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Pastimes : THE SLIGHTLY MODERATED BOXING RING
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To: The Philosopher who wrote (14295)6/6/2002 6:33:39 PM
From: jttmab  Read Replies (1) of 21057
 
But what one views as equitable is, or course, very much dependent on one's political philosophy.

My observation of the human condition is that the person you're talking to, says their tax burden is to high and the other groups are two low. Cynically, it's about greed, not fairness.

Putting aside for a moment the role and function of government. There is a logical argument that the government is a service organization that provides services at a nominally equal level. We each get an equal distribution of Federal highways, we all get an equal distribution of 'Defense' and so on. No one is going to start counting miles driven and/or whether you even drive a car in that sort of calculation. It would be too complex to calculate exactly how services were distributed.

If you accept that principal then it's a logical argument that 'equitable' is determined by taking the total required expenditures divide that by the number of persons and that's the tax liability for the individual [call it 'x']. Completely independent of what income the individual has or doesn't have or how that income is arrived. It's a bill. So if I have a household with husband, wife, and three children, the tax liability for that household is 5*x. Any departure from that calculation is not equitable.

And whether the tax code should be used solely to collect tax revenues, or should be an instrument of social policy.

Based on my previous statement, being an instrument of social policy would depart from equitibility.

Even if you were to agree that the proposal is 'equitable', which I believe it is. Is it practical? I believe it is not.

jttmab
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