Taxing Time

I thought from the time of my waking today, that I owed an obligatory blog on the onerousness of the tax code: It is April 15th. I am anti-tax. Connect the dots. My concern was that I couldn't think of anything worth writing about.

Now, it will be necessary to betray an uncomfortable truth in order to get to my point. I expect you will all overlook this transgression and focus on the object of my compelling argument.

Thank you.

Today on "The View", the topic of taxes was of high interest. Whoopi Goldberg, as moderator, brough the topic to the fore. She lamented the dozen or so taxes and fees affixed to the typical cell phone bill, and she lamented the injustice of paying more in taxes simply because she is famous (by this she means rich).

According to Whoopi, it is unjust that someone who makes $1 more than someone else should pay a higher tax burden. I was highly attentive and on the edge of my seat. What would the bleeding hearts on the panel say to this most conservative of tax arguments?

Joy attempted to subvert Whoopi's argument by maintaining that she had called the "Danish Consulate" and learned that the Danes pay 50% in taxes, but unlike Americans receive a host of social benefits not worth repeating. Her fundamental comparison was that Whoopi pays 50-60% in tax and so do the people of Denmark. Why then, she asked, do we get so little in return?

Of course the answer is that in Denmark 50-60% is the average, while here Whoopi is in the top eschelon.

The important take-away for me is that all is not hopeless. Everyone seemed to "get" Whoopi's point about the injustice of paying more just because you make more. They also were sympathetic to her cell phone illustration of tax nickel and diming. From this I have to believe that the American People remain fundamentally fair-minded and apoplectic as regards the tax code. The idea of a flat tax was unabashedly advocated by Whoopi Goldberg on "The View" whether she realizes it or not, and I find this very heartening on this tax day.