The Archipelago Tax Plan

self | April 18, 2017 | Art in Idaho

[Art in Idaho]

The Archipelago Tax Plan

The dreaded April 15 has come and gone. Today is the last day you can send in your taxes. Americans have dutifully done their taxes and sent them in hoping there is some rhyme and reason why they’re paying so much in taxes. I’ve always been somewhat of a tax resister because my basic premise is taxation is redistribution of wealth. I also think redistribution of wealth is theft. If you look at historical trends, when taxes approach 30% of a person’s income, there is a lot of grumbling which eventually leads to revolutions. Many American are paying way more than 30%.

Tax Freedom Day falls on April 23rd this year, 113 days into the year. Tax Freedom Day is a significant date for taxpayers and lawmakers because it represents how long Americans as a whole have to work in order to pay the nation’s tax burden. We all have a few days to go. Americans will pay $3.5 trillion in federal taxes and $1.6 trillion in state and local taxes, for a total bill of more than $5.1 trillion, or 31 percent of the nation’s income. Americans will collectively spend more on taxes in 2017 than they will on food, clothing, and housing combined. If you include annual federal borrowing, which represents future taxes owed, Tax Freedom Day would occur 14 days later, on May 7. Data from TaxFreedom.org

I was struck when I saw this map soon after the election. It was called the Clinton Archipelago:

I then wondered how many people live in the Clinton Archipelago. I’m sure the total population is huge as this is where a lot of blue counties and cities reside.

I then ran into Trumpland:

Is the population of Trumpland more or less than the Clinton Archipelago? Is the tax revenue from the Clinton Archipelago more or less than Trumpland? My research didn’t come up with a definitive answer though I did do a rough population comparison and it looks like it’s about equal. I’m sure the bottom line data is hidden somewhere in the bureaucracy. They may have it categorized by county, who knows? If anyone has access to this data, please inform us.

You probably know by now where I’m going with this. My first assumption is Trumpland pays more federal, state and local income taxes. That may be incorrect as the massive blue city population areas, the blue counties as it were, probably produce a large amount of tax revenue.

Regardless of the totals, I think there is a case to be made for the blue states to redistribute their income as they see fit. They can have free college, single payer medical care, a massive welfare state and bloated local, city and county governments. They will also have a massive increase in taxes and regulations. Businesses and people will take flight to the red states as they indeed are now.

The red states can redistribute their taxes as they see fit. Regulations would decrease. Tax waste, fraud and abuse would be curtailed. Taxes would eventually decrease as would the regulatory state. Local, county and state services and bureaucracies would be downsized and made efficient. The overall trend would be less government, less regulations, a lessening of taxes and an increase in freedom. Businesses would flock to the red counties. The well-known paradigm of lesser taxes eventually produces more tax revenue would occur after a few years. Then they can cut taxes even more. In the red counties, there would be emphasis on cracking down on immigration, strong law and order LEOs, pro 2nd Amendment, no Planned Parenthood, no Islamic immigration, strong education with religion back in the schools. Yes, God, country, family, patriotism, local militias and clinging to our firearms along with other conservative values.

I’m not advocating two different countries. We would still be the United States of America. The big expenses, say the Military and maybe a few others plus all expenses from things outlined in the Constitution, say the printing of money, the US Mint, would be shared equally by combined revenues from the blue and red states. Hashing out what big expenses would be shared would be a problem area that would meet with resistance but it can be done. If push comes to shove, the two separate Americas could split, only we get the Military. Hoping it wouldn’t come to that, but there has to be a way for religious patriots in Idaho to know their hard-earned tax dollars aren’t going for things we deplore plus knowing a lot of it is going for corruption, waste, fraud, abuse and cronyism.

Seriously, I would favor that our tax base, the Patriots of the Red Counties, have a say about our tax revenue. Even if it’s less than the blue states total, wouldn’t you feel better about where it’s going?

[Art in Idaho]