Saturday, April 17, 2010

Taxes

Two quick thoughts about taxes:

1. We need to change the dates of election day and tax day so that they fall on the SAME DAY. Maybe this is the only way we can get people to act upon the anger feel when they have to do through this ridiculous exercise every year. Politicians are forever trying to de-couple what they do in Washington as opposed to what they tell their constituents at home. That is, they want to pretend to be fiscally responsible without actually doing it. We need to compare their promises to the reality while that memory is still fresh in our minds. What better way to do that than to put these two events (paying taxes and voting) on the very same day?

2. Tax withholding is one of the most insidious creations mankind has ever devised. If you've ever run your own business and had to write quarterly checks to the government (I have) or if you bother to read your pay checks (which I do, too, although I suspect I am in the minority) you are acutely aware of just how much the government takes from us. Thanks to withholding few people are aware of how much government takes, not to mention the vast sums of money we involuntarily loan to the government on an interest-free basis. Milton Friedman, who helped create withholding later said: "I have no apologies for it, but I really wish we hadn't found it necessary and I wish there were some way of abolishing withholding now."

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