A Nation of Boiled Frogs

email | 11/15/02 | Craig J. Cantoni

[hsmomx3]

It is said that if a frog is put in a pot of hot water, he will jump out. But if he is put on a stove in a pot of cold water and the temperature is slowly turned up, he will boil to death instead of jumping out. Like the frog, American taxpayers are slowly being boiled to death in taxes but do not realize it.

A Heritage Foundation study shows how much federal spending and taxes have increased over the years. It can be found at:

http://www.heritage.org/research/features/budgetchartbook/fed_spend.pdf.

Consider these alarming statistics from the study. (Figures are expressed in inflation-adjusted dollars.)

- Federal revenue has increased by $1.3 trillion since 1960.

- Federal revenue per taxpayer has increased 55% since 1960.

Feeling warm yet?

- Federal spending has increased almost continuously regardless of which party controlled Congress or the presidency.

- Since 1964, federal spending has increased almost twice as fast as the average price of a new single-family home.

Starting to sweat?

- The federal government now spends $6,000 more per taxpayer than it did in 1960.

- Federal spending per taxpayer is over 50% higher than in the early 1960s.

- Despite leftist rhetoric about the rich escaping taxes, federal taxes have become more progressive. Since 1983, the share of taxes paid by the highest 20% of wage earners has increased by 16%. The share paid by the lowest 20% has decreased by 35%. The top 10% of households in income now pay 66% of federal income tax.

Getting hot?

- Federal spending per household is up 80% since 1960.

- The federal government spends almost $300 out of every $1,000 earned by taxpayers.

- Since 1960, federal spending has risen over seven times faster than median income.

Skin turning red?

- Between 1962 and 2000, non-defense discretionary spending increased 188%, while defense spending rose only slightly.

- Since 1962, mandatory spending (mostly entitlements) has increased 680%, or 11 times faster than discretionary spending, for an increase per taxpayer of $7,000.

- In 2000, federal spending per taxpayer was $14,723, and state and local spending was $9,094, for a total of $23,817.

- Since 1960, every administration has operated under budget deficits.

These statistics show why my uneducated grandfather could immigrate here in the early 20th Century, work as a coal miner and yet have enough money left over after taxes to send his three kids to private school. The same is true for my working-class parents, who sent me to a private prep school in 1960.

The statistics suggest a reason why the nation's savings rate has plummeted and why it is necessary for both spouses in middle-class families to work. The statistics also suggest why the majority of citizens do not vote: because both parties buy votes with ever-increasing entitlements.

Anyone for frog legs?

______________

Mr. Cantoni is an author, public speaker and consultant. He can be reached at ccan2@aol.com.

[Digger]

Just remember the following: "A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves money from the public treasure. From that moment on the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most money from the public treasury, with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy followed by a dictatorship.
The average age of the world's great civilizations has been two hundred years. These nations have progressed through the following sequence: from bondage to spiritual faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance, from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to complacency from complacency to apathy, from apathy to dependency, from dependency back to bondage".

Alexander Tyler

[steve50]

Looks like the cycle is about complete.

[Route66]

Great article, but I wish there was some way to make it real for most taxpayers. The withholding system has created people who don't look at anything on their pay stub but the bottom line.

If you ask them how much tax they paid last year, they will tell you they didn't pay any tax - they got money back. If you ask them how much of their pay went to SS and Medicare you will get a blank stare.

If we are not able to change to a tax system that will force people to pay the tax from their own pocket, this will never stop. That is why withholding is so important to those who want yet more of what we work so hard for.

[philosofy123]

To add to all that list, we are prepared to spend the equivalent of $20,000/tax-payer to unseat one dictator! Leaving all the rest of the Arab dictators free. Is that going to start democracy there? Of course not! Is that going to reduce the Islamic terrorism? Of course not!

OK guys, before I get Spammed by hate mail, you think that Saddam may have a nuclear bomb, and may blow it at Time Square, OK? How about the Pakistani "Moslem" bomb, as it was called by all Moslem leaders? How about the N. Korean Bombs?

A better expenditure of our taxpayers dollars is to hire 10,000 Arabic/Persian speaking spies to penetrate all the sleeper cells. Burt noooo, what to heck do I know? Let us spend millions on listening devices? That is better gathering of "CHATTER"?---Not!

[Leisler]

That's why they call'm "sheeple."

[meenie]

The tax statistics tell a part of the story of our loss of freedom and economic independence. Another part of the story regards the amount of intervention and regulation of our lives by government, "We know better than you what you need" by our political leaders. Even the so-called conservatives endorse programs that would have been called extreme socialism in earlier times of our history.

Many of our citizens lack the vision of what freedom means at the personal level, because they have never known any other. Our leaders are thrilled at the prospect of becoming more powerful than our opponents were in WW II. Each new law that is passed takes some more individual freedom and gives some governmental division more power over the citizen.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Huh? I hadn't heard the bill for the war in Iraq was expected to top $2 trillion . . . Better check your math.

[shadowman99]

There is only one problem with his logic: name me another democracy that existed before the United States. Our founders invented modern democracy. Any democracies that have failed have been imperfect copies of our democracy. Greece is often credit as inventing democracy, but they failed and gave up on the idea. You can't look at Rome and it's Emporors. You can't look at Europe and it's monarchy. You can only look at OUR example, have faith, and VOTE.

By posting this quote, you suggest it's all over. Well, you polish the brass. But I still think this country is worth fighting for.

[SubSailor]

I heard PETA is planning a protest demonstration because of this boiling frogs business.

[MoGalahad]

I dislike taxes as much as anyone, since they inherently discriminate against the middle class. But a precipitous termination of the tax structure in this nation would invite total economic disaster. In order to eliminate any of the oppressive taxes which we are saddled with, we, as a nation, must first find alternatives for funding legimate community help programs and establish a healthy economy that can absorb the gradual reduction of tax income. I believe that this may have been one of President Reagan's long term hopes for this country. However, a man named Clinton set us back to square one.

[philosofy123]

You are correct, it is one decimal less, $2000/taxpayer.

$200Billion cost devided by 100 million taxpayers?

[fone]

||| change to a tax system that will force people to pay the tax from their own pocket |||

As stated previously, this payment should be done twice yearly, before the primary and general elections.

Take the taxes out of their paycheck and accrue it in a local "checking" account [which can only be used for tax payments, federal, state and local] and force them to write out the check, sign it and mail it in.
This is my solution (since true tax reform is, for now, unrealistic) having done payroll taxes for years and seeing what small business pony up to the IRS. With direct deposit systems it would not be a complex thing to set up automatically.

[fone]

Meant to flag you for post #13 as well =)

[Righty1]

Hard to argue against that cycle.

[expatpat]

I have a feeling that we will see this (the dictatorship stage) happen sooner in Europe, possibly England, than here.

[TigersEye]

bttt

[Marianne]

name me another democracy that existed before the United States.
Funny, I thought our Founding Fathers gave us a Constitutional Republic.

[Always Right]

To add to all that list, we are prepared to spend the equivalent of $20,000/tax-payer to unseat one dictator!

Are you trying to tell me it will cost $3 TRILLION to outst Saddam? I think you are off several orders of magnitude on that one.

[Always Right]

$200Billion cost devided by 100 million taxpayers?

THe figure I have seen in the Wall Street Journal was more like $50 Billion.