Taxes are the one of the most divisive topics we in America. Everyone pays them and yet we all hate them, even though they support our nations infrastructure, military, health care etc. I want to continue this discussion on taxes because I do not think Americans discuss the topic honestly. We always just say "the rich need to pay more" or "we need more money, so let's raise taxes on all people". Both of those comments make sense to most people, but the waterfall impact in this economy would be pretty harmful unless those ideas are enacted with comprehensive spending reform. I have written before about class warfare and the problem I have with it. I think we should reward people for success and not make people feel like they are being punished. But that being said, why can't our leaders in Washington actually realize that putting band aids over this problem with our deficit, by playing the tax the rich or middle class tax hike game is such kindergarten politics. Can our leaders possibly discuss ways to make the tax code more efficient, which will bring in more revenue. People spend more time avoiding paying taxes than paying them.
Rhetoric is at an all time high on the governments long time financial health and taxes are a huge part of that problem. Why cant we have a REAL discussion where we propose practical solutions to the tax code instead of just saying they are too high or low? Why don't we address the core issues of the over complexity of the tax code? Why don't raise taxes on everyone to make the budget deficit smaller? Why don't we have a 1040 that is one page long so people spend more time paying taxes instead of avoiding them?
This topic will be on the front page for the rest of the year and I will continue to delve deeper into it in the coming weeks and months.