(Video) The Sixth Deadly Sin and our tax code

**Posted by Phineas

The sixth of the Seven Deadly Sins is Envy, that insatiable desire to possess something that another person has and the resentment of those who have something you don’t.

In today’s Firewall, Bill Whittle sees our progressive tax code, which takes a greater portion of your income as you make more, for what it is: envy disguised as “fairness.”

I’ve long been a supporter of either a flat tax (one rate and very few deductions for all) or the elimination of the income tax altogether and its replacement by a national sales tax — taxing what you spend, not what you earn and save. (1)

My one quibble is with Bill’s flat tax example: Though the guy earning $100,000 and the guy earning $10,000 are paying the same rate, it’s much harder to get by on $8,300 than it is $83,000. Rather than tax the higher earner more, however, I’d like to see the first $5,000 (for example) of income to be declared non-taxable, and then the tax rate is applied to the remainder. Everyone is still treated equally, everyone still pays (and thus has a stake in the system), but the person making less and, perhaps, struggling gets some help. I think Goldwater had a similar idea.

But that’s just a quibble. Bill’s point is spot on: the heart of our tax code is envy, and progressives rely on that envy to gain and retain power.

Footnote:
1) But only if the 16th amendment, which allows income taxes, is repealed. Otherwise those pirates in Congress will find a way to tax income and spending, sure as the sun rises in the east.

(Crossposted at Public Secrets)

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