Rob,
It's true that I'd be much less enthused about some tax cuts than
others. But oppose them? I did vote against Proposition 187, because it
was in my view singling out and scapegoating undocumented immigrants
for service cuts, but (A) that measure was trying to further
marginalize a group already unfairly marginalized by the law, and (B) I
think tax cuts are much better than cuts in services, because without
actual budget cuts to accompany the service cuts, there's no guarantee
that the money saved will find its way back to the taxpayers and not
simply be spent by the agency or department in question on something
else.
I'd have a hard time voting against any kind of tax cut. I also have
difficulty imagining ANY tax cut that doesn't favor some group of
people over others. Can you think of a tax that could be cut without
subtly engaging in social engineering by disproportionately favoring
some people over others if it were to be cut?
Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
No, no, no, no, no.
A tax cut is not always a tax cut, as someone recently posted to the
list
(the article argued that a tax cut without a spending cut is really
just a
deferred tax increase).But, more importantly, when government favors one group over another,
it
screws up the free market by definition. I think what you need to do,
Starchild, is the old Ted Kennedy/Jesse Helms exercise. You know, the
one
where you tell a Democrat in favor of more powerful government to
imagine
that power in the hands of Jesse Helms -- the same with a Republican
and Ted
Kennedy. For you, I suggest applying your "a tax cut is a tax cut"
statement to some other scenarios. Is "a tax cut a tax cut" when
Dubya and
V.P. Dick decide to lower taxes on oil companies to a level below the
tax on
alternate energy providers? Is "a tax cut a tax cut" when straight
married
couples pay less tax than gay domestic partners? The Libertarian
solution
to these things is not to defend the government's "social engineering"
via
the IRS. If getting the government out of the marriage business
altogether
(as most Libertarians would wish) meant straight married people filing
their
taxes at a higher individual rate, would you oppose getting the
government
out of marriage?Also, please remember that "a tax cut is a tax cut" is the argument
that
Democrats use to defend the Earned Income "Tax Credit". They say that
Republicans oppose "tax cuts" for the poor while giving them out to the
rich.Anyway, my point is that keeping taxes high on everyone except
environmental
groups is nothing more but the same old redistribution of wealth and
social
engineering that the leftists in D.C. have been doing for decades.
It's
just that nowadays they've gotten better at talking the conservatives'
talk.Rob
From: Starchild [mailto:sfdreamer@earthlink.net]
Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2003 4:03 PM
To: lpsf-discuss@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [lpsf-discuss] Re: Tax cut for selling land to
conservationists
isn't bad (was: LAND GRAB VOTE IN 4 HOURS)Eric,
I have to disagree with the position taken by the author of the
message you forwarded on this legislation. A tax cut is a tax cut, and
I don't see how this would "devalue" land. Of course I don't like that
the bill allows people who sell land to the government as well as to
private land trusts to take a cut. But it still reduces the overall
burden of government by giving people the option to send less cash to
Uncle Sam when they sell.A proposal I once came up with myself actually mirrors this in some
ways (though of course it would be more far-sweeping). I proposed a
libertarian collaboration with environmentalists to get land out of
government hands by giving it away or selling it on the cheap to
environmental groups. They know the government is a terrible custodian
of its lands, so this would be a better approach for the environment,
and it would advance libertarian goals at the same time by increasing
the role of the private sector and reducing government control.Let's not turn our backs on a positive change just because some groups
that are ideological opponents of certain aspects of libertarianism
would also benefit.Yours in liberty,
<<< Starchild >>>
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