Yes

by Craig Wobrak

Created on: February 10, 2008

I am an economic conservative. This means my whole view on the tax system is geared towards reducing taxes as much as possible. So obviously, I am going to choose yes to this question, regardless of the first half of this statement.

The problem with this question in itself is that it is misleading. It implies that the level of taxes levied on the middle class determines the bulk of our federal deficit. This is completely flawed thinking.

The two biggest problems affecting our deficit right now are government overspending and consumer overspending. Combine this with America's current Federal Reserve method of monetary policy, and we are running up the largest credit line in history.

Let's start with government spending. The federal government continues to infringe on states' rights on a regular basis. More and more bureaucracy means more and more money passes through more and more hands, which simply means more of it is needed to "grease the wheels" along the way and maintain a bloated federal infrastructure. The solution to government problems is not more government. It is the people of the USA that will solve many of the problems our society faces, not faceless bureaucrats in Washington.

We also have a foreign policy that has cost us over 1 trillion dollars during the last 5 years. This is bigger than the war in Iraq. We provide financial aid to dozens of nations. We provide money to Israel to "protect them," as the government usually claims. Yet at the same time, we provide three times as much aid to all the other Arab nations trying to kill Israel. How does this make any rational sense? Not only are we perpetuating the problems we are supposedly trying to solve, but we are spending money we don't have to do it!

Couple that with our massive borrowing from the Chinese and the benefits companies get from the outsourcing to other nations (India, China, Mexico, Enron moving to Dubai City in the UAE comes to mind) and we are in a very tight spot. None of this has anything to do with taxes levied on the citizens and can easily be fixed by the government learning fiscal responsibility. Meanwhile, currently the Senate is working to pass a tax rebate so the government can give yet another handout to the public spending money they do not have. Once again, instead of returning money at the source by lowering taxes, they tax more money out of us, then spend more money to give us money back! This is insanity! I'm not saying that people out there don't deserve more, because those of us in the lower middle class most certainly do. I'm just saying this is not the way to promote any kind of legitimate economy boost or stabilization. This is a bit like putting a bandaid on a spurting artery.

Now lets look at consumer spending. Sixty percent of the US' debt comes from uncollected consumer debt, meaning open lines of credit that have not been payed. While some of this debt is owned by hardworking Americans who will pay of their credit in good time and in good faith, much of it is from people who overspend, overcharge, and take out loans they can't afford to repay. These individuals are responsible, but we also have a credit system that does not encourage, teach, or promote responsible use of credit.

I'm only 25 years old, but between utility bills, student loans, and a couple department store credit cards, I have managed to maintain a higher credit rating than the average American's credit score (I think the average is about 690 as of writing this). I had a family who taught me financial planning and responsibility. I realize not all are so lucky, and this is what brings me to my next complaint.

Using the current housing crunch as an example, lenders offered prime-rate mortgage loans, meaning that for a time, the interest rate and payment schedule would be lower than normal, allowing folks to buy a house that was, in all honesty, more than many of them could afford. Many jumped on the opportunity, and not all were unable to pay. However those who were misled by loan agencies and too ignorant to do their own homework ended up with a foreclosed house and most likely a destroyed credit rating.

Yet in the public school system, economics is no longer required course work in many schools. It is not discussed in history (only glossed over in regards to 1929) and it is not presented in civics classes in many high school text books. Our children are not being educated to understand the economy in order to be responsible citizens in regards to finances.

Perhaps a solution to this issue could be tax breaks based on your credit score, but in my opinion our tax code is part of the current problem.

I know this article wanders a bit, but my point in all of this is that absolutely the taxes on the middle class should be reduced. There are much bigger issues out there to deal with in regards to controlling our deficit. We really have no control over what the fat-cats in Washington do in regards to taxes. The two greatest things we can do, as citizens, to promote a healthy economy is spend responsibly, and educate ourselves on economics. Once we do these things, we can then begin to solve the problems our nation faces.

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