Tax incentives are mandates

[dblack]

One of the things I've been railing about for years (and been roundly ignored on for years ) is the insidious practice of using various form of tax rebates (deductions, credits, etc..) as a means of manipulating society. They are the functional equivalent of mandates that carry a financial penalty.

If there is a silver lining to the travesty of the ACA, it's that it has highlighted this equivalency in all it's ugliness. Those of you opposed to the individual mandate, who defend tax policies like the home mortgage deduction, need to think long and hard about what's going on. They are essentially the same thing.

The insurance mandate tells us we must buy insurance, or pay more taxes. The home mortgage deduction says that we must commit to home debt, or pay more taxes. Same thing. All income tax deductions that aren't legitimately part of calculating net income, indulge the same corrupt practice. It allows congress to enact laws that dictate behavior (and punish those who do not comply) in ways that would never be tolerated if they were enacted honestly as straightforward laws. They're using the power to tax far, far beyond it's intent as a backdoor tool to legislate broadly.

This is what we're up against.

 

[Mr. H.]

We've only been roundly ignoring you for one year.

Other than that, nice post.

 

[onecut39]

One of the things I've been railing about for years (and been roundly ignored on for years ) is the insidious practice of using various form of tax rebates (deductions, credits, etc..) as a means of manipulating society. They are the functional equivalent of mandates that carry a financial penalty.

If there is a silver lining to the travesty of the ACA, it's that it has highlighted this equivalency in all it's ugliness. Those of you opposed to the individual mandate, who defend tax policies like the home mortgage deduction, need to think long and hard about what's going on. They are essentially the same thing.

The insurance mandate tells us we must buy insurance, or pay more taxes. The home mortgage deduction says that we must commit to home debt, or pay more taxes. Same thing. All income tax deductions that aren't legitimately part of calculating net income, indulge the same corrupt practice. It allows congress to enact laws that dictate behavior (and punish those who do not comply) in ways that would never be tolerated if they were enacted honestly as straightforward laws. They're using the power to tax far, far beyond it's intent as a backdoor tool to legislate broadly.

This is what we're up against.

You act as if you have discovered something new. Any fee charged by government is essentially a tax. The word tax, like "liberal", has been demonized into a political cuss word.

It is the political way of dealing with an ignorant electorate. A whore becomes more acceptable when called an "escort".

 

[dblack]

You act as if you have discovered something new. Any fee charged by government is essentially a tax. The word tax, like "liberal", has been demonized into a political cuss word.

It is the political way of dealing with an ignorant electorate. A whore becomes more acceptable when called an "escort".

I certainly didn't mean to give the impression there's anything "new" going on. But I do find that most people don't connect the dots. They fall for the psychological trick used to sell us on tax incentives and see them as positive bonuses rather than the overreaching mandates that they are.

The travesty of the ACA, specifically the individual mandate, is an opportunity for people, those who still have some respect for freedom and limited government, to see things as they are; To recognize that discriminatory taxation - using targeted tax policy to dictate behavior - is an abuse of the taxation power. It's an end run around limited government and has been used by Congress to expand its power far beyond what the Constitution authorizes.

 

[Ravi]

One of the things I've been railing about for years (and been roundly ignored on for years ) is the insidious practice of using various form of tax rebates (deductions, credits, etc..) as a means of manipulating society. They are the functional equivalent of mandates that carry a financial penalty.

If there is a silver lining to the travesty of the ACA, it's that it has highlighted this equivalency in all it's ugliness. Those of you opposed to the individual mandate, who defend tax policies like the home mortgage deduction, need to think long and hard about what's going on. They are essentially the same thing.

The insurance mandate tells us we must buy insurance, or pay more taxes. The home mortgage deduction says that we must commit to home debt, or pay more taxes. Same thing. All income tax deductions that aren't legitimately part of calculating net income, indulge the same corrupt practice. It allows congress to enact laws that dictate behavior (and punish those who do not comply) in ways that would never be tolerated if they were enacted honestly as straightforward laws. They're using the power to tax far, far beyond it's intent as a backdoor tool to legislate broadly.

This is what we're up against.

This is all very true which makes the current "conservative" meltdown all the more amusing. I've been pointing out for years that the mortgage deduction is just as much of a handout as food stamps but "conservatives" always strenuously disagree.

Fact is, people like THEIR handouts but not anyone else's.

