A Tax and Government: By the People, For the People, Still?
Thomas Jefferson was quoted as saying that the government that
governs least, governs best. Today, however, we seem to be
headed in a completely different direction. We seem to think
that the bigger the government the better the benefit and so
more of the responsibilities of growth for the economy have been
placed on the shoulders of our government. Was this a conscious
decision by the American public, or was this a subversive action
on the part of our government?
During the 1960s, when Franklin Roosevelt and the Congress of
the United States implemented the "new deal" and unsuspecting
citizenry welcomed this as a major step forward in the progress
of the economic development of United States; many citizens saw
this as a way to improve the standard of living for every
individual. The "new deal" has in many ways were to accomplish
its intended purpose, there are other areas, however, we are
just the opposite has occurred. Today, more than ever, we have a
tremendous reliance on "government welfare" and the public
assistance programs that aid many of the nation's poor. Instead,
however off encouraging independence and productivity from our
citizens, it has created a true dependence upon our government
to provide life's necessities. Instead of fostering growth and
independence, it has created a third-generation welfare problem.
It has also generated a much larger federal government. In order
to fund all the programs implemented during the "new deal" era,
the government has imposed greater and greater taxation of the
American public. In that entertain, when income tax was
reinstated and became a way of life, the average and taxpayer
paid 1% in tax; today, the average taxpayer pays almost 10% in
income tax. The government now receives over $2 trillion in
income tax, each year, and each year we watch as our government
deficit grows; it continues to grow, because government
continues to spend more than it receives.
Not all government spending is centered on welfare programs or
public assistance programs. Some of the excess spending on the
part of our government does to fund foreign aid, the war in
Iraq, and pet programs for many of our congressmen. However, we
are reaching a point in our country when government spending and
welfare programs exceed the working class' ability to keep up.
This is proven by the problems we're now experiencing and
anticipating with our Social Security system.
In addition to the massive spending on the part of our
government in support of welfare programs, we have now
legislated many of our free enterprise and private sector
businesses to the point that it is impossible to truly generate
economic growth from a small business perspective. The taxes
levied on and paid by small businesses, in conjunction with the
regulations imposed by government that create additional
spending, have backed the small businessman into a corner.
Government spending now accounts for almost 58% of the entire
economic income of this country; less than 100 years ago, it
accounted for only 12% of the economic income. This massive
growth in government spending as a means to support the
countries income and economy means that the average taxpayer
must work 5 1/2 months to support government and government
spending. This is not why our forefathers created government;
the smaller our government the more innovative and creative our
private sector businesses can become.
In addition to the excess in spending, the more government
grows, the more government controls. So that, in addition to
excessive taxes, we have excessive control. This country was
made great because of the tremendous opportunity she offered the
many immigrants who came to her shores. Now, thanks to the new
deal and the welfare programs we don't offer our immigrants and
opportunity to work, we offer them a check. Private sector
businesses can no longer find employees at the minimum wage
level, because welfare is more profitable.
Once again, we must refer back to Thomas Jefferson's words, "the
government that governs least governs best", and hope that
eventually this philosophy will be realized.