The Good Old Days

In the Good Old Days, the Government needed money to kill the Nazis, or feed Europe, and taxes were necessary to pay the bills. But it appears that in our post-post-Modern Era, where everything new gets old again, taxes are an independent good, and more is better:

This country’s meager tax take puts its economic prospects at risk and leaves the government ill equipped to face the challenges from globalization.

See? Low taxes = bad economic prospects. High taxes = equipment to face globalization. Please note the entire absence of analysis (nay! the absence of definitions!) of what it means actually to be "equipped", or precisely what "challenges" are posed by "globalization." And, of course, we needn't worry our little heads about anything so retro as pondering whether those challenges (whatever they might be) are best faced by bureaucrats, armed with my money (after subtracting their skim).

Lest you believe wrongly that this sentiment is an anomaly, there's more:

Politicians on the right have continuously paraded the specter of statism to rally voters’ support for tax cuts, mainly for the rich. But the meager tax take leaves the United States ill prepared to compete. From universal health insurance to decent unemployment insurance, other rich nations provide their citizens benefits that the United States government simply cannot afford.

Well of course tax cuts benefit "the rich," since they're pretty much the only folks who pay taxes these days. (Depending upon your definition of "the rich." When it comes to the "soaking" thereof, that nasty cold damp trickles down deep into the socks of the middle class.) And do you really want that lady down at the DMV to be the one deciding whether your kid -- who's just hit her head pretty hard -- really, really needs that "free" Government-provided MRI? We didn't think so.

The bottom line is clear: You don't pay enough tax. You should pay more. It's your patriotic duty.

But enough. You think we're either making this stuff up or we're quoting Scott Ott, right? Nope. See for yourself.