Randy Cassingham's Blog

Posted by Deana, Kansas on April 3, 2009:

I buy it. Literally. Got a bid for siding on our house today. The man who came said he didn't realize when he started this job he'd have to become a tax expert to sell siding. *shakes head* Can anyone say Flat Tax? :P

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I can, baby! I'm all for a Flat Tax! -rc

Posted by Greg, Washington on April 3, 2009:

One point I'd disagree on. In 1513, when Machiavelli wrote "The Prince", carrying any sort of gun was uncommon. Yet he said: "For among other evils which being unarmed brings you, it causes you to be despised."

Now that could be a word choice of the translator, but the traditional definition of being armed is merely to be carrying a weapon.

Machiavelli's point, in part, was not so much that being armed gave you power, but prevented people from exerting power over you. "Because there is nothing proportionate between the armed and the unarmed; and it is not reasonable that he who is armed should yield obedience willingly to him who is unarmed."

So, not so much the culture of the gun, but the culture of power. And wouldn't you describe the feeling having to do your taxes gives you as being one of powerlessness?

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Yep. Not to quibble, but today "armed" generally means a gun. But indeed it "really" means any weapon. -rc

Posted by Vince, Virginia on April 3, 2009:

The IRS is sufficient motivation for anyone to grab a gun. I just wish that the gunmen's target lists were a little more ... refined.

;-)

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The link is a Google Maps link to the IRS's main headquarters. -rc

Posted by rewinn, Mercer Island on April 3, 2009:

Every tax exemption, exception, deception, deduction, construction, deduction, induction, injection, inspection, rejection, exception (loop til done) has a citizen insisting it is necessary, right and good. Blaming the IRS for enforcing the Rube Goldberg tax code is like blaming cops for enforcing laws (admittedly, there are both bad and good cops and IRS functionaries. That's a limitation of hiring human beings.)

Eliminating every deduction would be fine with me, although the chaos in the housing sector and howls of outrage from churches and other charities would be deafening, therefore I'd want something to make up for the loss of special tax treatment for hearing aids.

And the flattax as an alternative to a progressive tax rate is just a scam.

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I take your point about the IRS just following the laws set forth, and I agree: it's Congress's fault -- as usual. We don't agree on the merits of a flat tax; I think just about anything has to be more fair and reasonable than the current system. -rc

Posted by Carl in Georgia on April 3, 2009:

I too am all for the flat tax or any other reasonable attempt to simplify taxes and end up with everyone paying their fair share of revenue to our government. Clearly, the current system favors those who can afford tax accountants and lawyers. No one is surprised by the number of tax cheats currently being exposed among the wealthy and the politically connected. With all their advantages such people STILL nonchalantly try to exempt themselves from a duty the rest of us dutifully try to navigate correctly each April.

As for incidents of gun violence rising each April, in order to believe that to be the case we would have to ignore eleven months of similar news items, wouldn't we? I think in our age of media saturation we have become easily seduced by simple or catchy explanations ("seasonal affective disorder, suicides increase around christmas time, in anger, the guy reached for a permanent solution to a temporary problem"). In reality, guns come into play for a host of reasons, but the situation of an armed person shooting many unarmed people is the one which stumps "the experts" every time. And it surely stumps those who try to tell us how to prevent it. How many times have you read of someone proposing the idiotic notion that a new gun law would have prevented the latest outrage?! The most clear headed comment I heard about the Virginia Tech massacre came from one of the students there who said that if just one of the students in that classroom had been legally carrying a firearm, 30 other students would be alive today.

We are all stuck with the awful truth that our lawmakers have no intention of finding and implementing smart solutions to gun violence against the unarmed, nor do they have any wish to create a fair and equitable system of taxation. They are focused, sometimes exclusively, on their next election and returning favors to those who support them. Generally, I believe that WE are the so-called "missing link" between primitive man and civilized man, and will remain that way until we elect representatives who actually represent the peaceful and rather simple wishes of overtaxed and under-protected citizens.

Posted by Chris, Melbourne, Australia on April 4, 2009:

I remember when I was at school that Spring was the time when all the fights would start up. I doubt it's so much to do with the end of the school year coming up, as it is to do with the heat. As soon as it starts heating up people don't realise how dehydrated they get, and start to act irrationally and hot-headedly. Even though some shootings occurred in colder states, maybe it's the relative temperature that matters?

Posted by Bob - Sunny South Florida on April 4, 2009:

What's the rush...it's only April 4th!

Posted by Jim, Wales on April 4, 2009:

This theory could be tested by looking at other countries. Here in the UK the tax year ends 5th April, but we have until the following January to file a tax return on-line. For the past twenty years or so successive Chancellors of the Exchequer have been simplifying tax rules, so there are very few deductions/exemptions. Online filing means that the system does all the calculations for you, and once you are happy with the outcome (i.e. you're pretty sure you haven't made any mistakes) you hit the File button and it all goes through, no problem: you can even pay online by credit card. The tax people check it anyway and get back to you if you made a mistake - even if it's in their favour.

I have a complex return to make out because I have income from a lot of sources, but it still only takes me around two to three hours to do my accounts for the entire year and fill in the form. Maybe this is why we don't get so many massacres as we used to??

Posted by Richard; Cape Town on April 4, 2009:

I can't comment on the April/Shootings link, but I can tell you that in South Africa, the old multi-page multi-question tax form has been reduced to a single sheet for individuals: personal and banking details on side one, pre-printed tax information on the other (based on data given to Revenue Services by your employer); fill in any gaps where applicable; mail in pre-addressed envelope supplied or e-file and enjoy your tax refund paid direct to your bank account! Never thought I'd see the day that I actually enjoyed filing my return, which takes all of 20 minutes to complete... :-)

Posted by Sheldon, a resident of Florida on April 4, 2009:

I suppose I must be one who benefits from the current tax plan, if compared to a flat tax. As one of many who has just completed the 2008 Federal tax return, I find my 2008 Federal income tax liability to be only 11.8% of my gross income (salary, interest, dividends retirement). If I include the rental proceeds from my rental house as part of my gross income item, then my 2008 Federal income tax liability is only 10.6% of my total gross income.

To put things a bit more in perspective, my 2008 Federal income tax liability is 16.2% of my taxable income.

At this point in my life, I think I would pay more, at least at the Federal level, unless the flat rate is less than 12% of my gross salary interest, dividend and retirement income.

While you might be correct with "just about anything has to be more fair and reasonable than the current system," unless it results in a lower personal tax liability to me, I guess I would not be interested. That might be quite self-serving, but until someone else helps to pay my taxes, I have to consider the effects to my pocketbook.