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More Taxes, More Spending, Nothing Resolved

If there is one area that government has been unquestionably successful in over the past several decades, it has been in collecting revenue.  Despite stagnant wages and a moribund economy, the dollars keep rolling in to both Washington and state capitals.

Taxrevenue.com estimates that the “direct revenue” collected in fiscal year 2016 breaks down as follows:  Approximately $3.3 trillion went to Washington, $1.9 trillion to the states, and $1.4 trillion to local governments. Combined, all that totals $6.6 trillion.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported after last year’s April 15 tax day headline that “State government tax revenue increased 2.2 percent, from $847.1 billion in fiscal year 2013 to $865.8 billion in 2014, the fourth consecutive increase… General sales and gross receipts taxes drove most of the revenue growth, increasing from $258.9 billion to $271.3 billion, or 4.8 percent. Severance taxes (levies imposed on removal of natural resources) increased 6.0 percent, from $16.8 billion to $17.8 billion, and motor fuel taxes increased 3.4 percent, from $40.1 billion to $41.5 billion.”

On the federal side, A Freebeacon analysis  reports, “since 1998, tax revenues have increased 30 percent.” In FY 2015, Washington took in approximately $3.3 trillion.

For all that increased revenue, however, Americans have gained very little. Some salient examples:  Social Security remains headed for insolvency. Government pensions are underfunded.  The poverty rate remains virtually unchanged since the War on Poverty began in the 1960’s. In the face of massive new threats from Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorists, the Pentagon has endured substantial cuts.  Infrastructure needs go unmet, with bridges, highways, water systems and other key elements in disrepair. NASA can’t put an astronaut in space other than by hitchhiking on a foreign craft.

And, of course, there is the debt and the deficit.  The federal debt has skyrocketed by over $8 trillion during the Obama Administration, soaring from $10,626,877,048,913 on the day he was first inaugurated to $18,722,746,583,118 currently.
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A CNS News study  found that “the portion of the federal government’s debt that is held by the public…has more than doubled during President Barack Obama’s time in office” up by 113.8 percent.

Although the states, more restricted in their ability to engage in deficit spending, (they can’t print money like Washington) have been more stable than the national government, they too face challenges. The Mercatus organization notes that “there are troubling signs that many states are still ignoring the risks on their books, mainly in underfunded pensions and health care benefits. Even states that appear to be fiscally robust—perhaps owing to large amounts of cash on hand or revenue streams from natural resources—must take stock of their long-term fiscal health before making future public policy decisions.”

Despite all the increased revenue Washington and the states have consumed, and their lack of success in using it to balance their books or improve conditions, there are proposals to increase taxes even more.

A Tax Policy Center  analysis concludes that Bernie Sanders’ tax proposals would increase taxes by $15.3 trillion over the next decade. The Center also concludes that Clinton’s tax plan “would generate $1 trillion in additional revenue for the government over the first decade and an additional $2 trillion over the next 20 years.” The Sanders and Clinton tax increase plans apparently are not aimed at paying down the debt or addressing the many needs noted above.  Rather, they seek to finance new spending programs, including, depending on the candidate, high ticket items such as free college, universal health insurance, or continuing the massive increase in entitlements (such as food stamps) that have been the hallmark of the Obama tenure in office.  That leaves all those essential areas, including social security, defense, infrastructure, still facing massive solvency challenges.

In contrast, the Republican candidates look to cut taxes, but critics note that they don’t provide adequate details on how the lost revenue would be replaced.

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U.S. economy hampered by wrong priorities

While U.S. taxes soar, the American taxpayer is enduring a weakened economy and neglected national needs.

U.S. citizens and their businesses are paying increased amounts of taxes. Over the past year, reports the Wall Street Journal, corporate taxes rose 10%, individual income taxes 15%, and payroll taxes, 6%.  Despite that, Washington still runs vast annual deficits. Government spending overall increased 5% in fiscal year 2015, commanding a higher level of gross domestic product “than at any level seen between 1993 and 2008.”

