Big Government and the “Their fair share” tax lie.
So, I’ve got to assume that many of our political leaders and their followers who claim that they are going to make big corporations pay “their fair share” don’t have any idea where those big corporations get their money or at least hope we are too stupid to figure it out. But the reality is, those big corporations get it by selling goods and services to us; directly, or indirectly through other companies. There is only one other source and that is to borrow it. In either case “we” the consumers will pay for it.
It’s really simple. If the cost of producing a hamburger is increased by taxes on the hamburger company and the hamburger companies suppliers, they will in turn recoup those taxes from us, their customer by increasing the price of the hamburger. Assuming we still want to eat those hamburgers, we will pay more. There is no one else to pay for us. So, even though political leaders will pledge that they will not raise our taxes, but rather will fix things by placing higher “their fair share” taxes on those big companies, we end up paying what is essentially a hidden tax. The whole idea that we are not being taxed is a lie.
“Their fair share” lie #2
This same lie applies to commercial property taxes as well. In this election cycle in California the Governor, Gavin Newsome, is touting a property tax increase on commercial properties. He tells us that it will not be a tax on our personal property but rather on the property of big corporations. That whole idea is a huge and deceptive half-truth that so many politicians rely on the sell us their bill of goods. If you think it through its just another big lie. Big corporations own big pieces of commercial property. Apple for example owns a great deal of property in California and thus would be hit significantly by the proposed higher commercial property taxes. The same would be true for all their California based suppliers. That will result in one thing, higher prices on iPhones, iPads, Mac’s, etc. ….which of course we will end up paying for because we just NEED to have the latest phone. The same is true for a hair cut, a bag of groceries, or a hamburger…essentially everything. If the cost of doing business goes up, the cost of the goods or services those businesses provide us go up. We need to remember that many of the biggest commercial property owners are companies that own our local strip malls, or shopping centers, or business complexes. These are the places where small businesses reside; florists, coffee shots, restaurants, nail salons, super markets and the like. What these big commercial property owners will be forced to do is pass that increased property tax along to their tenants, who in turn will pass it on to us. And again, we pay the bill….another hidden tax.
A 4 pound tick on a 5 pound Chihuahua!
The problem with government is that it is a never ending, always increasing “parasite” on the economy. I use the word parasite because government does not make money it only spends the money of others. Now, for sure, that parasitic relationship can be “symbiotic”. Stable social and economic structures require governance. But even the most friendly symbiote can become parasitic when it’s needs take too much from its host. Or, in the case of government, when it takes too much “tax”, in all forms, from it’s economy and the people that create it. In many ways, big government’s suck on the economy is like a 4 pound tick on a 5 pound Chihuahua. If they take too much they will kill the host; which they do not want to do.
But actually it’s even worse than that. Big government knows that it can only take so much out of the day-to-day economy without killing it. So to get around that idea and still get their way they borrow. Some of that borrowing is done in plain sight with bond measures and sales tax increases to pay back the lender. But huge portions of “borrowing” are not done in plain sight. One example is known as “unfunded liabilities”. That’s where a government agrees to be liable for providing money they do not have for such things as pensions or retirement health care. It is todays government taxing future generations before they are even born. Consider that many calculate that California's unfunded liabilities may be $1.5 trillion. That means every single new borne in California is handed a $37,500+ state tax bill the moment they take their first breath.
As long as we keep letting government take more and more they will do that and spend it all, plus some. Whether its direct and visible taxes, hidden taxes or taxes on the future, the cost of government continues to escalate. But even if we view government as a “fixed” cost, oscillations and fluctuations in the economy, such as we are going through right now with large portions of our economy in Covid 19 shut down, the symbiosis of government can quickly mutate to parasitosis. And that can kill us.
