Should Americans Who Don't Pay Taxes Have a Say?

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 8, 2003 | by Robert R. Eberle

Byline: Robert R. Eberle, SPECIAL TO INSIGHT

There is a classic slogan in America that is probably as old as the country itself. You've heard it many times, and it goes like this: There are only two sure things in life death and taxes.

Unless the fountain of youth is discovered or secret advances are made in human cloning, I think we still can count on passing from this earth at some point. However, the paying of taxes is not the certainty it once was. With each passing tax bill, more and more Americans no longer are paying income taxes. Thus, the question arises: Should these nontaxpayers have a say in what America does as a nation?

With the passage of President George W. Bush's two tax cuts, 10 million more Americans no longer pay income taxes. Recently, the U.S. Senate voted to extend the $400-per-child tax credits to minimum-wage families, most of whom currently are not paying income taxes. What this does is give people a credit or rebate for something they have not paid into in the first place. Even with a Republican plan, we still are seeing the redistribution of wealth that should be avoided at every turn.

The tax burden of the entire country is being shifted more and more to fewer and fewer Americans. As it stands now, the top 5 percent of wage-earners in this country pay 50 percent of all income-taxes collected. The bottom 50 percent of wage-earners pay only 5 percent of income-taxes collected.

Just as people have little to argue about with an election result if they do not go out and vote, should Americans who don't pay income taxes have a say in how America is run? Should the paying of income taxes be a basic requirement of all U.S. citizens?

My response to this question is an emphatic "Yes!" It is only when Americans feel they have a stake in the system that they will work fully to its betterment. If they think they are getting a "free ride," there is much less incentive to move ahead. The government is sending the wrong message when it says, "Don't worry ... we'll pay you for being poor."

There always will be programs in place to help the neediest of America's citizens, but if the financing of the United States is built upon the collection of income taxes, then all citizens earning an income should at least pay some minimum amount. Some will argue that though low wage-earners don't pay income tax, they still pay other payroll taxes such as Social Security. The fact is, however, that much of those taxes are returned to the low wage-earner in the form of the earned-income tax credit. More importantly, those other payroll taxes are for specific programs. Social Security taxes are paid to fund Social Security. The low wage-earner is paying a Social Security tax and will receive a Social Security benefit.

However, the day-to-day operations of the government defense activities, state affairs, infrastructure and all the rest are funded by the income tax. If the U.S. military is deployed to defend all of America, then all wage-earners should help pay for it. It is only fair for all those who draw protection and benefits from America's services to pay their fair share to support those services.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not singing the praises of the federal income tax. In fact, our national tax system should not be based on income at all, but rather on consumption. However, until the system is changed, and as long as we are stuck with an income-based tax system, then all American wage-earners should pay into that system. Even if it is only $1 per person, it is the principle that matters.

Republicans and Democrats need to look closely at the current tax system and re-evaluate the definition of fairness. To lower the income-tax rates for all wage-earners is the right thing to do; to remove wage-earners from paying any income taxes at all is not. The few should not provide for the many. In a country as idealistic as the United States, we should all do our part to provide for the common defense and the general welfare. That is the American way.

Robert R. Eberle is a conservative columnist and Republican Party activist in Texas, and is president and chief executive officer of GOPUSA.