Lately, President Obama has been talking a lot about “fairness.” He wants to make our society more “fair.” I was raised a bit differently than the president, so I’ve been struggling with this concept. My parents always told me that in life, as in poker, I had to play the cards I was dealt. Whenever I complained that something was unfair, my parents would respond, “Whoever said life was fair?” This concept — that life itself was unfair — was even part of my religious upbringing. The 10th Commandment says, “Thou shalt not covet anything that is thy neighbor’s.” Obviously, if everyone had exactly the same stuff, there would be no reason to covet anything, and thus no point in having such a commandment. So even God recognized that life was unfair.
Toward Fairness - Some Modest Proposals.
It was clear to me when Obama started talking about using the Capital Gains Tax Rate to be 'fair' that something was seriously wrong. If you're looking at a hideously complex system, 'fairness' doesn't enter into the equation - you're looking for what works best. You WANT to generate the most income with the least amount of effort. Raising a tax rate, even though it would reduce revenue over the long run, isn't a smart thing to do.
Unless you're explicitly trying to CAUSE problems.
We're $16 tril in debt.
The IRS takes in roughly $2 tril a year.
We're spending about $3.5 tril a year.
To refuse a method of increasing revenue through economic growth because it's not 'fair' isn't just stupid - it's almost obscene.
Or so I think. Maybe there's some way a 'fair' system could be made to work through massive overspending and undercollection of taxes, but I sure don't see it.
J.