Taxation and Philosophy

I have a pet peeve. Well, to be truthful, I have several. But this one involves my business and what happens to the fees levied by the state to enforce regulations governing it. I believe in regulation as long as it is applied evenly. If it is done that way then the playing field is leveled and simple market forces drive competition. If it is not applied evenly then it places a burden on those most unable to sustain it and gives an edge to larger companies who have the cash flow to factor it in.

With my business I pay about $1000 per year to maintain licenses. I take time to do continuing education and I maintain business liability insurance per regulations. In addition, often there are permitting fees and inspection fees. The lion's share of those levies go to the department having jurisdiction. Those fees are to be used for enforcement and departmental overhead but each year me and my fellow business operators pay far more to those departments than is required. As a matter of fact, we paid licensing fees for over ten years to one department that did not perform one bit of regulatory duty. The excess fees are to be used for operations that would benefit the license holder or the public such as education or reduced fees to the license holder. But what really happens is that each year the Governor issues an executive order that confiscates those excess fees and places them into the general fund which is used to fund the operations of state government.

Here is my question and my peeve. Is this a fee or is this a tax? In my opinion, once the money is scooped up by the Governor then it becomes a tax. Up until then it is a fee. This is a tax that is never debated, never voted on and never sees the scrutiny of any legislative eye. When compared to the recent brouhaha over the library tax this executive exercise of power puts that accusation to shame. At least that tax was legislated even if in an obscure way.

I can live with this. I should not have to but I can as long as it is applied equitably which it is not. The burden falls heaviest on the small contractor while, as I said, the large contractor finds it easier to absorb the associated costs.

Philosophically, and I believe all political thought should have a sound philosophical basis, I disagree with the way this and many other taxes are levied. I believe that we cannot have good government without having the means of financing that government debated. In so many things we fund government with fees that are little more than hidden taxes and that has a profound effect on not just our taxation rates but also operations of government that are funded by these hidden taxes.

I am not a small government advocate. I believe that government should be large enough to accomplish the many goals of a complicated society including regulation and the provisions of our Social Contract. I just believe that those funding methods should be debated along with the efficacy of the legislation they are dedicated to serve.

For instance, I do not believe that the excess fees of my department should be moved to the general fund to make it easier for our legislators to fund government without raising taxes. We make it too easy on our legislators to avoid responsibility and we make it too easy on the voter to avoid responsibility for his or her demands. If we are going to demand stricter enforcement of some laws then we have to accept the responsibility for funding it. If we are going to expand medical care then we must accept responsibility for funding it. If we are going to put police patrols in schools then we must accept responsibility for funding it. If we have decided that drunk drivers are a public hazard then we must accept responsibility for funding their incarceration and policing. If we want our children to be educated then we have to accept responsibility for funding it. If we want to fight wars in which only a few percent of us will ever see battle then we have to fund it. If we want to have an economy that uses fossil fuels to generate power then we have to fund it. And not only it but the cleanup of the mess.

Everything has its costs and we must accept responsibility for the true costs of that item and that includes things such as waste dumps, dealing with the global climate change resulting from the use of fossil fuels and the treatment of men and women we bring home suffering from PTSD and horrible battle wounds. For way too long we have pretended that we can enjoy our cake but never clean up the kitchen. Attention to this would cause us to be more responsible with legislation and would make us act like adults.

When our representatives decide to act on a subject to regulate it we need to be told how much it is going to cost. We don't need to vote on everything but we need to know who did. Personally, I am willing to accept a significant increase in personal taxation to fund the kind of society I believe in. I am not going to throw out of office a representative who votes for legislation simply because I don't want to pay for it. Most of us make decisions from time to time that don't pan out and I would hate to be pilloried for every mistake I have made. But I am willing to be held responsible for the way I live my life and attend to those things in my care.

I am an advocate of universal health care along with quite a few other social programs. In truth, I would much rather pay for them than the decade long war we are pouring our treasure and lives into. Taxation is a necessary part of any nation that enjoys a Social Contract and we have a great nation and a great contract. Certainly there are some who are not carrying their weight and some who carry more than they should but if we attend to our responsibilities that will be minimized. Nobody in our country makes it to the top alone. In every way we enjoy the efforts of our fellow citizens and their taxation.

Now, this is just a part of my take on taxation and it's purposes. As I said, I believe that political thought should have a sound philosophical basis. One of the great things about philosophy is that people have been doing it for a long time and it doesn't require a degree to do it. It does, however, help to be aware of some of the roads already traveled.