NORTH CAROLINA TAX STRUCTURE IN PERSPECTIVE

The people in North Carolina but also those in the United States do not really know the truth about taxes. Are they too high, too low or are they just right? The answer is out there but it is not obvious. Adam Smith’s famous remarks about the “invisible hand” in laissez-faire economics or completely free market may well apply to tax rates. Just as some “invisible force” related to supply and demand will control prices—they may fluctuate but will hover around a “natural” and presumably correct level.  Everyone knows we need government and knows that government costs money to run—that is taxes of some description. We pay income taxes, we pay sales taxes, we pay duties, and we pay fines. We also now we pay for wars, for infrastructure, for welfare, for congress, for laws enforcement and regulation. Trying to create a balance sheet for government is like trying to create a balance sheet for all products and services—cannot be done. Yet, we sense when something costs too much; we seem to know how many bananas it cost to buy one coconut without knowing what the price of either is.

The proposal here is that the same “rules” or “invisible hand” applies to taxes. It seems innate that Republicans feel “they” pay too much tax while altruistic liberals feel there isn’t enough money to satisfy the needs of the people. This reference here is to the classic government models George Lakoff wrote about in his amazing book, Moral Politics. Everyone knows they need government; it is a matter of how much government do they heed. Both groups are in harmony when it comes to wars; we must defend ourselves but we argue over what “defend” ourselves means. We agree that some people need financial assistance but argue over the amount of government welfare. We can never agree on just how many potholes in the roads are acceptable before the government has to fix them or how many people have to starve before we feed them. It is like the cost of a coconut; individuals know when he or she is paying too much in taxes and when they are not paying enough. In fact, it is impossible to write out the question to put to voters in a meaningful way meaning that the needed information isn’t known. As curious as it may sound, democracy is the way to answer that question and the only way democracy works is if everyone has a vote, which is why voter suppression is so wrong.  

Recently +Becki Gray, a vice president for outreach at the radical right wing
+John Locke Foundation wrote a long column published in the Herald-Sun/ Durham North Carolina.  She claimed all the North Carolina Legislature was “very successful” but she did not write one word about their Draconian suppression of the vote of the older people, students, back people, and poor people. Clearly, democracy does not work for her or the group she fronts for. It should not seem strange that she applauds tax increases on the very people whom they want to suppress their vote and give tax breaks to corporate power in the state who own +Gov. McCrory and the state legislature. The legislative session was a disaster for the people of the state but also a disaster for democracy. 

URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com Comments Invited and not moderated