Robbing from Peter to pay Paul
by James Simpson

Potomac News
Friday, December 12, 2003

Sometimes I feel as though I live in an alternate universe - one where everything works opposite of how it is supposed to function. Our laws and tax system appear twisted to me.
Our government prohibits live Christmas trees in certain dwellings, yet other sources cause more fires.

Our government prohibits the use of cell phones in cars, yet other distractions cause more accidents.

Our government spends billions on pork projects, yet our soldiers go without enough body armor to protect them.

Our government sets mandatory sentences for marijuana possession, yet releases violent criminals early to free up prison space.

Our government attacks corporations such as Microsoft for being monopolistic (which it is not), yet runs their own monopolistic ventures such as the post office, schools and public safety.

Taxes are no different.

I was, and still am, adamantly opposed to the eradication of the car tax. Those who use the roads should be responsible for paying for them. Toll systems throughout the county, state and nation would be rejected. Therefore car and fuel taxes are the closest we could come to a system paid for by "user fees."

If you choose to ride a bicycle or walk, you should not be penalized by having part of your income tax used to support those who choose to drive. Now that the car tax is being eliminated, income taxes are compensating for needed road construction.

Of course, the chance that car and fuel taxes would be dedicated exclusively to transportation projects is a pipe-dream. The Virginia General Assembly can't stop raiding the transportation trust fund to pay for its ravenous spending appetite.

Only one-half cent of the sales tax is allowed to be used for transportation. Additionally, county and state policies don't allow transportation funding to compete with school and social programs for revenue.

That leaves federal funding. After all, many of our roads are interstate highways - shouldn't some of the revenue we send to Washington trickle back down to Virginia?

The answer, of course, is yes. The TEA-21 (Transportation Equity Act) program was supposed to provide funding for "highway, highway safety, transit and other surface transportation programs." However, this is far from what really happens to those monies.

In a response dated Feb. 28, to questions posed by Supervisor Jenkins' and Supervisor Hill's budget committee members, David Tyeryar, budget director of Prince William County, states: "TEA-21 funding is and will continue to be a major source of funding for historic sites. These grants have funded the majority of the work to date at Brentsville Courthouse and will help to complete historic preservation efforts at Ben Lomond as well as the public infrastructure at Rippon Lodge."

So essentially, even federal funding that was supposed to be dedicated to help solve transportation problems is not used for transportation.

Income taxes pay for much that is not paid for by "use" taxes. Without a doubt, the income tax is the most immoral tax there is. You trade a portion of your time and energy (in other words, your life) for a unit of exchange (in other words, currency), and the government takes a portion of it. This is, at least to a certain extent, slavery.

Rather than tax goods and services to pay for associated government services - the government penalizes citizens for simply working. The harder and smarter you work, the more you get penalized. Karl Marx would have been very proud of our tax system.

Another government service that our taxes pay for is the school system. This is one that I find really offensive. When someone decides to have children, rather than tax them more to pay for the additional burden they are placing on the system, we give them a tax break. That truly is twisted.

One of the tax cuts being proposed is that on food and clothing. This, along with tax shelters for those making less than a certain annual salary, will cause a great number of lower income folks (who benefit quite a bit from the services provided by government), to not be effected by continuously rising taxes.

As the old saying goes; "Those who rob Peter to pay Paul can always count on the support of Paul." Since government regulations and taxes are causing the number of people in this group to increase substantially, politicians are happy - they've got job security.

I actually find all of this quite ironic, as that segment of our population who support these actions are actually supporting the very tax policy that keeps them suppressed.

Folks who feel that some individuals deserve more than they have should stop calling on our government to transfer wealth from one group of people to another. What they need to do is demand the government get out of the way. A rising tide lifts all boats, and with the government out of the way the tide of our economy would swell greatly.

James Simpson lives in Lake Ridge. His e-mail address is Jim@VirginiaCommittee.org