STATE TAXATION

Rhode Island is taxing itself out of existence. It is sad to say, but there are few taxes that Rhode Island ever saw that it didn’t implement. There are the basic straight forward taxes, the less obvious gasoline and tobacco taxes, the sales taxes, the hidden taxes called fees, and the various other business licenses, estate taxes, property sales taxes, and so on.

To operate a state government, there must be money. The money must come from taxes.

There are only three scenarios to minimize a tax burden. Take in less taxes, thus curtailing what can be spent. Spend less money, thus minimizing the need to tax. Or create a new revenue source, i.e. expand the pie, usually through job creation and not through a wider tax net.

As our so called political leaders have shown, it is easier to use these methods against each other rather than to provide real progress in terms of tax burdens.

Rhode Island is one of the least friendly tax states. This is due partly to the poor spending practices of the government for decades. These spending practices are just now catching up to the taxpayers.

By providing services, government expands. By regulating activities, government expands. By giving employment to cronies for election security, government expands.

The reality is that Rhode Island must restructure itself to minimize government. Small government should be the goal, but it is not.

Instead, we have politicians proposing stealth taxation in addition to the taxes that currently apply. For example, by putting a mandatory health insurance plan in effect, the government will control the application, the people will be forced to have the policy (and pay for it), but the government can say that this mandate is not a tax.

The real objective of Rhode Islanders should be to seek a smaller government. There is a real need to forego extensive regulation. There is a need to forego extensive government services and benefits.

This is not an argument for abolishing government. It is an argument for a reasoned government, a balanced approach to spending that emphasizes the need for and rewards greater individual self-reliance.

The problem is that everyone wants everything. The problem is that there is an over-reliance in the state on public employment. The problem is that the General Assembly hasn’t gotten off its asses to make employment opportunities through an attractive business climate.

In short, we are taxed to death because we accept the stupidity that parades itself as government.

This is little more than an argument for a streamlined, freer government that forces self-reliance on its people. This does not mean that government must be cruel. It means that people have to realize that they are pumping money into a stinking rat hole because they are apathetic. We need to re-evaluate what it is we want from our government. We need to put logic into our current applications of government. I may just be that simple. The hardest part is to convince the thick-headed majority of voters that they really aren’t getting the best representation when they blindly vote in candidates based on party affiliations.

In the past I have warned about the over reliance on a property tax. I have argued against the fleecing of the people via the licensing process. I have advocated for a fair progressive form of taxation, largely through the graduated income tax. I have proposed several methods of saving taxes through a more effective government. But alas, I have wasted my time and energy. As the saying goes, there are none so blind as those who will not see.

In following discussions on this topic, I will discuss a plan to better tax the people of Rhode Island, giving a full discussion to the need to refine its method of taxation and the need to use taxation to facilitate policy instead of to pay bills.