Government looting and the effectiveness of shrugging
Posted by LionelHutz 12 years, 2 months ago to Economics
In the days of old, our government funded itself by taxing the people through various means, but most prominently by the Income Tax.
As the government becomes the primary looter, the means of revolt expressed in Atlas Shrugged makes a lot of sense.
One deprives the government of their loot by depriving them of your production.
(They can't tax what you don't make).
However, I think we have been in a new era for a while now.
We are in an era where the government doesn't need your tax money.
Think about this. We already know Social Security and Medicare are going to go broke. We've known it for years.
So what sane politician says lets expand the program (Medicare D), and then cut the revenue stream funding it (employee portion of social security)? Both actions drive the programs deeper into debt.
How are things even staying afloat?
The answer is the government is now writing IOUs, selling them to the Chinese for face value, and telling them they may collect it with interest in the future...from our unborn children.
THIS IS TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
The following data comes from the back page of the 1040 instruction book for the past decade or so:
Percentage of Income derived from Income Taxes and Borrowing.
(Note that while the 1040 data separates income taxes from social security and medicare taxes, I lump them together in this table).
Year Taxes Borrowing
1999 82% 0%
2000 82% 0%
2001 85% 0%
2002 78% 8%
2003 70% 17%
2004 67% 18%
2005 70% 13%
2006 71% 9%
2007 75% 6%
2008 69% 15%
2009 51% 40%
2010 51% 37%
2011 53% 36%
The govt of the USA hasn't been known for compelling people to work in order to keep their income stream coming in.
Shrug all you want. The govt will simply sell more IOUs to the Chinese to make up for it.
At some point in time, the Chinese are going to come to collect on those IOUs.
Is it unreasonable to think that your children may be put into a labor camp?
Agree? Disagree? How does one fight against this?
As the government becomes the primary looter, the means of revolt expressed in Atlas Shrugged makes a lot of sense.
One deprives the government of their loot by depriving them of your production.
(They can't tax what you don't make).
However, I think we have been in a new era for a while now.
We are in an era where the government doesn't need your tax money.
Think about this. We already know Social Security and Medicare are going to go broke. We've known it for years.
So what sane politician says lets expand the program (Medicare D), and then cut the revenue stream funding it (employee portion of social security)? Both actions drive the programs deeper into debt.
How are things even staying afloat?
The answer is the government is now writing IOUs, selling them to the Chinese for face value, and telling them they may collect it with interest in the future...from our unborn children.
THIS IS TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION.
The following data comes from the back page of the 1040 instruction book for the past decade or so:
Percentage of Income derived from Income Taxes and Borrowing.
(Note that while the 1040 data separates income taxes from social security and medicare taxes, I lump them together in this table).
Year Taxes Borrowing
1999 82% 0%
2000 82% 0%
2001 85% 0%
2002 78% 8%
2003 70% 17%
2004 67% 18%
2005 70% 13%
2006 71% 9%
2007 75% 6%
2008 69% 15%
2009 51% 40%
2010 51% 37%
2011 53% 36%
The govt of the USA hasn't been known for compelling people to work in order to keep their income stream coming in.
Shrug all you want. The govt will simply sell more IOUs to the Chinese to make up for it.
At some point in time, the Chinese are going to come to collect on those IOUs.
Is it unreasonable to think that your children may be put into a labor camp?
Agree? Disagree? How does one fight against this?
Previous comments... You are currently on page 5.
Wait for the devaluation/default. The funny thing is we've already defaulted on dollars, which were promises to pay an amount of gold.
Soon we'll be defaulting on promises (tbills) to give people promises we've already defaulted on (dollars).
It's strange that the world can really run like this.
John Galt or Cloward-Piven gets the same result - the collapse of the cultural philosophies that got us in the pile of dung we sit in now.
We do not have the possibility of unlimited growth, or unlimited resources; therefore Ayn's point of reference, as to human capability, is outdated.
The answer? Get a sailboat and leave the US. Like me. I like Chile, a country where the students hold rallies to get their teachers to work more hours. And they have most of the lithium on this planet.
And thanks for buying my blueberries.
C'ya losers.
Remember the pathetic cover story the Left told the Americans the reason why the EPA is shutting down oil production in the Gulf? Because it's "too deep"? Well, sure, 5,000 feet down is deep, but it's pretty damn shallow when you compare it to Brazil's 17,000 feet just to reach the bottom to start drilling. Now, what was that about not drilling in the Gulf because it's "too deep"? Come again?
Colorado is completely destroyed. and really downhill since the mid 90s. do not go there. and NM? that state boils my blood everytime I go through there. one emerald city, and the rest of the state languishes. it reminds me of a fiefdom. Albuquerque thrives off of all crony businesses and govt stuff. and some of the most insane environmental/forest service regulatory BS I have ever seen anywhere except for CA
I got the Small Arms Marksmanship ribbon during my shooting with my gasmask on. Does that count?
Damn. Texas huh? IDK yet. I'll wait and see for now.
I also think Mr Clinton got enormously lucky collecting tax receipts from equity yields during the dot-com bubble years.
But I'm not taking anything away from you on this point. Bush 43 started something bad, and Obama hit the accelerator on it.
So the question is, if we really can't 'shrug' then where do we move to? The whole world is turning into one giant toilet bowl, thanks to the commies around the world and to the softy repubs like Senator McLame in AZ.