Tag: big government

The People Supreme

“We’re the only state in the nation,” wails Wade Buchanan of the liberal Bell Policy Center, “where you can only raise revenues, taxes, by a vote of the people.”

Buchanan is talking about his state of Colorado and defending his side in the Kerr v. Hickenlooper case, which features 34 card-carrying members of Colorado’s political elite — sitting legislators, former legislators, former U.S. congressmen, local politicians and other assorted bigwigs — suing the voters of Colorado for having the gall to pass the state’s Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) initiative back in 1992.

Lovers of big government call TABOR a disaster; most Colorado voters like TABOR and will vote to keep it.

The crux of the case? The ridiculous notion that legislators have some cockamamie constitutional right to levy taxes and spend money without the people empowered with any veto. “When the power to tax is denied,” the suit alleges, “the legislature cannot function effectively to fulfill its obligations in a representative democracy and a Republican Form of Government.”

Immediately, however, the legal issue is whether the politically powerful Kerr plaintiffs even have standing to bring the lawsuit.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court vacated a 10th Circuit Court of Appeals decision that had granted standing, returning the case to the appeals court “for further consideration in light of Arizona State Legislature v. Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.”

That’s good news.

“Most tellingly,” constitutional scholar Rob Natelson points out in a Denver Post column, in that Arizona case “the court praised direct democracy and held that it was ‘in full harmony with the Constitution’s conception of the people as the font of governmental power.’”

Font? We’re the boss.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Tags big government, democracy, TABOR, tax, tax policy, voting

Common Sense national politics & policies tax policy too much government

Poor, Poor IRS

As Tax Day approaches, you can bet the Internal Revenue Service has readied itself to help taxpayers file their returns.

No?

“It’s abysmal,” admits IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, discussing his agency’s help for Americans trying to decipher a byzantine, ever-changing tax code.

It seems only four of ten citizens ever succeed in getting through to the IRS on the phone, even after waiting multiple hours. Over days. There have been over 5 million “courtesy disconnects” — that’s IRS lingo for its phone system hanging up on you.

To boot, once you get to a real person, that employee can’t tell you much.

The problem? According to the Washington Post, the poor agency lacks the necessary funds because “Republicans on Capitol Hill have slashed the IRS budget.”

Actually, the IRS budget has gone up every year . . . in nominal dollars. When adjusted for inflation? Well, there has been some decline.

Bemoaning this supposed “era of shrinking government,” the Post assails conservatives in Congress, citing the “cuts” as “punishment for a string of missteps: an extravagant conference for employees in Anaheim, Calif., the targeting of conservative groups seeking tax exemptions, $1 million in bonuses given to agency employees who didn’t pay their federal taxes.”

Punishment seems in order.

But another story puts in perspective this crocodile cry for more money. The Daily Caller recently reported: “The Obama administration has quietly killed an IRS tax preparation program designed to help low-income and disadvantaged citizens, choosing instead to give millions of dollars to liberal groups for the same purpose.”

Look on the bright side, a review of these help-groups found their advice to have a mere 49 percent error rate.

This is Common sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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Tags big government, IRS, tax, tax policy

Common Sense folly national politics & policies too much government

The Latest Big Fix

Transformer-in-Chief Barack Obama is at it again.

The president’s latest tune is a variation on a very old theme: whatever government breaks “requires” a new government program.

See a problem; propose and enact a government solution; the problem gets worse, some new ones pop up; blame everything on the voluntary, “freedom” side; demand more and newer government programs.

It’s a trap. Literally, since it involves more coercion by government at every step.

Here’s the story: President Obama was largely repudiated at the polls last November. The performance of his administration and congressional allies proved so lackluster that his party couldn’t muster much of a vote in their favor.

So now Obama promotes the idea of compulsory voting.

“It would be transformative if everybody voted,” Obama said. He mentions Australia, which has had mandatory voting for a while. He doesn’t mention North Korea, which also forces its citizens to vote, or that totalitarian and authoritarian regimes have often used compulsory voting to give their dictators a patina of “democratic legitimacy.”

I’d be embarrassed to bring it up.

Obama brought it up in the context of fighting the influence of big money.

So, to fix particular problems, government gets involved in the economy generally, everywhere — and not by playing umpire to establish a “level playing field,” but by siding first with one group, then with another, with mandates, prohibitions, regulations, etc. (He calls all this “fair,” incredibly.) Naturally enough, affected businesses and individuals petition for insulation from each and every proposed “fix.” Many go on for special favors. This leads to increased money in campaigns, as well as increased lobbying.

So now? Direct coercion of citizens — simply to “get out the vote.”

It’s always force with these folks.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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