Jacob-- The purpose of law is control behavior. Taxes have influence, but they can be viewed as big insurance policies-- they distribute risk, eg, defense, many agricultural programs, and social programs. They also distribute costs of services that presumably are to the public interest, e.g, education, roads, national parks, regulations of drugs, etc. I don't look at Govt as being an evil since these services are vital.
I do want the costs distributed on the basis of ability to pay AND how much the tax bucks will be missed.
Sometime back I was criticized for comparing Bush's tax policy with welfare for the wealthy. I stand by that metaphor because, without additional work on their part, they get a bonus.
BTW-- After today, I checked out the Hyundai dealer!
fred
PS-- CCNY, when I went, had an higher average IQ than Harvard. Two of my classmates were Colin Powell and Andy Grove (I don't remember either). And I was absolutely outraged by open enrollment. It was an act of political cowardice. Also, to inform some, CCNY is the only college to win both the NIT and the NCAA basketball tournaments. I don't want to talk about afterwards... |