Tax This!

I'm sorry but I will just have to weigh in here.

For a long time now we have been hearing and talking about taxes.  Grover Norquist (hard to take a guy with a name like that seriously but he's got legislators by the cojones...) has said that we don't need new taxes and many Americans agree.  "Leave my money alone!"  they cry.

But the problem really isn't taxes.  It's corruption.

We are taught at an early age that there "ain't no free lunch."  That's not quite true as many kids get lunch for free in school when their parents pay no taxes at all.  But that's an entirely different matter.

The fact is that we, as a society, have decided that we want a lot of stuff.

We want roads and bridges and clean air and safe food and a military that is prepared to protect us from "all enemies, foreign and domestic."

We want good schools and libraries and a host of other things that make our lives better.

And all of that costs money.  A lot of money.

Our problem is not with the fact that we have to pay for what we get but that an inordinate number of people have either figured out how to game the system and/or have found the myriad loopholes in the labyrinthian tax code and end up paying little or no tax while enjoying all of the benefits.

If you are rich you can hire a shrewd accountant who can devise schemes by which you avoid taxes through shelters and trusts and complicated investments.

If you are poor or middle class you just pay what the government says and just keep going, paycheck to paycheck in some (most) cases.

If you are rich and connected you go to the head of the line in the bidding process and by virtue of your influence, through campaign contributions, you can charge $1,000 for a $10 hammer and the "oversight" committee "concerned" with your industry will look the other way.

So what we should be talking about is not taxes, because we need the money for all of our desired services, but corruption and special interest influence peddling that takes the money we pay in and distributes it to a very rich and influential few.

Term limits, sunshine laws, bi-partisan and/or civilian oversight groups and citizen pressure will help turn this foundering ship around.

Without a real change in the way that government conducts our business, going over the "fiscal cliff" will seem, in nostalgic hindsight to have been a sunny day at the beach.

George H.W. Bush (hope he's recovering comfortably) had it half right; 

"Read my lips...NO MORE BULLSHIT!!"