Goldwater Institute: The Tax Man Cometh

By Byron Schlomach, Ph.D. 233 years ago, our forefathers brought forth a new nation partly because they were fed up with taxation without representation. Today we fittingly honor those men and women for their wisdom and self-sacrifice. They did more than pledge their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor: They knew they were making a compact with generations yet unborn. Today, too many public servants betray the nation by supporting unsustainable levels of government. Centralizing health care, bailing out the financial sector, and paying mortgages borrow against our futures and our children's futures. Right now, the U.S. government owes almost $12 trillion, nearly $37,000 for every man, woman, and child in the nation. The debt will grow almost $2 trillion more next year alone. To put this in perspective, Americans spent the equivalent of $3.6 trillion during WWII. Today we are committed to spending $4 trillion to combat the financial crisis, but for what? Future generations, with no representation today, will be excused when they curse these days when elected officials mortgaged their futures. Because politicians have not been forthright, we can also be excused for complaining about the inflation we will all soon suffer. Just since September, the money supply has grown at an annual rate of 18 percent and prices will eventually rise accordingly. It's April 15 and the tax man cometh. Today, he looks more like the grim reaper than ever before. Byron Schlomach, Ph.D, is director of economic policy at the Goldwater Institute.

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