Blue Collar Muse

Paulie, a friend from Chicago and one of the handful of non-Obama Kool-Aid drinkers left in Cook County, has a great post up at Paulie’s Point on the results of Chicago’s recent efforts at generating revenue. I don’t know how many times it will need to be said before Democrats and the Left will get the message, but I’ll keep it up. Here goes …

Raising taxes is not a successful strategy to pursue if your goal is to end up with more money! Raising taxes will only result in less consumption of or participation in whatever is being taxed. That reduction usually far outstrips the revenue gained via the increase.

Cook County raised its sales tax to 10.25%, making it the highest in the nation. Paulie spills the beans that The Illinois Department of Revenue reports in the first month the increase went into effect, revenue plummeted nearly 12%!

A partial explanation is that a huge percentage of Cook County lies within easy driving distance of both Indiana and Wisconsin, not to mention other Illinois counties with lower sales taxes. Quick trips over a border to avoid ignorant, asinine and ineffective taxes are just part of the “We should have seen this coming!” reality obvious to anyone but Democratic Big Tax, Big Spenders.

To make matters worse, the flight outside Cook County does more than just hurt the city’s coffers. Business people and service providers lose revenue, too. Why should I buy gas or groceries in Cook County when I can drive 5 miles and save 10% or more? Over the course of a year, that’s serious savings for me and serious loss for businesses. When businesses lose money the cutback or close. That means even more revenue loss for the county as there are fewer working taxpayers and those that remain pay less because they make less. But Cook County Democrats don’t see that. Actually, most Democrats everywhere don’t see that.

At this point, they seem to only have two choices. They can demand people buy their highly and arbitrarily taxed goods, not because the price is good for the consumer but because Cook County REALLY needs the money. Or they can follow Tennessee’s lead and make criminals out of their citizens who have the sense to shop at places that are working for them and not against them.

Higher Taxes … just another bad idea from Democrats, Socialists and other Central Planners …

Blue Collar Muse

Popularity: 89% [?]

So, I got this letter late last week from the IRS. The only thing worse would have been to hear Mike Wallace and the “60 Minutes” crew were filming on my front lawn. Come to think of it, even that may not be worse …

The letter was computer generated, thanking me for my recent correspondence with them. It said they had not responded yet as they had not finished preparing a “complete response” and that it would be forthcoming within 45 days. It reminded me the installment agreement I agreed to for payment of my taxes was still in effect and I should still make my scheduled payments. It even helpfully included an 800# I could call if I had any questions.

It was a polite, encouraging and downright personable piece of communication. But there was one teensy-weensy lil’ problem. I had not recently corresponded with them for any reason other than to mail a check on April 14 for the entire amount of the taxes they wanted from me. There was no installment agreement agreed to and no scheduled payments. Had this been a business like a credit card company saying I had not paid my bill, I wouldn’t worry. I’d just call their 800# and get this straightened out. Did I mention this letter was from the IRS?

Still, it was such a NICE letter and they had included an 800#. I called on Saturday but they were closed. To be fair, I don’t remember if they were closed because it was Saturday, allowing taxpayers across the country to breathe more easily, or if I just called after hours on Saturday. Regardless I didn’t speak to the nice folks at the IRS that day. I laid the letter in my inbox to call this week. Yesterday, I saw the letter and decided I had the time to spend on hold and to deal with any bureaucratic red tape. I dialed the phone.

After about 15 minutes on hold, a nice lady answered, giving me her name and ID#. I explained about the letter and that there was an important looking reference number at the very top which I felt sure linked to a file with all my details in it and we could get this taken care of quickly. The nice IRS lady told me, “No, I don’t need that. What’s your Social Security number?” I gave it to her and she explained we would have to do a quick Q&A to establish my identity. 5 minutes later we agreed that I was me.

She asked why I was calling. I explained about the letter and the 45 days and the installment agreement and that I didn’t recall doing any of those things. The nice IRS lady told me, “According to my screen, you’re right. You don’t owe any tax, we’ve released your stimulus package payment and there’s no installment agreement!” Relieved, I said, “Great! So you’ll take care of this for me?” She helpfully said, “I sure will. I’ll just send an email to the person who sent you the letter and have him call you. It will be sometime in the next 30 days. He’ll need to make sure this is not a mistake on our part. Where can he reach you?”

