By Robert F. Sanchez, JMI Policy DirectorTags: Taxes, Health Care, Inflation, Small BusinessesA reporter queried JMI regarding an article on the steep tax hikes coming next year, when the “Bush tax cuts” expire and more Obamacare provisions take effect. Our view:July 4 brought a timely reminder that America’s quest for independence began as a tax revolt. Now government’s insatiable appetite is again threatening to deprive productive citizens of an inordinate share of the fruits of their labor.The feds’ untimely money grab will further weaken the private economy in the midst of a recession. Small businesses, which historically have generated most new jobs, are especially vulnerable – not only to higher taxes, but also to the costs of the approaching blizzard of added paperwork. Florida, with its many retirees dependent on savings, investments, and the future sustainability of Social Security and Medicare, is especially vulnerable to these harmful effects, which could deepen the recession.While Washington is preoccupied with the Gulf oil spill, neither national political party has paid enough attention to the federal budget’s gusher of red ink, which could rekindle inflation and further undermine the private economy by causing the cost of borrowing to skyrocket.The cure for chronic deficits isn’t higher taxes that weaken the private economy’s ability to generate tax revenue; rather, the cure is prudent reductions in runaway spending by governments at all levels. A place to start pruning is the excessive pay and lavish benefits enjoyed by many public employees, whose average salaries, health care, and pensions far exceed those for persons in comparable private-sector jobs.
