One problem I have with our tax system is that it is a graduated tax, ie. the higher the income, the more money paid. This system is totally Un-American. All people are to be treated equal, right. In what way is this equal? In what system would the top 5% of the population paying over 55% of the taxes be fair.
In fact, the graduated, or progressive, system was widely touted by Karl Marx in "The Communist Manifesto", Section 2: Proletariats and Communists.
Now one could say that they reap the benefits of the U.S. way of life. But the problem is that they paid for it. Most CEOs don't work a 9-5 job. They spend hours upon hours away at work, away from families and other enjoyment to make that money. And, consequently, to provide jobs so that others can make a living. How is it fair, then, to take more of their income.
The second, and more important, problem I have with way our tax system has become is the use for which the money is spent.
U.S. Constitution, Section 8: The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts, and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States;...
This pretty much says what Congress can spend our money on, and it ain't for 90% of the things they spend it on (which we, as an "ignorant" society allow to continue). Even the Framers of the constitution did not mean welfare in the sence we understand it now:
"If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but
an indefinite one, subject to particular exceptions." - James Madison, 1792
"Congress has not unlimited powers to provide for the general welfare, but only those specifically enumerated." - Thomas Jefferson, 1798
"I cannot undertake to lay my finger on that article of the Constitution which granted a right to Congress of expending, on objects of benevolence, the money of their constituents." - James Madison criticizing an attempt to grant public monies for charitable means, 1794
And finally, and most importantly:
The 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitiution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.
Where does N.A.S.A. fit into this? Or welfare, both corporate and individual? Or the Department of Housing and Urban Developement? Or, as we look at that last statement by Madison, to helping Hurricane Katrina victims?
The answer is nowhere, and Congress has overstepped it's authority.
