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Show Take more, spend more The Utah Taxpayers Association has an interesting job: it seems they have given themselves the duty of showing how deen into debt the country is spending itself while taxpayers carry heavier and heavier loads via their wallets. The UTA released descriptive figures just this week. Briefly they include: --Total taxes in Utah now take over one-third of our income. The 1976 tax burden was $2,275.6 billion (with a "B"). There are property taxes, the UTA explained, income taxes, sales taxes, gas taxes, franchise taxes, liquor taxes and "a whole host of hidden taxes." --Utah taxes since 1969 have shot up 97 percent. Between 1975 and 1976 taxes jumped $250 million. --The federal tax man is the biggest collector, 57 percent of the total. Direct federal tax collections in Utah have increased 114 percent since 1969. --Here's the "clincher," the UTA said, "On a per capita basis we pay taxes of $1,853 for every man, woman and child in the state of Utah for the support of government govern-ment at one level or another. Back in 1969 this per capita burden was but $1,102." -The 1976 federal gross debt was $640.4 billion. And, the UTA claims, right now Americans are paying collectively more taxes than all of the world put together. "We suggest," the Tax Association closes its report, "that the people of Utah be concerned with the federal budget. Not only for the taxes it is costing them, but for the inflation it breeds. They must not forget that every federal gift, grant and dollar of debt must be paid for both in taxes and inflation-there is no free lunch." Now, we at the Record have never been accused of being "doomsday-oriented" and we don't want to start a precedent. But that is a viable suggestion. And viable logic. But still a bit frightening. "CAN W YOU KfP THE RED TAPE ?" |