The federal government has a debt of $18 and a half trillion, Social Security is heading towards insolvency, the nation’s infrastructure remains in poor condition, and the military is significantly underfunded.

While Washington’s spending concentrates on failed poverty programs, (spending on poverty programs has reached its highest level under President Obama) real median income of working Americans has declined. The Heritage Foundation notes that Eighty-five percent of the projected growth in spending over the next decade is due to entitlement spending and interest on the debt.

The Washington Times reported in 2014:  “Last year, government spent $943 billion providing cash, food, housing and medical care to poor and low-income Americans. (That figure doesn’t include Social Security or Medicare.) More than 100 million people, or one third of Americans, received some type of welfare aid, at an average cost of $9,000 per recipient. If converted into cash, this spending was five times what was needed to eliminate all poverty in the United States. [in 2014] The U.S. Census Bureau … released its annual poverty report. The report claims that in 2013, 14.5 percent of Americans were poor. Remarkably, that’s almost the same poverty rate as in 1967, three years after the War on Poverty started. How can that be? How can government spend $9,000 per recipient and have no effect on poverty?”

The U.S. Census Bureau reveals that “In 2014, real median household income was 6.5 percent lower than in 2007, the year before the most recent recession. The real median income of non-Hispanic White households declined 1.7 percent between 2013 and 2014. For Black, Asian, and Hispanic-origin households, the 2013-2014 percentage changes in real median income were not statistically significant.”

A 2014 report by the Washington Post  notes that Median inflation-adjusted income in 2013 was still $2,100 lower than when President Obama took office in 2009 — and $3,600 lower than when President George W. Bush took office in 2001. …  “In 2013, most Americans had a good bit less money, after adjusting for taxes, than the year before. That’s because in 2013, a huge tax increase affecting ordinary workers took effect, raising the employee payroll tax from 4.2 percent to 6.2 percent. A worker earning $50,000 a year saw disposable income decline by $1,000.It was the first time the payroll tax had increased since 1990, and previous payroll tax hikes had been smaller.”

Those increased taxes provided  a significant boost in funds to the federal government. A CNS study  discloses “that taxes in fiscal 2015 (which ended on Sept. 30), according to the Monthly Treasury Statement, equaled approximately $21,833 for every person in the country who had either a full-time or part-time job in September. It is also up about $212,927,100,000 in constant 2015 dollars from the $3,035,795,900,000 in revenue (in 2015 dollars) that the Treasury raked in during fiscal 2014. Even as the Treasury was hauling in a record $3,248,723,000,000 in tax revenues in fiscal 2015, the federal government was spending $3,687,622,000,000. So, the federal government ran a deficit of $438,899,000,000 for the fiscal year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, total seasonally adjusted employment in the United States in September (including both full and part-time workers) was 148,800,000. That means that the federal tax haul for fiscal 2015 equaled about $21,832.82 for every person in the United States with a job.”

According to the Office of Management and Budget, in 2014, 24% of federal dollars went to Social Security, 24% went to Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and related subsidies, 18% went to defense, 11% to safety net programs, 8% went to government retirees, 7% paid for interest on the national debt, 3% for transportation infrastructure, 2% for education, 2% for science and medical research, 1% for foreign aid, and 2% distributed for miscellaneous purposes.

The problems facing the U.S. have become structural.  To win elections, candidates continue to promise “free stuff,” which the economy cannot possibly provide. (This election year cycle’s big giveaway promise is free college tuition.) To then fulfill the unaffordable campaign promise, vital needs—keeping Social Security solvent, keeping the armed forces adequately equipped, maintaining infrastructure, are stripped of resources to pay for the latest set of “vote for me” promises.

A more rational approach to budgeting must include:

  • a level of taxes that keep U.S. enterprises competitive with global competition (America has the highest corporate tax rate of any of its trading partners) and reduces the tax burden on the middle class;
  • The funding of essential needs, such as providing a powerful defense, maintaining the solvency of Social Security, and keeping the national infrastructure intact, before commiting dollars to entitlements;
  • A commitment to providing a regulatory environment that encourages, rather than inhibits, the development of more job-producing activities;
  • A firm resolve to end deficit spending.