I asked to contact the person myself. I explained my concern that, if it took the full 30 days, and if the IRS decided I owed the money, there would be interest and penalties. Since, if I disputed the decision, I had to prove I didn’t owe it, and not the other way around, I’d probably just pay the money. When dealing with people who can padlock your home and business, freeze your accounts and generally make life inconvenient, it is often wiser to simply pay them. It’s called the “Let the Wookie win!” strategy.

The nice IRS lady assured me there was no cause for alarm. She could see on her screen I owed them nothing! When I again asked her why, if that was the case, could she not clear this up, she again told me it was to be sure that it was not a mistake on their part. I took this to mean the nice IRS lady was positive I didn’t owe any money but the person sending me the letter might feel differently. After all, the letter talked about payments and agreements and such.

I again expressed the desire to speak to the person who sent me the letter. The nice IRS lady said she could not give me that person’s name or contact information. She could not give me his ID#. She wasn’t even sure he was a he. She did have an IRS designator identifying exactly who he was but she couldn’t give me that, either. But I was not to worry, she would send that email and he would contact me within 30 days.

I surprised myself with boldness and asked why the IRS provided an 800# which connected to a department completely unable to help me. The nice IRS lady gently corrected me. “But I HAVE helped you!”, she said. Baffled, I asked, “You have?” “Yes”, she responded, “I sent an email to the person who will contact you!” As God is my witness, I actually waited for her to continue, “Just kidding! Just a little IRS humor!” After a long moment in which she did not, in fact, admit to pulling my leg, I asked, “Do you mean this is the extent of the assistance available to me at this number, which, I feel compelled to add, the IRS itself directed me to call if I had questions?” The nice IRS lady replied in the affirmative.

I noted that, as a small business owner, if a customer might need to speak to me I simply gave them MY number. It tended to expedite things. I allowed while it was possible I might miss his call and need to call back, I would not, in fact, set up an entire department whose sole purpose was to email me that someone I thought might need me, actually did, so I could add a call back to him to my calendar sometime in the next 30 days. There being little more to be said, I wished the nice IRS lady a good afternoon and we ended the call.

This sort of inefficiency, waste and duplication is typical of big government. And yet this is the plan we have for Health Care? For Energy Independence? For Education? For Retirement? For the most important things in life? Only in government could a person be of absolutely no assistance whatsoever and, at the same time, take pride in a job well done.

I really hope my installment payments aren’t too much …

Blue Collar Muse

Popularity: 31% [?]

In honor of today being April 15th, likely the most reviled day on the calendar (after January 1st and the necessity to make all those fleeting resolutions - not to mention the hangover) , I thought to direct you to an excellent piece on taxes by a friend of mine, Doug Bandow.

Doug notes in his American Spectator piece, ‘Voluntary Clinton Surtax Day’, the many ways Leftists and other tax hikers can participate. Since they believe we don’t pay enough in taxes, Doug outlines any number of ways people with more money than sense can voluntarily increase the amount of taxes they pay.

Doug recommends that the movement begin with the Clintons since they have publicly stated they did not want or need the Bush Tax Cuts. Check out the story at American Spectator.

Blue

Popularity: 40% [?]

Taxes … if we are smart, we hate them. They should be rare and low. They should collect just enough to do what the government is mandated to do by the Constitution and nothing more.

The Left loves taxes, especially tax increases. The Right used to love tax cuts and hated tax increases. Unfortunately, today’s Right seems to be drifting farther and farther Left. They’re spending the people’s money like drunken sailors. And the cry from Washington, D.C. is for more, more, more … More bridges to nowhere, more money for prescription drugs, more money for entitlements …

Should someone suggest cutting taxes or reducing the amount of money the Feds are entrusted with, they are pilloried as heartless and cruel. They are accused of wanting children to die of starvation and wanting parents to have to steal to feed their kids and a host of other nonsense. The truth is far, far different.