 

[C_Clayton_Jones]

They're using the power to tax far, far beyond it's intent as a backdoor tool to legislate broadly.

In your personal, subjective, unsubstantiated opinion.

It has nothing to do with ‘we,’ but you’re up against the fact there is no case law in support of your position.

Yes, we know, the courts are just as culpable as legislative entities in ‘raping’ the Constitution. But case law is the only language possible to debate such issues, as it’s the sole language of the Constitution, and if one refuses to speak the language, debate is impossible.

 

[dblack]

They're using the power to tax far, far beyond it's intent as a backdoor tool to legislate broadly.

In your personal, subjective, unsubstantiated opinion.

It has nothing to do with ‘we,’ but you’re up against the fact there is no case law in support of your position.

*sigh*

Listen man, I don't give a rat's ass about your 'case law'. I'm talking about right and wrong. I'm talking about the principles of equal protection and limited government and how discriminatory taxation is a gross violation of those principles. I'm talking to people who care about these issues. I know that you don't, so I don't expect you to agree.

 

[Leweman]

deductions are just a way of complicating the tax code to employ more bureaucratic dickheads and for the govt to hold more power over citizens

 

[dblack]

deductions are just a way of complicating the tax code to employ more bureaucratic dickheads and for the govt to hold more power over citizens

They're more than that. They are backdoor legislation dictating our behavior in ways that Congress could never get away with via real laws.

If Congress passed laws requiring us to have children, to take out home loans, to "buy green", to go to college, to buy hybrid cars, etc... or be penalized for refusing, then it would be more obvious to all of us what a gross abuse of state power these incentive games really are. But re-framing it in that way wouldn't change the effective nature of the "incentives" one bit.

Tax incentives are mandates. And they've been snuck in on us as we slept to massively expand the power of government.

 

[TruthSeeker56]

You act as if you have discovered something new. Any fee charged by government is essentially a tax. The word tax, like "liberal", has been demonized into a political cuss word.

It is the political way of dealing with an ignorant electorate. A whore becomes more acceptable when called an "escort".

You are comparing, and confusing, a "penalty" with a "tax".

Of course, to most liberals, a tax and a penalty are the same thing, so I fully understand your "logic".

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for earning money.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for spending the money they have earned.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for driving a motor vehicle.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for owning a home.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for owning a business.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for being SUCCESSFUL, period.

 

[uscitizen]

Mandates sound so gay....

 

[LilOlLady]

This country has always been about mandates. Every tax, law, rule and regulation is a mandate on someone. Obamacare is just one of them. Taxes are mandates.

 

[LilOlLady]

Mandates sound so gay....

I know how old you are.

 

[uscitizen]

Mandates sound so gay....

I know how old you are.

Older than some dirt but younger than most rocks.

 

[uscitizen]

Ted Haggard had a mandate for a massage.

 

[dblack]

You act as if you have discovered something new. Any fee charged by government is essentially a tax. The word tax, like "liberal", has been demonized into a political cuss word.

It is the political way of dealing with an ignorant electorate. A whore becomes more acceptable when called an "escort".

You are comparing, and confusing, a "penalty" with a "tax".

Of course, to most liberals, a tax and a penalty are the same thing, so I fully understand your "logic".

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for earning money.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for spending the money they have earned.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for driving a motor vehicle.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for owning a home.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for owning a business.

Liberals believe that people should be PENALIZED for being SUCCESSFUL, period.

The key point here is the belief that the tax code ought to be used as means of controlling us, rather than limiting it to the purpose of financing government. It seems obvious to me that the framers never intended it to be used as an ad hoc system of fines and penalties. The fact that both major parties have embraced this practice has obliterated any real limits on government power.

 

[dblack]

Good to see I'm not the only one noticing:

Changing society one tax at at ime - The Hill's Congress Blog

Last month, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act by defining the individual mandate as a tax. The ruling focused on a technical explanation of the individual mandate, with Chief Justice Roberts noting in his opinion: “…it is reasonable to construe what Congress has done as increasing taxes on those who have a certain amount of income, but choose to go without health insurance. Such legislation is within Congress's power to tax."

In essence, the Court endorsed the practice of lawmakers encouraging or discouraging individuals to change behaviors through the tax system. Whether you believe that this is good health care policy or not, most would agree that it’s lousy tax policy. The propensity of our legislative branch to correct the social system through tax breaks and penalties has created a national tax law that is unfair, unnecessarily complicated, and economically inefficient.
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