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Amount & complexity of taxes vexes Americans

Americans are filing their taxes today, but “Tax Freedom Day” won’t occur until April 24, one day later than last year, according to the Tax Foundation.

“Tax Freedom Day® is the day when the nation as a whole has earned enough money to pay off its total tax bill for the year. Tax Freedom Day provides Americans with an easy way to gauge the overall tax take-a task that can otherwise be daunting due to the multiplicity of taxes at various levels of government and “hidden” taxes and fees that are often buried in the cost of living. Tax Freedom Day computed by dividing total tax collections by the nation’s income, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Every dollar that is officially called income by the government is counted, and every payment that is officially considered a tax is counted. The resulting percentage is then converted into days of a 365-day calendar year.”

It’s not only the amount of taxes that vexes Americans; it’s the complexity of the tax system.

The National Taxpayers Union Foundation  (NTUF) has released a new annual study of tax code complexity in the U.S., “finding the economy lost $233.8 billion due to 6.1 billion hours of lost productivity (an estimated value of $202.1 billion) and $31.7 billion in out-of-pocket costs spent complying with a complex and invasive tax code.”

‘Americans face a rising tax complexity burden that essentially prevents anyone from being able to comply without assistance,’ Study author and NTUF Policy Analyst Michael Tasselmyer said. ‘This year’s study gives an indication of future challenges, revealing the additional complications the Affordable Care Act will add to the Tax Code and filing.’
“Additionally, a new analysis of the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA’s) impact on complexity found 3,322 pages of legal guidance related to the ACA added to IRS.gov – this overlaps partially with 1,865 pages of new ACA regulations.

“NTUF’s report also highlights complexity issues related to the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), heavier paperwork burdens, taxpayer service challenges, and identity theft.

“This year’s key findings include:

  • According to the IRS National Taxpayer Advocate, the total time burden of tax compliance totals an astounding 1 billion hoursthis year.
    • That is the equivalent of 152.5 million 40-hour workweeks. It would take 59,580 American workers working every week with no days off from age 18 until reaching the full Social Security retirement age of 67, to account for that much time.
    • Or, enough time for the Voyager spacecraft to fly to the nearest star (Proxima Centauri) and back four times!

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  • The total compliance cost is $233.813 billiona year. More than the GDP of Ireland, Portugal, or Pakistan.
    • Of this, individuals spend a combined $31.72 billiona year on tax software and other out-of-pocket costs.
    • When calculated at the average hourly wage, the value of the labor involved in tax compliance is a jaw-dropping $202.093 billion.
  • NTUF found a staggering 3,322 pagesof legal guidancefor the Affordable Care Act added to IRS.gov – including regulations (1,077), Treasury decisions (1,377), notices (669), revenue procedures (100), and revenue rulings (12).
  • The Treasury’s paperwork burden (most of it due to taxes) imposed on the public has grown from 6.4 billion hours to 7 billion hours over the period from fiscal year 2005 to 2013, never making up less than 74 percent of the burden imposed by all government agencies combined.
  • With paid preparers and tax preparation software accounting for 94 percent of returns, it is nearly impossible for any taxpayer to file without assistance.Meanwhile, the average retail fee per return for H&R Block rose to a high of $215. 
  • Most estimates put the length of the Tax Code at roughly 4 million words. This is seven timesthe length of Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace; more than two times the length of the King James Bible plus the entire works of Shakespearecombined; or, for a more modern reference, well over twice the length of the five Song of Ice and Fireseries books that inspired the TV show “Game of Thrones.”
  • Over 75 years ago, the Form 1040 instructions were just two pages Today, taxpayers must wade through 209 pages of instructions, quadruple the number in 1985, the year before taxes were “simplified.”

