Abolish the IRS? You might as well try to abolish government itself! Hell, you might as well try to “abolish death” too. “Death and taxes,” as they say, are unavoidable — but the latter certainly can be more easily and more fairly collected.
Folks who talk about reactionary sales or consumption taxes replacing most other taxes are just repeating certain corporate and billionaire capitalists’ propaganda.
There are many ways to raise needed federal revenue that are never considered by either party. But that means taking lessons from Willie Sutton, who famously said — when asked why he robbed banks — “Because that’s where the money is!”
If you look at individuals’ “income” it becomes clear that income tax, even if it ever becomes (as it should) again very progressively taxed, cannot by itself fill modern needs. That is first of all because rich individuals don’t “earn” much and secondly because all money is not really owned by individuals anyway. How much did Trump — or do most other billionaires — declare as “income”?
No. We must go where the money is. Money worth taxing — in the tens of trillions — is tied up in various corporate and financial trusts protected by their legal complexity, often in foreign tax shelters. Other big money “legally” escapes taxation due to loopholes, special tax write-offs and an utterly outclassed IRS enforcement system. These tens of trillions of financial assets are nevertheless used, enjoyed and employed to make more money by the uber-rich and very powerful money men — without hardly any of it ever having to be declared as “personal income.”
Corporate taxes are still very important, but we also need financial taxes on transactions, including transactions by Hedge Funds and new giant almost invisible and unregulated “private capital” funds of every type. A powerful IRS needs to be empowered to go after the Wall Street “Masters of the Universe.” Backed up by powerful regulators, especially in the Securities Exchange Commission (SEC), it is possible to crack down on the growing economic oligarchy and the corruption it breeds throughout society.
Of course this requires tremendous political will, hard clear thinking, and a determination not to be sidetracked by personality politics, political ultra-partisan fanaticism, or idiotic culture wars. We need our finest minds going into industrial management and developing new technology, not into making money in the “Wall Street Casino.” The latter types should fear the IRS and SEC.
“Drain the swamp!” was just a slogan. A good one, but one put forward — with no rational economic content — by a snake-oil salesman rising out of a particularly malodorous “black lagoon.” In a very real way, most ALL of us are forced to live in that jungle swamp today. We can barely keep our heads — or our minds — above the dark waters. This is true for all races, for urban and rural dwellers, even to a certain extent for all classes of rich and poor.
Yet we remain one nation, still wealthy and powerful. We have many blessings and resources and talented people. We are just madly divided, letting ourselves get more divided by demagogues amongst us.
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