thoughts from an empty head

I’m not too experienced on the subject of economics. The last real training I got on the subject was back in high school, so my reasoning here may be faulty as all get out, but this topic has been rattling around inside my head for most of the political season.

OK, so here’s what I don’t get about all the talk about taxes and how to reform them.

See, everyone complains about taxes There hasn’t been a government in the entire history of man where the citizenry hasn’t complained about taxes. No one likes paying them, no one likes even hearing about them raising them, and a sure bet to getting elected, especially in this country, is by telling people that you will lower their taxes. And I even get why people hate taxes. This country was founded on the whole “no taxation without representation” premise. One of the very first uprisings after this country was founded happened due to an unfairly imposed tax. And after seeing how much one usually pays for taxes with no appreciable effect – the streets still have potholes, kids are even stupider than back when I was in school, bridges are falling down and levees get filled with newspaper as a buffer against Cat 4 hurricanes – who could blame people for feeling the way that they do, or even wanting a tax cut?

And that gets me every time is the perception involved with any conversation about taxes. Taxes, in and of themselves, are not bad things. They pay for roads, schools, medical services, emergency responders, and all kinds of things that we take for granted. Without these services, we end up paying out of our own pocket for everyday services, which is worse than getting taxed for it, because now, on top of everything else that we have to pay for – rent or mortgage, gas, car, utilities, health care – now I have to figure out how to pave my own roads and where to toss my garbage, too?

So in my mind, the problem is not whether taxes go up or down, or whether taxes should be cut. The problem for me has always been: what is the government spending our tax money on?

I look at it the way I would a budget for a house. If I bring in $500 a week, but I’m spending $1000 that same week, I’m not thinking, “Maybe I need to bring in less money.” That’s just stupid. Pretty soon, the bill collectors are calling, the landlord is hitting me with an eviction notice, and the fridge only has three-week old McDonald’s cheeseburgers and a jar of mayo. No, the root of the problem becomes “Where is my money going?” Because at that point, can you really be too surprised to find out that your money is being spent on video games, booze and porn rentals and not on the things that really matter? After all, wasn’t it your job to track your own funds?

And that is where I think we are as a county when it comes to the economy. We’re so caught up in cutting the amount of money we fork over to Uncle Sam that we never ask what the money is being spent on. Because, after seeing everything that’s fallen apart in our infrastructure, maybe it’s time to ask why our government did spend billions of dollars on what amounts to one giant video game.

Something to think about, anyway.