TIME TO TAX? OR– THE YANT ALTERNATIVE
First, here is an argument FOR increased taxation of the very rich, the sort of folks for whom the first great Depression was a happy time: when prices were low, and servants worked cheap. For those who ignore the sufferings of millions, there may be no answer, except to tax.
But for the far-sighted, there is another way, which I will get to in a minute.
Part One: Time to Tax
“Let the rich alone,” said William F. Buckley, in a famous essay of 1968, and for forty years our country has taken that advice all too literally, as cornerstone financial policy.
Until very recently, the worst thing that could be said about a politician was to be labeled a “tax and spend” Democrat. Instead, we were told, the “unseen hand of the market” was cited as the answers to all ills.
In California, that attitude is enshrined in law. A virtually unattainable 2/3 majority is required to pass any new tax. The result? We once provided the best public school education country have fallen to 46th in per-pupil spending—and the Golden State is reportedly just weeks away from bankruptcy.
Nor is California alone in its difficulties. America is going broke: mired in debt, increasingly unable to pay our bills. One huge expense alone, ($2.3 trillion in medical costs), outstrips all federal income tax receipts (1.8 trillion) combined.
Real unemployment is close to 13%. The usual figure of 6.7% is misleading; if a person is out of work for more than a few weeks, they are considered to have given up seeking employment, and are not counted any more. But they have not gone away. They are still there, and are growing increasingly hungry.
The gap between rich and poor has widened, until the income of the top three hundred fifty thousand Americans is more than the bottom one hundred fifty million.
Is it not time to reconsider the dreaded “T word”?
Or have we forgotten what took us out of the first Great Depression?
Massive governmental spending taxed-and-spent us out of depression– and into the greatest lasting prosperity the world has ever known.
Soon, a new Administration will begin: a new President, a new Democratic majority in Congress and the Senate. We all wish them courage and wisdom for what lies ahead.
They must do what every politician dreads: inflicting new taxes on the very rich: requiring them to give back to the country which made their wealth possible.
To do otherwise is to break faith with a woman named Andrea, a 30-year-old injured military veteran, whose unemployment benefits just ran out.
As she walked away from the volunteer soup kitchen, not long before Christmas Day, Andrea carried a small frozen turkey, some canned vegetables, and a tub of sour cream, which was all that charity had left to give her.
The little bit of food would have to last. Andrea is also a mother, a single mom, raising a little girl on her own.
“I gave up on eating every day,” Andrea said, “I want to make sure what we have lasts for my daughter.”*
Voluntary charity is not enough for all the Andreas and their children in our country, the ten per cent of our population which goes to bed hungry every night.
America must not let her down.
It is time to tax.
• “Food stamp recipients have quadrupled in the past year, study shows”,
Karen de Sa, Fremont Argus, Bay Area News Group, 12/23/08
PART TWO:
OR—there is Bob Yant’s Way
Bob Yant is a gentle-voiced friend of scientific research– and of anybody in a wheelchair who wants to get out.
A mainstay of the research movement, Bob has been fighting for science many years, always with a smile, and the attitude that “wouldn’t it be great if it were possible to—“, so the ideas linger in the mind.
He can handle giant ideas, and “talk science” with the best of them.
And—he is a businessman. His product?
Excuse me, but I must get personal for a moment.
Anybody in a wheelchair knows that bathroom needs cannot be taken for granted.
Once paralyzed, never again is it enough to just say, “Hey, where is the restroom?”, and that is all it takes.
Assistance is required: like catheterization tubes that go inside the body.
A trustworthy product is needed. So, Bob designed his own catheterization gear, based not only on the most up-to-date science, but also backed by the irreplaceable knowledge of many years living in a chair.
I am no urologist to understand the medical side of such things.
But I know Bob Yant, and I trust him. In my opinion, any product he develops will be outstanding.
In a minute I will point you to his website.
But first, the reason for this editorial.
Because Bob also came up with an ALTERNATIVE TO TAXATION: his own personal
way to advance scientific research without being forced.
Instead of waiting to be taxed, the Yant approach was to voluntarily donate ten per cent of what he makes from the product, and give it to research.
I am no economist, but I cannot help wondering about the impact his example could bring. We already have a certain level of taxation, which has to be maintained, and loopholes closed: even the most tight-fisted of conservatives agree the national debt must be paid down, and there is no other way.
But what would happen if every company and wealthy individual followed the Yant example, and genuinely donated ten per cent of gross income to support a social goal?
There might be no need to increase taxation at all.
For a look at Bob Yant’s product, and his policy, go to https://www.curemedical.com.