Let’s face it. Money is very important.
If we can’t pay basic housing, food, and gas bills, we suffer a lot of stress. Parents may be strong enough to do without, but we have to work really hard to inoculate our kids against consumer-culture peer pressure.
When the 16th amendment gave the federal government power to lay and collect taxes, we signed a blank check for our own fiscal demise. Have you ever seen a case where spending someone else’s money lead to frugality and conservation? Of course not! We are on the hook to pay the debt.
“The Founders struggled to discover the best method of taxation. While there are many ways to raise funds, they determined that it was never a good policy to allow the national government to reach directly into the pockets of the people. However, this is exactly what the Sixteenth Amendment authorizes.”
Here’s the rub.
The government promises to help you out of your financial anxiety by offering extra child tax credits, free healthcare, free tuition, a universal basic income, a solution to our “existential climate threat,” and answers for every other problem that might trouble you. They also promise that all the money will only come from the rich and those greedy corporations that don’t pay their fair share. So, why not vote for policies that offer all the relief and free gifts?
Why? Because there is a well-documented but unfortunate path that leads from unrestrained government spending (printing money) to high inflation. That is followed by government price and wage controls to correct the inflation. Venezuela is a recent example.
Just about any time the government intervenes, real free-market capitalism is compromised. It becomes something called crony-capitalism (AKA bailouts for those too big to fail) and one step away from de facto control of production which is socialism. Again, Venezuela exemplifies a failure of the socialist model. Hyperinflation due to oil export problems magnified when the government seized US oil company assets (namely oil rigs and refineries) without the wherewithal to manage them.
Reality Check
Besides the scary political implications, consider the fiscal reality. “Progressive plans to tax only the highest earners will not result in enough income to support their plans.” There just aren’t enough 1% earners over $480,000. Another reality is that the Scandinavian models idolized by progressives tax everyone at 70% and “Europe finances its generous welfare states through steep value-added taxes that hit the entire population.”
Who Decides?
COS reminds us that our Founders intended citizens to actively participate in guarding the freedoms that were so hard won. The COS Pocket Guide describes the issues and solution based around four major abuses by the federal government:
- Spending and Debt Crisis
- Regulatory Crisis
- Congressional Attacks on State Sovereignty
- Federal Takeover of the Decision-Making process.
Action on these abuses translates into a goal to use Article V of the Constitution to call a Convention of States with the purpose to propose amendments related to fiscal restraints, term limits, and limiting the scope and power of federal government.
During election season COS encourages citizens to vote for policies that strengthen our constitutional structure. We encourage you to join us because you will learn a lot and become a powerful advocate for your own freedoms.
Show up, stand up, speak up!