Because the key to prosperity for a nation and for a government doesn’t lie in raising taxes. The secret is cutting taxes. Lower taxes breeds massive prosperity for the people who actually generate tax income. This, in turn, results in those people paying more in taxes. Despite the Liberals and their love for taxes continually crying, “Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!”, the truth of that premise cannot be denied. It works every time it’s tried.

It worked in New Zealand and it worked in the former Soviet Union. It worked in the 1960s and it worked in the 1980s. It worked for John F. Kennedy and it worked for Ronald Reagan. The problem with these tax cuts and the subsequent increases in revenue to the US government was not that the government’s income didn’t go up substantially. It did. The problem was that there was no discipline on the part of the people who had it to spend and so they squandered the windfalls.

Now there’s a new example of the truth of lower taxes leading to general prosperity for a nation. Tiny Liechtenstein, set in the economic quagmire that is Old Europe, is quietly prospering while better known countries find themselves mired in economic straits brought on by their embrace of Socialism. Read about it here …

Blue

Popularity: 80% [?]

Heading into Michigan and South Carolina, and enjoying an uptick in interest and momentum following Thursday night’s GOP debate hosted at FOXNews, over the weekend the Thompson campaign released Fred’s plan to reduce Federal Spending. It’s not a particularly long read and it is thin on implementation. However, as a good overview on how Fred would address and approach spending and the budget process in general it’s quite good.

I’m including just the bullet points here. Each one has a paragraph or more of explanation at Fred’s official site. For the detail on the bullets, click through to Fred’s campaign.

THOMPSON PLAN TO REDUCE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SPENDING

In 2007, the federal government’s spending rose to an astounding $2.8 trillion– the equivalent of $22,000 per household. Growth in federal government spending, however, rarely translates into better services for the American people. Solutions for many public policy problems are best found in the private sector, and then at the State and local level–not in Washington, DC. Indeed, the federal government loses billions every year due to ineffective programs, poor management, waste, and fraud. And, the problem is getting worse. Within the next five years, federal spending is expected to reach more than $3.2 trillion, or about 20 percent of our economy; more than half of this amount is mandatory spending for entitlements. Increasing government spending is not the answer to our country’s problems. It is time to get it under control with better solutions and better management of our federal government.

Balance the Budget and Eliminate Underperforming Programs

Congress has consistently refused to balance the budget and address the deficit. In fact, federal spending continues to grow at rates double inflation. This rate of growth in federal spending is not sustainable and must be brought under control. The following actions will result in better control of the growth of non-defense discretionary spending:

1. Limit Non-Defense Federal Spending to Inflation.

2. Implement a One-Year Hiring Freeze Pending Completion of Federal Government Strategic Assessment.

3. Conduct a Comprehensive Cost-Benefit Analysis of All Federal Programs.

Enact Meaningful Earmark Reform

Congressional earmarks add up to tens of billions of dollars each year. In Fiscal Year 2006 alone, the cost to the American taxpayer was more than $64 billion. Even more disconcerting is the fact that many earmarks do not benefit the America people but only serve to support special interests. To accomplish real and meaningful earmark reform, the following actions must be taken:

1. Provide President with Line-Item Veto Authority.

2. Direct Agencies to Ignore “Soft” Earmarks.

3. Propose Legislation on Earmark Procedures.

Eliminate Improper Government Payments and Prosecute Fraud

Many government agencies cannot pass an audit. In 2007 alone, the government made more than $50 billion in improper payments. On top of that, fraud costs the American taxpayer tens of billions of dollars a year. Government regulations also reduce innovation and competitiveness. The following policies would address these problems:

1. Eliminate Improper Payments.

2. Increase the Prosecution of Fraud.

3. Hold Executives Accountable.

4. Propose Regulatory Improvement Legislation.

Reform Entitlement Programs

Entitlement spending is threatening to engulf the American taxpayer in a tidal wave of additional costs, as millions of Americans begin retiring over the next several years. In fact, spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid is growing so fast that within 40 years it will consume the entire federal budget. This is unsustainable. The following initiatives will help restore the fiscal solvency of these programs:

1. Save and Protect Social Security.

2. Ensure Future Viability of Medicare and Medicaid.

Popularity: 31% [?]