Growing government

There are a lot of people in this country who, as government grows and the economy becomes more strained, automatically assume the answer is to raise taxes. Take more money from the rich. Make them pay their fair share. When I hear this I wonder what is their fair share? Who gets to decide what their fair share is? The top 10% income level in this country is already the source of 50% of the government's income. Why isn't that enough? Why is it that people who think this way never think in terms of reducing the size of government?

Growing government is like a snake eating its own tail. Every person who works for government, despite the fact they pay taxes, represents a net cost to government. As government hires more and more people, it gobbles up its true source of income.

Let's say you are the government, and I work for you. You pay me $100 for my work. I'm in the 20% tax bracket so I give back $20. How do you, the government, make up the $80 difference? You can borrow it, or print it, but those options create economic problems of their own.

Here's another scenario. I don't work for a government entity, but rather a small business not tied government. They pay me $100 for my work, and $20 of that money goes to government when I pay my income tax. Government is now $20 richer. I have not cost it anything, but the government is going to need income from three more people like me to make up the $80 expense it incurred when it paid its employee.

Here's another concept to think about. What if I have a small retail business, but all my customers are government employees? Is my business going to be a source of income for the government? Absolutely not! The government will only get a little more of the money it spent back when I pay my taxes.

Nancy Pelosi once said that "For every $20 the government spends, it gets $24 back". She made it sound like government spending money was a good thing, but where did the $4 come from? There is only one source that I'm aware of, and that's the private sector.

The answer to our economic problems is painfully obviously to me. We have to reduce the size of government and grow the private sector. The more private sector jobs created, the more income the government will have. Mitt Romney understands this. Obama doesn't seem to, and if so, he isn't qualified to lead this nation. But if he does the implications are even more sinister. Why would he pursue a path he knows is destructive to our economy?

Levi Allen

Warden