Yes, we all drive on roads built by government taxes and our property is valuable because the police and the courts protect it, and our freedoms are secure because soldiers died to defend our rights. There are even products and technology we all use that were developed in the course of government programs such as NASA and the military. Some medical advances were even developed by government health services. We get it. But this insane platitude that businesses owe their success more to the government than to their own effort- first voiced by Elizabeth Warren and recently repeated by Obama- is juvenile and disingenuous.
There is no one saying we should pay no taxes, the question is how much is enough. It was bad enough that those who pay the grand majority of the taxes have to hear that that they do not pay enough, but now we must hear that the hours, the education, and the risks they spent to make the money to pay the taxes were for naught were it not for the government that allowed them to make that money. The message is very clear here:
Your money is not yours.
The government does provide services we need in order to run a business, but we are already paying for that service. The government also has an obligation to spend that money wisely and productively and that is the side of the social contract that is not being fulfilled.
No one denies that we owe the government part of our wealth for maintaining a stable society. What the president and Elizabeth Warren fail to understand is how much they owe us.
Without the business owner or investor who is willing to sign a personal guarantee and mortgage his house, max out his credit cards, and forgo current consumption, and otherwise sacrifice and risk their wealth there would be nobody to pay the bloated government salaries, fund his golf outings and Michelle’s expensive vacations, or fund the government consulting fees paid to Warren.
In fact if we stopped working and paying taxes government could not survive very long. If on the other hand government shut down for a while the only people who would suffer are the those that freeload off the taxpayer. The rest of us would do just fine.
So, Mr. President – we are willing to pay more than our fair share if you are willing to do your job responsibly. We acknowledge we have a debt to the government. But if you had a single gracious bone in your body you would understand that you and every other government employee owes a considerable debt to every taxpayer which includes every business owner and every one of the employees who work for a living to support the entitlements and benefits that you throw around like beer cans at a frat party.
Instead of belittling those who pay the bills you may want to consider a thank you.
We are waiting.
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