Rethinking taxation

(The following is based on some comments that were published in the Wayne Independent a few weeks ago...)

During the 2004 campaign, I penned a bit of Seussian doggerel that included this verse:

The question should be, "Are our taxes assessed
In a way that is fair, and that spreads the load best?
So that no one is overly fiscally stressed
And no one rides high on the backs of the rest?”

The definition of “fair,” of course, depends on who’s being asked. Some rich folks, most notably Warren Buffett, support progressive taxation – making richer folks take on larger shares of the tax burden. “I see nothing wrong with those who have been blessed by this society giving a larger portion of their income back to the society than somebody that's working very hard to make ends meet,” Buffett has said. Other rich folks – well, you know.

Some folks (Mike Huckabee for example) push a simplified national sales tax – the so-called “Fair Tax” – to replace the national income tax. “Georgists” want to only tax land value. Some like taxation being targeted to shape social behavior (as in, for example, the so-called “sin taxes” or the hotly-debated “carbon tax”), while others find that reprehensible.

As opposed to the "fair taxers," who would put all their eggs into the VAT basket, I think it makes sense to have multiple revenue streams.

But let me also suggest a completely different way to think about the question. In keeping with Green principles of decentralization, community-based economics, and grassroots democracy, let’s have all taxes be local.

Let municipalities collect all taxes within their borders – and then let the municipalities pay counties, counties pay states, and states the Federal government, for services as respectively rendered. If a governmental entity at whatever level has needs that outstrip its resources, let them consult with their wealthier peers to arrange loans or grants as needed (rather than having such redistributions be the result of the unsavory "sausage-making" in the next higher level of legislation).

Then the answer to the question “What is the fairest way to tax?” becomes simple: whatever way the members of a given community democratically agree works best for them.

Welcome to "Mendler for... Whatever"

Hi! My name is Skip Mendler, and I am not - repeat, not - running for any political office.

I'm not even contemplating forming an exploratory committee.

However - should you find yourself in need of someone to vote for, I would be available to fill various offices for which I might be qualified, and I'm happy to offer myself as a write-in candidate for - well, whatever. (Hence the title of the blog.) I do have some opinions, and some of those would even qualify as political positions - and some of those are actual policy suggestions. I'd even be willing to serve if I happened to win an election... to something... somewhere... But, of course, I'm not running for anything in particular, did I mention that?

Different kinds of ideas are appropriate for different kinds of political offices, from the local to the global. So in this blog I will post position statements that would apply to campaigns for various offices - if I were to be running for anything, which as I said before I'm not.

Some of these positions will be weighty and serious, and some might appear, well, kinda frivolous at first glance. But eventually, I hope you'll see how they all hang together to form a coherent viewpoint.

State- and local-level positions are generally written with my particular neck of the woods in mind. (I live in northeastern Pennsylvania, in a small rural county just outside the "NY Metro" demographic area.) Nonetheless, you might find them applicable to your own area as well.

Feel free to respond to these ideas with platform planks of your own. Part of my purpose here is to get ideas out of my head and in front of your eyes so that they might engender ideas in your own head in turn. Enjoy!