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Politicians favor sales taxes There was quite a bit of media coverage on the TEA (Taxed Enough Already) parties across the country, replete with signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. Many of the events were rants on President Obama, assumed to be “Republican” TEA parties. Others were somewhat issues oriented. However, I thought the best witticism directed at Congress was the little toddler wearing a diaper and holding a sign saying, “I didn’t read the bill either!” In 1773, we were fighting repression from overseas, but we now protest against our own elected representatives. Too few are asking, “So why do we keep re-electing irresponsible incumbent politicians who are greedy and never address the problems of the masses?” Moreover, why do we allow apathy and complacency to rule our lives when we have the bona fide freedom to transform things? In 1773, we were fighting off a tyrannical monster. In 2009, we are the monster. Indeed, we applaud the customary rhetoric critical of taxes, but the people we elect flourish in an environment of pork barrel spending, lobbyist kissing and tax loophole inventing. The TEA parties were promoted by FreedomWorks, a conservative nonprofit advocacy organization in Washington D.C., led by former Republican House Majority Leader Dick Armey. The irony is Mr. Armey is employed as a lobbyist with DLA Piper, representing private entities seeking government bailouts, favors and tax loopholes. Furthermore, while I do not question the motives of average Americans angry about an avoidable economic disaster and governmental neglect, I do have suspicions regarding Mr. Armey’s intentions. Armey’s lobbying firm represents Canfor Corporation (Canadian lumber interests), Dubai Group, Emirates Investment & Development, First Kuwaiti Gen Trading & Contracting, Saied Ghaemi (linked to MEK which is listed as a “foreign terrorist organization” by the U.S. State Department), and a host of large U.S. corporations looking for favors from our federal government. We have had enough congressional scandals to demonstrate the role of powerful interests and their lobbyists, as our elected representatives engage in unseemly practices from accepting gifts and travel junkets to outright bribery. Neither party has shown much interest in productive reforms. It would be easy to create a one-purpose-per-bill amendment (eliminating sneaky, unrelated earmarks) or a balanced budget amendment to put an end to the fiscal shenanigans Congress likes to employ. Locally, sales taxes have become the cure-all for any and every problem in the state of Georgia. There are a slew of sales tax options, some for education, some for roads, and others for general fund expenditures. In the future, Georgians will be seeing more and more increases in sales taxes, replacing the stability and predictability of property taxes. To the artful politician, sales taxes are a marvelous tool because no one keeps track of how much they spend annually in sales taxes. (It evokes the quote about a “sucker born every minute.”) With sales taxes, politicians have the misleading and oft erroneous stories they tell like “shoppers from every county within 40 miles will come here and purchase lots of goods,” so you are not paying the tax, it’s them. Or there is the “you are in total control with sales taxes because you choose whether to buy,” as if we have a choice to feed, clothe, transport and shelter our families. The truth about sales taxes is they are the surest way to squeeze money out of the lower class without leaving a paper trail. It is similar to the way we have conned the working poor into paying for the college educations of middle-class children with the lottery, convincing them they can all be millionaires. The saddest part is sales taxes are regressive, meaning the tax takes a larger percentage of the wages of low-income people than of high-income people. There once was a time in my beloved Georgia that we truly looked out for the working poor. I remember a voice of morality, a church voice, a “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” kind of voice, balancing the scale of social justice. I think we have lost that voice. A “flat tax” system would certainly be more evenhanded, but that is precisely why powerful interests oppose it. The reason our tax code is so enormous is Congress creates so many loopholes, tax shelters and exemptions to protect special interests. This is why billionaire Warren Buffet pays less in taxes than his secretary, earning around $60,000. The answer, dear people, is to stop buying the rhetoric and start demanding some action. I look back at then-candidate Harold Logsdon churning out the rhetoric on cutting taxes in one forum after another, special interests singing his praises. I also recall Dar Thompson, a candidate as well, specifically stating Logsdon had no plan or relevant ideas on how to cut taxes. Unfortunately, what Thompson failed to realize is people will vote for what they want to hear, now resulting in record levels of taxation and fees, deficit spending and severe service reductions. The voters wanted a reduction in taxation, but never really examined what was on the table. Posters, bumper stickers and t-shirts are nice, but an educated, caring and responsive electorate is much better. [Steve Brown is the former mayor of Peachtree City. He can be reached at stevebrownptc@ureach.com.] login to post comments | Steve Brown's blog
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