Even CNN Is Getting It?

An article titled “Here’s the Tax Scandal Every American Should Be Outraged Over” , (by Jake Novak 06/04/17 ) lays out the damning truth in what too many Americans have ignored for decades , and is now beginning to bleed through the wall of societal ignorance ,selfishness & apathy.

In the article Novak draws distinctions and contrasts between what the tax bite was under the late President Kennedy and what it is today. Adjusted for inflation the Federal income taxes we are paying is twice the amount of 55 years ago.  In January 1961 ( per person) the federal tax bite was $ 4,121.  Today it is $10,114.  And yes that is per person ( not per taxpayer ).  Over $10,000 for all 323 million people in the U.S.  Wait………..it gets worse.

In 1961 about 49 million Americans paid federal income taxes. When adjusted for inflation according to Novak’s estimates each taxpayer paid $ 15,477.  In 2016 93 million Americans paid federal taxes doubling the number who paid federal taxes in 1961…….but the amount in 2016 per taxpayer was  $35,053.

Politicians mislead us by boasting that we have lower tax rates today, which hides the myriad of other federal taxes that didn’t exist in 1961. The author notes Medicare & Medicaid didn’t come into existence until 1965, Social Security has imposed higher taxes over that time as well.

The real scandal Novak notes is the money supposedly going into Trust Funds is siphoned off each year to pay for a bevy of other programs Congress spends on. As he notes the Federal government just grabs  much of that supposedly protected money and replaces it with IOU’s.   Robbing Peter to pay Paul, as the old adage goes.

As President Trumps tax reform moves forward you will once again hear the cries of opponents who will claim that rates are much lower than they were under Kennedy and or Reagan. What this falsehood ignores is the actual tax take as noted above. The government spends too much at every level.

No problem can be solved without two core ingredients, the first being a recognition that a problem exists, the second being leadership. It appears that the first step is slowly coming into focus, a recognition that a problem indeed does exist. The second part, leadership…….that’s another story .

A clarion call to take responsibility as citizens is in desperate need. Politicians continue to promote programs that are popular with broad swaths of the electorate. What the politicians fail to tell you is we are not paying for these programs but putting them onto the local, state and federal credit card. It’s a credit card balance that our kids and grandkids will be stuck with if we fail to act responsibly.

Bob Shannon  King William