Wednesday, December 11, 2002

Cal did a good job of outlining the absolute unfairness of our socialized tax system. But he did not discuss the consequences, a possible remedy, and a strategy for the evil rich (the overtaxed) to fight back. I wish to discuss these briefly.

What the Democrats do not seem to understand is that you cannot over-milk a cow forever. Eventually the cow stops producing. So what happens if we continually raise the tax burden on the most productive in society? Gradually they will start retiring early, moving business offshore, not taking entrepreneurial risks, etc. Gradually our economy will shut down.

We need these people to be productive. But if they are not allowed to benefit from their industry, they will not produce. The fact is the ordinary guy needs the exceptional guy more than the other way around. This may sound elitist, but it is a fact.

The solution is to provide the average American with as much government as he can afford to pay for himself. We must dismantle 60 years of socialist federal policy. Get rid of Social Security, Medicare, welfare, the Department of Education, the National Endowment for the Arts, etc. If it isn't provided for in the Constitution, get rid of it.

Next we need to scrap our Byzantine tax code and adopt a national sales tax like the Linder Fair Tax Plan.

If our government refuses to lessen the burden on the well-to-do, they can always fight back. Income tax is voluntary. If you don't want to pay it all you have to do is eliminate your income. Since the top 1 percent usually do not live paycheck to paycheck, they could easily afford to go on strike for a while (i.e., give the country an "Atlas Shrug"). I doubt that it would take more than a week of inactivity on these people's part to shut the country down. All they need to do is use the Internet to get organized.

I am not in the top 1 percent yet, but I am working hard to get there. It is just so discouraging to work hard and get to keep barely half of each extra dollar earned. I am ready to fight back, but I guess I'll see what the new Republican majority in Congress does to remedy the situation first. Hopefully they feel the same way that Cal Beverly does about the inequity of our tax system.

Bill Gilmer

Fayetteville