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Show Up to "The People Back Home" Taxes constitute the major item in both individual and corporate budgets. Nearly one-third of all our earnings earn-ings are syphoned from our pockets into the public till and spent by our public officials. We pay more in taxes than we do for food. Year by year the tax burden continues to increase. Since 1932, our tax load has increased from $8,458,-000,000 $8,458,-000,000 to $85.000.001 1,000, with payroll security taxes included. in-cluded. This is a ten-fold increase. Even then, government operated in the red to the tune of $4,000,000,000. Measured on a per capita basis, the respective figures are $65.84 in 1932 and $514.31 in 1952. In the same period per capita public debt increased from $313 to $1,840. This will have to be paid by future taxes. A big shift has taken place. In 1932, 55.8- of all taxes were locally imposed. Government was near home. Now the figure is 11.9'y. This does not mean that local taxes have decreased. The contrary is true for they have jumped from a total of $4,716,000,000 to double that amount or to $9,400,000,000. It simply means that other taxes have increased at a more rapid rate. While local taxes tax-es doubled, those for state purposes increased five-fold or from $1,851,000,000 to $9,833,000,000. The Federal take shows the biggest increase of all. In 1932 such taxes amounted to $1,891,000,000 compared with $59,650,000,000 in 1952. On a percentage wise basis, federal taxes jumped from 22.3 of the total to 75.6. This means that now the federal government is three times as costly as all state and locally financed services. Centralization has gone on apace from local to state and from state to federal. It is true that much of the federally collected money is spent by local governments through grants-in-aid, hatchings, etc. The truism, "He who pays the fiddler, calls the tune", is manifest. Our federal government has become be-come all powerful in our affairs and in our lives. It is government gov-ernment from afar. Of necessity, it means government by bureaus. Bureaus are directed by "bureaucrats" good and bad. Regulations and controls, "orders in council", "interpretations" "inter-pretations" and rules prevail. We are becoming "Roman Provinces." Centralization trend must be reversed. "Return government to the people" has become a strong reeling in our country. To keep government near home can be accomplished only by levying and keeping taxes near home. But, many of the most lucrative tax sources have been mined, primarily, by the federal government govern-ment and to a lesser degree by the states. This is what may be done. States must cease to run to Washington Washing-ton with out-stretched hands. They must assume greater responsibility in managing their own affairs. The areas of federal aids and grants and services, must, therefore, be reduced. |
