Does anybody like to pay taxes? Do warthogs listen to Celine Dion with rapt adoration? (For the warthog challenged among you, the answer is no.) Does anybody dislike the services their tax dollars get them? Do warthogs prefer white wine to domestic beer? (Again, for the WC, the answer is yes.)
Right-wing analysis has been hammering away at people’s dislike of taxes for years, creating an atmosphere of utter loathing for them, without reference to the government services for which they pay. It’s like looking at the cost of buying a car without thinking of the benefit (ie: increased mobility). If we all analyzed our purchases in this fashion, nobody would ever buy anything!
Even warthogs without driver’s licences can see the foolishness of that.
The Fraser Institute (whose motto is: “Right, even when we’re wrong.”) calculates how much of one’s income is paid in taxes, then figures out how many days one has to work to pay them. The day you start working for yourself has been named “Tax Freedom Day” by the Institute (motto: “Our econometric models can beat your econometric models – nyah nyah!”). This year, so-called Tax Freedom Day landed on July 1st. (The warthog, rooting around in the mud, ignores the patriotic symbolism.)
This is typical of “cost-benefit without benefits” analysis. What would Tax Freedom Day look like, though, if we clawed it back to include some of the programmes tax money pays for? (Fear not, gentle warthog; clawing back simply means subtracting the money you save by not paying directly for government services – your leathern hide is safe.)
Take medical expenses. Remember when Little Jenny had that rash that the doctor took months to diagnose? Or, the time Little Timmy broke the knuckles of his right hand playing Super Mario Brothers 12: Plunge This!? Or, the prescription of Valium you needed to cope with the stress of having such fragile children? What is this worth to you? Let’s say two months of taxes. In this case, Tax Freedom Day would actually fall on May 1st.
The warthog snorts. Is there nothing worth watching on cable?
How about the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council grant that allowed Little Jenny to finish her graduate studies? (They, uhh, grow up fast, don’t they?) That’s got to be worth a month, at least, putting Tax Freedom Day back to April 1st. While some may feel this is an appropriate time for it, the warthog knows that we can do better.
How could you forget the month you were temporarily [insert euphemism for “fired” here] while your company [insert euphemism for “restructured to get out from under a mountain of debt” here].You got a month’s worth of taxes right there. March 1st, and the warthog isn’t even going to mention all the subsidies your company has been given over the years to keep it afloat…
Then, there are the brave men and women who stand on guard for thee. They’re worth a month…well, two weeks, at any rate. And, Hansard, that’s got to be worth – oh, come on, the entertainment value alone has got to be worth – yeah, yeah, okay. Let’s call Hansard a wash.
However, even the elderly warthog whose eyesight is failing and who has lost all interest in constitutional debates can see where I’m going with this. We’re down to March 15th, and there are over a dozen government Ministries to go. A proper cost-benefit analysis of taxes (ie: one that took into account the benefits, as well as the costs) would show that people actually get a lot of use out of their tax dollars.
This is, of course, not something the Fraser Institute (whose motto is: “Aww, go suck eggs!”) wants people to know; reality really gets in the way of ideologically motivated tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the wealthy. Taken to its logical conclusion, this kind of analysis of Tax Freedom Day would put it at January 1st for individuals, which seems fair considering that that’s Tax Freedom Day for many of the country’s wealthiest corporations.
Now, there’s an analysis I’d like to see, but I wouldn’t expect it from the Fraser Institute (whose motto is: “Think you’re clever? Well, we’ve got news for you, pally: we’re the ones governments listen to, not you! So, chatter on all you want, it isn’t going to make a bit of difference in the real world you seem so fond of!”) Fraser Institutes do get testy when their orthodoxies are challenged, don’t they? There is a simple response, though.
The warthog has left the building.