“Between 2009 and 2011 the cost of tax complexity spiked from under $150 billion per year to well over $200 billion per year. It has not fallen below that threshold since, and 2015’s estimates are nearly $10 billion higher than last year, showing complexity costs are back on the rise.

‘The IRS has never had more power over America’s taxpayers, thanks to even greater cost and complexity added to the code by Obamacare and FATCA,’ added Tasselmyer. ‘Without reform there is little reason to expect anything other than a rising time and financial burden, not to mention more invasion of privacy.”

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The Beleaguered Middle Class

According to a recent Pew Research Center report federal data indicates that the typical wealth of middle-income families was basically unchanged in 2013, remaining at about $96,500.

Combined with Pew’s 2012 study,  in which 85% of self-described middle-class adults said it was more difficult than it was a decade ago for middle-class people to maintain their standard of living, it is clear that middle income Americans continue to face tough times. “Their downbeat,” notes Pew, “comes at the end of a decade in which, for the first time since the end of World War II, mean family incomes declined for Americans in all income tiers. But the middle-income tier—defined as all adults whose annual household income is two-thirds to double the national median —is the only one that also shrunk in size, a trend that has continued over the past four decades.”

It is not coincidental that throughout the past half-century, $22 trillion dollars (not including Social Security or Medicaid) have been taken out of the U.S. economy in the form of taxes for an unsuccessful War on Poverty. That’s more than three times the cost of all U.S. military wars since the American Revolution, according to the Heritage Foundation.
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WallStreetCheat.com  notes “The struggles of the middle class have been well documented and oft-reported. Faced with a tough economy — including hard fights for jobs, adequate pay, and adjustments to compensate for the Affordable Care Act — members of what is supposed to be America’s backbone are finding that the post-recession world is more difficult than many imagined…Jobs that were lost to the recession have returned, but are paying a fraction of what they were previously. Essentially, everyone has had to make sacrifices to return the country to economic prosperity. But the sacrifices have been levied on those in the working class almost exclusively.”

By de-emphasizing free enterprise growth in favor of government programs, the means with which generations of Americans from the earliest days of the nation’s history until the middle of the twentieth century pulled their way out of poverty and into the middle class was handicapped.

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U.S. collects more taxes than ever

Statistics released from the U.S. Treasury Department reveal that for the first time in history, the U.S. took in over $3 trillion in revenue, $3 trillion and 21 billion to be precise. That’s a $247 billion jump from the prior year.  A significant part of the additional revenue largely came from huge tax hikes resulting from the expiration of the Bush tax breaks and Obamacare taxes.

Despite that, the government ran a $483 billion dollar deficit, even though key areas of federal responsibility, such as Defense and homeland security spent less. Even the Social Security Administration spent less.

The agencies that spent more included the Environmental Protection Agency, and the General Services Administration.  And of course, spending on welfare type programs have increased significantly during the Obama years.
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Senator Tom Coburn (R-Ok) recently released his  annual waste in government report, noting that:

“Ebola in america. Security breaches at the white house. Waves of unaccompanied minors and others pouring across our nation’s borders. The Russian red army on the move, marching into peaceful, democratic nations. Iraq in turmoil with oil fields pumping millions of dollars a day into the jihadist activities of radical Islamic terrorists.our nation’s heroes being killed, not by enemy combatants, but by the very veterans’ health system set up to care for them. The world increasingly appears to be in disarray with the chaos, confusion and uncertainty growing ever closer. All the while, the leadership in our nation’s capital is ever more distant, disconnected, and absent. And there is that government health care website that still does not work.”

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Over-complication of America’s Challenges

Everyone dreads coming across professionals who over-complicate matters for their own selfish purposes. The physician who prescribes needless tests to get extra fees, the car mechanic who replaces a perfectly good part simply to make a few extra dollars. Public life is no different. Far too often, elected officials and their appointees either create or misuse problems for their own political gains (remember the Obama Administration’s Rahm Emmanuel who famously stated “Never waste a good crisis?”)

