The Defense of the Progressive Tax System

[El Prezidente Kaboom]

I find it interesting when conservatives call for bringing back the draft, especially when their also for flat taxes...
The key word in the Selective Service draft is 'Selective,' it does not apply equally to everyone... there are standards in place for enlistment, voluntary or otherwise. The young and healthy are disproportionately responsible for the defense of the nation.
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And how fair is that? I know a few old soldiers down at the VFW who would love to die on the battlefield. Why don't we call them up, instead of sending my buddies to the sandbox? Who cares if they're in wheel chairs? We can suicide bomb the enemy with our elderly! Come on! Let's Roll! It'll add a whole new dimension to the term MISSION CREAP!
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What? Uh...No. That was Raoul Duke talking. I don't know what's going on. Damn ghost in the machine. Weird paranormal sh$t, here. You'll have to excuse me.

Obviously...a physically fit fighting force makes for a strong national defense. The military discriminates against those who are not up to their standards, and for more than just reasons that pertain to health and fitness. Despite what that demented, libertine sports writer might think, sending the elderly into combat is not a good idea, but we see his point. If the burden of military service is unequal, if it falls squarely on the healthy and the young, then how can a tax system not fall unevenly, according to means?

Sure, military service is voluntary..currently, but the military does not accept all those who 'volunteer,' and to even say that we have a 'volunteer' military is simply not true. After all, it's not like the folks in uniform get shot at for free....take away the military's pay and see how fast they turn their guns on the government. Military service, however patriotic the motivations of the enlisted, is still an extreme form of wage-slavery. After all, it's not like members of the military maintain the ability to negotiate their pay, besides mutiny. It's take it or leave it, and they are wholly under-compensated for the risks that they take on. And obviously, coercion and seduction is used in filling out the ranks of a 'volunteer' fighting force. Often, the deciding factor in the decision to sign up is not Patriotism. Many are seeking an opportunity, a way out of a desperate situation. And in holding the keys to a better life for many individuals, the military uses its leverage to get the most out of them.

“Be All You Can Be” translates to 'Do what we tell you to do for as little as we can get away with paying you to do it.' Geez...I sound like Alvin Greene, or is it Joseph Stack? I don't know, but according to the Good Doctor, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro,” and our national psycho-politics seems to illustrate his point, more and more every day now. We are all headed to the Edge. Socrates warned it would come to this. Democracies are always driven to madness.

Right now there's a song on the Red, White, and Blue airwaves....by Billy Cuddington..the lyrics go, “God is Good, Beer is Great, and People are Crazy.” It is truly an anthem for our time, mood-music to calm the common impulse shared amongst the reckless and the dejected to form the Big Bad Gonzo Mob. But my, my..I have led us astray on quite the detour here. This defense of the prog. tax system has taken strange turns, indeed, and I apologize for the turbulence.....but remember, you are never lost inside the Whirlwind, not when you're in the hands of El Prezidente Kaboom.

I can assure you, this is no bogus report. The facts are all assembled. I found them in the Encyclopedia of ole Common Sense...

1.

Flat taxes do not satisfy all the complaints regarding taxes. Progressive or flat, such taxes still have to be collected, involuntarily.
2.

We do not require equal military service commitments from all Americans, regardless of their difficulties in meeting such obligations. And we don't require an equal percentage of taxes paid by all Americans, regardless of the hardships that face. And both for good reason. For the former, it would make for a weaker, sluggish national defense, while the latter would bankrupt the Treasury, and do more harm to liberty than good.

The real problem with our tax system is that it's not progressive enough....

Those making a quarter-million are taxed the same as those making $25 million. We should devote additional high marginal tax brackets to deficit reduction, now. Reducing government debt will force banks to focus on the real economy. When big profits are already secure in servicing government debt, why would they risk them? Lending to even credit worthy borrowers requires more work on the banks part.....fundamentally speaking, lending to the public is riskier than lending to the government. Reducing government debt will help facilitate real economic expansion...but the only way to do so, is to RAISE TAXES ON THE RICH!