Take these taxes and stuff them in the ballot box
John Kass
January 8, 2003
As President Bush announced his radical economic
theory Tuesday in Chicago--that taxpayers should get some of their money
back in tax cuts--the angry sock puppets went at it on TV.
Oh, those feisty sock puppets. They're political actors pretending to be
neutral, using loaded phrases such as "what about the poor?" and "tax cuts
for the rich."
Those opposed to tax cuts say they
truly care for the great middle class--meaning most of us--though we're the
ones getting thwacked by the federal, state and local taxman.
"Judy! It looks like a tax cut for the rich!" howled an ambitious sock puppet,
Sen. John Edwards, the Democrat from North Carolina and a presidential candidate,
on CNN. And he's a rich lawyer to boot. "If it walks like a tax cut for the
rich, it is, in fact, a tax cut for the rich."
If Edwards wants to play class warfare, that's his business, as long as
people see it for what it is--political sock puppetry.
(Anyone who doesn't want a tax cut, raise your hand. Anyone who is tired
of being made to feel guilty for wanting a tax cut--while working longer
hours and seeing insurance costs increase while taking home less--raise a
finger.)
Even so, politicians keep saying they're worried about the middle class.
Guess what? The middle class is worried about the middle class, and we're
tired of politicians making us feel guilty simply because we don't want to
work for the government from January until June.
But it's clear that Democratic Party politicians are upset with the Bush
tax cut, and to be fair, I'd like to expand on a pet idea of mine to decide
this issue equitably.
My modest proposal doesn't involve any sock puppetry from either the political
left or the right. I defy anyone to find any political partisanship in this
idea.
Some bright politician will offer it up as the law of the land. And once
enacted, we'll do away with all the political screeching over whether we
should feel guilty about a tax cut.
Here it is:
Rather than hold our national elections in November, let's shift the date
to April 15, the day our federal income taxes are due.
While we're at it, let's reconfigure our state, county and municipal elections
to coincide with the payment of local taxes, including the ever-increasing
property tax.
Just think how wonderful it will be to finally have an electorate primed
and focused. Politicians should welcome my plan because they won't have to
worry about limp voter turnout.
If we voted on the same day that we paid our taxes, I have a feeling that
voters would be extremely motivated.
One aspect of my plan involves technology. We'd register to vote and receive
national voter cards with magnetic strips, like credit cards.
You'd show up at the polling place, offer other identification to the election
judge and show your voter card. Then you'd run it through a scanner, just
to make sure things were efficient and legit.
And then the machine would spit out your paper ballot, along with another
piece of paper--the amount of taxes you paid in the years between elections
for that particular office.
For presidential and U.S. Senate and House elections, you'd get a printout
of your federal taxes paid, compared with your earnings. So you'd see the
chunk that was taken, and you'd slide that next to your ballot, for reference
purposes.
If you're on a salary, then you'd see all the federal taxes taken out of
your check at once, just to make sure you haven't forgotten.
The government counts on us not noticing how they dip their beak into our
paychecks. Or, if we do notice, we see it on a weekly or biweekly basis.
We forget. We're nice sheep.
And nice sheep concentrate on sports, on reality-TV shows such as "Joe Millionaire,"
on movies, on escape.
What they don't want us thinking is how many hours we work and how much
we pay in taxes.
If you saw it totaled, all at once, and realized what was taken, it might
help you make up your mind in the voting booth. You'd be firmly committed,
enough to press firmly--and no hanging chads.
The same would go for local races, including mayor. They'd tally up the
city and county portions of your property tax, the vehicle stickers, the
user fees, the extra sales taxes on car purchases.
If you're a smoker, you could press a button and see how much they've taken
in tobacco taxes. Another push of the button estimating your time driving
to and from work, and presto--the motor fuel tax portion.
Another push--as to how much fast food consumed downtown, or dry cleaning,
and the McCormick Place tax would appear. Or the parking tax, and all the
other hidden taxes planted below the radar.
Our politicians keep saying they want energized voters. Pundits keep moaning
about the disconnect between working Americans and the political class.
Well, here's the chance to fix it.
Let the voters decide--on tax day.
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