America today faces extensive challenges that require resolution.  Rather than do what is necessary, however, those problems remain unresolved and abused as an excuse by politicians to further their own often unstated goals.

Examples abound in matters both foreign and domestic. To name just two:

The United States is a sovereign nation with every right, and every obligation, to defend its borders. This is not as complicated a task as opponents of stricter controls would have you believe..  Building a fence supplemented with the appropriate patrols and technological surveillance is well within the capabilities of the federal government. The failure to do so exposes citizens to contagious diseases, increased crime, and terrorist infiltration. But, as Emmanuel noted, it is too good a crisis too waste.
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Those vast numbers of illegal immigrants will have needs for public assistance, and will eagerly vote for politicians who give that help to them. They will do this regardless of the fact that voting by noncitizens is an illegal act.  The same politicians willing to ignore illegal entry into the United States also oppose measures designed to prevent illegal voting. That is why they needlessly complicate this problem.

Americans continue to suffer from high unemployment and rampant underemployment.  Time and again, lowering taxes on individuals to provide them with more expendable income,  and lowering taxes and regulations on corporations to allow them to hire more people within the U.S. has worked well. Democrat and Republican presidents have successfully used this tactic.  But taxes remain high, and indeed, U.S. corporate taxes remain the highest in the world. The obvious solution pf lowering those rates and easing those regulations  is ignored because too many politicians, on both sides of the aisle, greedily prefer to retain the current, complicated tax code in order to gain from the support of special interests who receive particular benefits.

America faces complicated problems.  But the reason they remain unresolved is the gain those in power gain from over-complicating them for their own benefit.

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Americans Pay More for Taxes than Food, Clothing & Shelter

With the April 15 tax deadline finally over, Americans must begin the onerous task of coping with this year’s tax liabilities.

In a stunning analysis, a Tax Foundation study  has revealed that the combined burden of federal, state and local taxes will cost the average citizen more than food, clothing and housing combined.

The study finds that in 2014, Americans will pay $3.0 trillion in federal taxes and $1.5 trillion in state taxes, for a total tax bill of $4.5 trillion, or 30.2 percent of income.  That contrasts with 1900, when Americans paid only 5.9 percent of their income in taxes.

Despite calls to increase taxes on the rich, made popular by the Occupy Wall Street movement, President Obama, and progressives nationwide, a Heritage Foundation report  finds that recent increases disproportionately affect the working wealthy.  The top 10 percent of all income earners paid 71% of federal taxes in 2010, yet they earned 45% of all federal income.  On the other hand, the bottom 50% earned 12% of income yet paid just 2% of federal income taxes.

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Will all those extra dollars mean that Washington can pay down its debt? (pegged at $17, 580,937, 100 by the  US Debt Clock ) Unfortunately, that will not happen. According to the CBO, Federal outlays are expected to increase by 2.6 percent this year, to $3.5 trillion, or 20.5 percent of GDP.  The CBO projects that under current law, spending will grow faster than the economy during the next decade and will equal 22.4 percent of GDP in 2024. With no changes in the applicable laws, spending for Social Security, Medicare (including offsetting receipts), Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and subsidies for health insurance purchased through exchanges will rise from 9.7 percent of GDP in 2014 to 11.7 percent in 2024. Net interest payments by the federal government are also projected to grow rapidly, climbing from 1.3 percent of GDP in 2014 to 3.3 percent in 2024.

Will that extra spending make our nation safer? Apparently not. The Congressional Budget Office notes that spending for defense, benefit programs other than those mentioned above, and all other nondefense activities—is projected to drop from 9.4 percent of GDP this year to 7.3 percent in 2024 under current law.

Should taxes be raised—or just kept at current high levels—to provide more funds for Washington? History indicates that higher taxes do not lead to higher revenues.  The Tax Foundation notes that “The Reagan tax cut ushered in an economic boom; federal revenues grew but the economy grew even faster. Despite pressure on state and local taxes following taxpayer revolts like Proposition 13 in California, the strong economic growth led to increased tax collections…”