| Why we labor harder
and enjoy it less: Taxes, taxes
By MAC COLLINS
Why we labor harder and enjoy
it less: Taxes, taxes When barbeque grills are fired up this Labor Day,
people's minds are more on relaxation than work. That is the way it should
be, because Americans are among the hardest-working people on Earth and
deserve some time off.
But while we relax, it is a good time to take stock of the importance
of work and the role it plays in our lives.
My parents worked all their lives, and brought me up to appreciate the
value of an honest job. They also taught me that while work is important,
other things in life, such as family and friends, rank higher.
Yet at the beginning of this new century, despite all of our labor-saving
appliances, faster airplanes and cell phones, most Americans feel we have
less time than ever to spend on activities and persons they care about.
Whether we are single parents, or two parents who both hold down jobs,
we seem to be running faster just to stay in place.
There are many explanations, but the easiest to find is the one found
on our pay stubs: the payroll tax.
Because taxes have been hiked gradually over time, most Americans have
become accustomed to the burden, and they do not realize that state, local
and national taxes combined are now at their highest level since World
War II.
The latest increase took place in 1993 when Al Gore cast the tie-breaking
vote in the Senate for the Clinton-Gore tax hike. That record tax hike
provoked a voter backlash, and put the Republicans into the majority in
Congress for the first time in 40 years. The new majority was elected
to pass tax relief, and set out to implement tax reform.
This is hard work because of the bitter opposition of most Democrats.
The pro-tax Democrats argue that tax relief is "spending" or
a "giveaway." We Republicans, on the other hand, believe that
taxation is "taking" from Americans, which means tax relief
is simply taking less from American workers.
We believe that if working Americans spend less time earning money to
pay for Washington programs, they will have more time or money to spend
on family and friends.
This belief explains our effort to balance the budget. Since excessive
taxation is driven by excessive spending, we had to start by reforming
programs and cutting expenditures. The result has exceeded all expectation.
In 1995, the Congressional Budget Office predicted over $3 trillion in
red ink over the next ten years. Today, the same office reports positive
cash flow of up to $4.5 billion over the next ten years.
Because of this good news, we wanted to take less from taxpayers. We passed
a repeal of a telephone tax implemented a century ago to pay for the Spanish
American War. We also repealed the extra tax President Clinton imposed
on Social Security recipients who want to work after retirement. These
were signed into law.
We also passed a bill to end the tax discrimination against married couples.
If you're married, you and your spouse pay $1,400 more in taxes each year
than if you had stayed single. It's unfair. We voted to end this tax discrimination,
and targeted the help toward working families, but President Clinton vetoed
the bill anyway.
We aren't giving up. We're going to work to override that veto. We're
also working hard to eliminate another unfair tax targeted at those who
want to pass the family farm or business onto their children and grandchildren.
The death tax claims as much as 55 percent of the value of a family farm
or business and is the primary cause for the failure or sale of family
businesses when they are passed down.
Again, House Republicans are working hard to eliminate this unfair tax.
We're calling on President Clinton to work with us by signing it into
law.
This Labor Day, all Americans should reflect on our work and how we shall
use the fruits of our work. Will we succumb to the temptation to splurge
our positive cash flow? This is the approach being advanced by many Democratic
candidates.
I hope Americans will join me and my colleagues in setting aside sufficient
resources to honor our large obligations to Social Security and Medicare,
take care of important needs, and return some of the excess taxation to
America's wage earners.
When we do this, we should heed Alan Greenspan's advice to look at tax
relief in the areas of capital gains and marginal rates.
By providing this type of tax relief, we will reinforce the economy and
contribute to the continued growth of the jobs we celebrate every Labor
Day.
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