So then a couple weeks ago, I was thinking about health care reform as I fell asleep. No surprise, I'm anti-public option. So naturally, I was anti-health reform. I don't think Congress does a very good job, and I think administrative agencies do an even worse job, and the courts are pretty messed up too. So, I cringe at the word "reform." But I was laying there thinking about being unemployed. A lot of my classmates will be graduating in May without jobs, without an income, and without health care. A lot of them have kids. These people have worked hard to get degrees and are very smart, but they have no money. They don't mean to be a drain on the system, but eventually options run out. I remembered Professor Thomas' comment about compassion and thought, maybe we do need reform. Maybe I shouldn't be so concerned about socialism after all.
THEN I read this article. And I saw this chart from 2007:
And I thought, whoa! In a Republican administration the top 1% of earners are paying 40% of the income taxes. We're practically socialists already! It's not that I think charity and giving to those in need is a bad thing. I think it is not only a good thing, but an essential personal choice. What concerns me is the four months I spent working in a federal government agency and all of the waste that I saw there. When those tax dollars are going to support facebook browsing, yapping on the phone, and other time-wasting activities, I feel my concern is justified. The problem is, I don't have a solution. Can a government really be effective in balancing the need for compassion while combatting the evils and inefficiencies of socialism? Comments? Thoughts?
I just played with the numbers a bit, and a family of four would have to make at least $45000 to even owe anything in taxes. Assuming my brother makes less than $75000, he does not owe anything because he has 6 kids and a stay-home wife. There are a lot of Americans that aren't actually "tax payers".
ReplyDeleteI get frustrated when I go to church activities and hear people talking about how to get on various welfare programs (food stamps, WIC, etc). It has happened several times both in Utah and Virginia, and I don't like it one bit.
I'm not a compassionate person. I want people to prove why they need help and are doing everything in their power to make it on their own. But I'm mean like that.
Maybe we should focus more tax dollars on scholarships for education (and personally I think that there should be more merit based ones and not just need based ones because let's get real, a family making $160,000 a year won't qualify for need based aid, but they still can't afford college tuition) and have less tax dollars devoted to welfare and social programs like social security, etc. I think if people are educated they can help themselves more. Welfare just seems to perpetuate the income gap. And if we had more accountability in government that would help, but let's be honest, no one knows what the government is up to.
ReplyDeleteI am all about government providing public goods like parks, libraries, police and fire services and military defense. These are goods/services that the private sector would likely never provide. However, the transfer of wealth is not the function of government. While considering providing compassion to the poor and needy we must be aware of the frequent inefficiencies of government and their policies.
ReplyDeleteThe example I cannot get out of my mind is when I visited a women in her mid-30s that lived with her boyfriend on my mission. They had a beautiful 3-year old daughter. While teaching her the missionary discussion we brought up the importance of families and gave a subtle suggestion that she should get married. Though she had lived with her boyfriend for the past 5 years she stated, “we can’t do that.” I then asked, “Do you love him?” She stated, “It is a matter of love. It is a matter that if I marry him, I won’t get food stamps anymore. I won’t be on welfare. ” She continued by stating, “That’s why I only work part-time because then I am below the poverty line and I get lots of food stamps.” Thank you government for disincentivizing this women from starting family unit and from making a valuable contribution to society. I love transfer of wealth because it makes everything better, right?