Don't They Know?
When I was in high school and college, I often received homework from most if not all of my teachers each day. The homework assignments seemed daunting and time-consuming. My classmates and I often wondered why the teachers had given us homework that would take so much of our free time and so many resources. Didn't they know, we often wondered, or care that we had other demands on our time? Well, they did, but they expected that if we were serious about learning, we would expend the time needed.
I wonder if the same thoughts run through the heads of politicians as they raise one tax after another, especially as our salaries stay the same or increase only slightly in the recovering economy. Property tax, income tax, sales tax, gas tax, and the myriad hidden taxes that drive up production cost and therefore the cost of consumables all combine to take over 50% of our income. Every year, one or more of those taxes rise, just a little. In rare cases, they raise a phenomenal amount. Take property tax this year. It is projected to raise 7-14% for some homes, depending on their county and the needs of the local government and school districts.
Most of us will see anywhere from 0-3% raises in our income, assuming we aren't victims of layoffs, reduction-in-force or an ailing industry. The luckiest of us will see the smallest raise, on average. I say this not to illicit Marxian feelings of hate and desire for retribution against the nomenklatura, but to merely point out the reality of our situation. You get the raise if you're lucky and you're thankful for it. I know I am.
However, just simple math could show that the raises we receive barely match or fall short of the "cost of living" increase we see with inflation, resource cost, wages and regulatory fees of the people and companies that produce what we consume.
Given this in mind, I'm curious how our legislative entities at all levels of government can assign little tax increases here and there and not consider the truly unjust burden this places on us as the citizenry. If one tax gets increase .5% and another gets increased 1% and another gets increased 2%, then we actually have less each year to live and raise our families. Is that fair or just? Is it right? Is it moral? No, no and hell no. And lest you think I'm pulling figures out of thin air, consider that the doughnut counties around Marion in the majority of cases saw a 2% increase in the restaurant tax, several counties saw small point percentage increases in their income tax, the aforementioned property tax will see raises as noted averaging 7-14%, and gas taxes seem to be perpetually and quietly on the rise.
These are just the "open" taxes, the ones we can see if we look hard enough. How many others are there? When will the various taxing entities say "Hold!". Don't they know how much homework the others give?
When I was in high school and college, I often received homework from most if not all of my teachers each day. The homework assignments seemed daunting and time-consuming. My classmates and I often wondered why the teachers had given us homework that would take so much of our free time and so many resources. Didn't they know, we often wondered, or care that we had other demands on our time? Well, they did, but they expected that if we were serious about learning, we would expend the time needed.
I wonder if the same thoughts run through the heads of politicians as they raise one tax after another, especially as our salaries stay the same or increase only slightly in the recovering economy. Property tax, income tax, sales tax, gas tax, and the myriad hidden taxes that drive up production cost and therefore the cost of consumables all combine to take over 50% of our income. Every year, one or more of those taxes rise, just a little. In rare cases, they raise a phenomenal amount. Take property tax this year. It is projected to raise 7-14% for some homes, depending on their county and the needs of the local government and school districts.
Most of us will see anywhere from 0-3% raises in our income, assuming we aren't victims of layoffs, reduction-in-force or an ailing industry. The luckiest of us will see the smallest raise, on average. I say this not to illicit Marxian feelings of hate and desire for retribution against the nomenklatura, but to merely point out the reality of our situation. You get the raise if you're lucky and you're thankful for it. I know I am.
However, just simple math could show that the raises we receive barely match or fall short of the "cost of living" increase we see with inflation, resource cost, wages and regulatory fees of the people and companies that produce what we consume.
Given this in mind, I'm curious how our legislative entities at all levels of government can assign little tax increases here and there and not consider the truly unjust burden this places on us as the citizenry. If one tax gets increase .5% and another gets increased 1% and another gets increased 2%, then we actually have less each year to live and raise our families. Is that fair or just? Is it right? Is it moral? No, no and hell no. And lest you think I'm pulling figures out of thin air, consider that the doughnut counties around Marion in the majority of cases saw a 2% increase in the restaurant tax, several counties saw small point percentage increases in their income tax, the aforementioned property tax will see raises as noted averaging 7-14%, and gas taxes seem to be perpetually and quietly on the rise.
These are just the "open" taxes, the ones we can see if we look hard enough. How many others are there? When will the various taxing entities say "Hold!". Don't they know how much homework the others give?
posted by Rob Beck | 11:03 PM
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