SmallGovTimes.com

By: Steve Adcock | Published on 05/02/07    

John Edwards seemed to cherish the “Two Americas” idea in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, where he and John Kerry eventually lost to current president George Bush. Strangely enough, the two Americas campaign buzzword managed to hit the nail squarely on the head.

Unfortunately, two Americas do exist in this country. One of those Americas supports the government while the other receives from the government. People from one America work for a living, pay taxes and serve as productive members of our society, and people from the other America enjoy the rewards of under achievement and the entitlement culture our federal government has so aptly built.

In a speech in 2003, Edwards so eloquently described the two Americas as, “One America that does the work, another America that reaps the reward. One America that pays the taxes, another America that gets the tax breaks. One America that will do anything to leave its children a better life, another America that never has to do a thing because its children are already set for life.” Indeed that is correct, John, precisely because of the insanely complex tax structure and entitlement class built by politicians such as yourself.

Edwards continued, “It's wrong for a millionaire who sits by the pool on the phone to his broker to pay tax at a lower rate than the cop on the beat or the waitress working two shifts.” Why do you think that is, Mr. Edwards? Why do you believe that rich people can hire skilled accountants to find loopholes in our system of taxation? Because loopholes exist, that's why. Might the solution be a simpler, easier to understand tax structure where everyone pays a flat percentage of their income? No loopholes. No deductions. No credits. No special preferences. Or maybe the solution is a national sales tax, where income taxes are not confiscated from the American people and we only pay taxes on the things we buy?

A common argument against simple tax systems like these is they tend to be unfair to lower-income earners of our nation. What if a bottom limit were established that absolves income earners below a certain level from filing tax returns every year, or food exceptions to allow poorer people to buy the necessary food items every month. Would that help, Mr. Edwards? Might that encourage you to support a system where Americans can file their tax returns on a piece of paper the size of an index card instead of volumes of arcane government forms?

The two Americas syndrome exists because of politicians like John Edwards. They have created a complicated mess of a tax system where the politically well-connected enjoy special tax breaks, and then stand in front of a camera with a $400 hair cut and strategically-placed makeup and argue in favor of “leveling the playing field” by increasing those very same taxes on the higher-income earners that, according to Mr. Edwards, do not pay many taxes anyway.

Stuck on stupid?

The solution is not further government bureaucracy, like special tax credits for student loans or other endeavors that the government believes are worthy enough to fund. In the same breath, the solution also does not raise taxes on middle and higher-income earners that succeeds in tipping the scales even further towards the entitlement class, certainly the opposite result of leveling some playing field.

The solution does not include “making health care a birthright for every child just like public education”, or “saving Medicare”, as Edwards voiced in that very same speech. Creating an immoral entitlement culture in America that forces people to depend on the Federal government to provide for their specific needs traps people into the government-run welfare state, which works to expand the reach of the government and further deepens the divide between the two Americas in this nation.

The solution is a simple tax system, less government control over our lives and individual freedoms and responsibilities. The solution places the potential to succeed on the individual, not the government. The solution does not depend on politicians, who live gleefully in the “rich” America, to make things “equal”. The solution depends on you. It depends on me. It depends on the people, not the politician.

Original URL:
http://www.smallgovtimes.com/story/07may02.two.americas/index.html