I’ve been thinking about spending and taxation lately. It occurs to me that Americans pay exactly the amount of taxes we want to pay. No more and no less. Look at the history of taxes as a percentage of GDP – it’s very constant at about 18-20%, with spikes for wartime and valleys for low-growth periods, and otherwise very predictable. One theory is that elections keep the politicians from over-taxing us – we’ll vote them out if they do. I support that theory.
On the other hand, spending . . . we don’t really have any control, because we gave politicians the power to borrow money, and the political class is without discipline and can’t resist taking money from one group so as to give it to another group…to buy votes, perhaps?
Why do they get away with that? Because the class of people from whom they are stealing – future tax-payers – can’t vote YET, since they’re either under 18 or not yet born.
Can we call that taxation without representation?
We need a better class of politicians – and SOON.
[...] They’re taxing us to death and we’re sending the bill to a generation that ought to default on the debt we leave them. It is immoral to consume their wealth, the value of their work before they even enter the workforce. They’ll work 1/2 their lives paying for today’s consumption. It’s sinful to confiscate their lives without their consent. (See previous post.) [...]