Taxes are bad

“To compel a man to furnish funds for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.” - Thomas Jefferson

1 — In a free country, money belongs to the people who earn it.

The most fundamental reason to cut taxes is an understanding that wealth doesn’t just happen, it has to be produced. And those who produce it have a right to keep it.

We may agree to give up a portion of the wealth we create in order to pay for such public goods as national defense and a system of justice. But we don’t give the government an unlimited claim on our money to use as it sees fit.

2 — Private individuals and businesses use money more efficiently than governments do.

People with their own money at risk spend or invest it carefully.

You don’t find many $600 hammers or insolvent retirement programs in the private sector. Money will do more good for more people in private hands than in government hands.

3 — High taxes discourage work and investment.

Taxes create a “wedge” between what the employer pays and what the employee receives, so some jobs don’t get created.

High marginal tax rates also discourage people from working overtime or from making new investments.

Most economists now agree that a reduction in marginal tax rates will increase output.

4 — Income taxes should be cut because the overall tax burden is quite high right now.

Prosperity has made Americans more accepting of the rising tax burden, but the current economic slowdown will make high taxes harder to bear.

5 — If we don’t cut taxes, Congress will spend the money.

If one thing is certain in Washington, it is that Congress will spend every dollar it can get its hands on.

Every interest group wants something–a road, a dam, a social program, more teachers, more policemen, more corporate welfare–and members of Congress want to be liked. The only way to “put the surplus in a lockbox” is to let the taxpayers keep it.

6 — Lower taxes are the only real check on the expanding size and scope of the federal government.

If we want smaller government, our best strategy is to reduce the amount of money Congress has to play with.