government for the opportunity to practice your trade, your livelihood. Applying similar arguments from above shows that an income tax for fire and police protection would imply an inverse tax on people with lower income. Income tax also has the most bureaucracy associated with it. The withholding system adds the need for many more managers and lawyers for a tax agency such as the IRS. It also puts a lot of stress on workers during tax time, gives the need for tax attorneys, and is prone to so many loopholes and deductions that make it a terrible hassle. • Sales Tax:
Sales and excise tax were the sole source of funds for the federal government for the first half of our countries existence. Many in our party favor a sales tax to other forms of taxation. Sales tax does seemingly reduce discretionary spending as products are more expensive. On the bright side if the other general forms of local funding are reduce citizens will have more money to buy goods. This tax also seems to be fairer to different social-economic classes. Lower income households tend to spend less than the more affluent ones. It may also be deemed necessary to have staples tax exempt, although this doesn’t seem necessary when Wal-mart sells a loaf of bread for fewer than fifty cents and the poverty level consists of a car, cable TV, and descent food and shelter. A more pronounced sales tax may limit spending, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. A higher savings rate would likely raise investment and contribute to future economic growth. Many Americans are in debt and perhaps these seemingly higher prices may help them cut spending (habitual debt is probably more serious of a problem and this is unlikely to solve that). The government should not be using taxes to adjust social issues; this is more of a possible side effect. A sales tax seems to be the lesser and most effective of many evils when it comes to taxation.
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• Wheel Tax:
One of the more controversial taxes is the recently passed Wheel Tax. This was passed by a narrow margin by those who were not up for re-election (that doesn’t mean those who voted no were not sincere) despite massive popular disapproval. The tax imposes a $20 fee on any vehicle weighing less than 11,000 pounds and more for larger vehicles. It is our position that this tax was hastily passed without full consideration of the alternatives. It seems that there was no effort to cut costs and no other tax proposal was discussed, at least in public. It’s bad! Back to contentsIII. Sovereignty - Counties are better representative of their constituents than the state and are better able to act in their interest.
The United States of America is a group of states united. The power of the federal government comes from the states and the power of states comes from the people. The power of counties in many states is granted by the state and not directly from the people. Citizens are best represented at the lowest level of government which is the city or other locality. The locality can not do anything without the state’s approval. This puts the local governments in a bad position as they are given limited option and strict guidelines. Due to this, some poor decisions, like the Wheel Tax, come out because the local government could not implement a more justified tax due to state restrictions. IV. References 1. Stephen Moore and Dean Stansel, “The Myth of America's Underfunded Cities," Policy Analysis No. 188, February 22, 1993, Cato Institute, 1000 Massachusetts Ave. , NW, Washington, DC 20001, (202) 842-0200. [Information provided by NCPA website: http://www.ncpa.org/ea/eaja93/eaja93b.html ] 2. Tax Rates, Tax Revenues and Economic Growth by Gerald W. Scully. National Center for Policy Analysis. NCPA Policy Report No. 98, March 1991. http://www.ncpa.org/studies/s159/s159.html For more information on national issues see : www.lp.org For more information on statewide issues see: www lpin.org |
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