April showers may bring May flowers, but sadly not everything’s coming up roses for the American taxpayer. Today is “Tax Freedom Day,” the day when the average person has made enough money to pay his or her tax burden for the year. It is ridiculous that hard-working Americans labor on average 111 days (about 30% of the year) just to make enough to pay the government before starting to keep what they earn for the year. The U.S. tax code not only takes too much, it is also far too complicated: at 14 million words, it is 10 times longer than the Bible. Unfortunately, it doesn’t contain any good news, unless you have the money to hire an expensive lobbyist to carve out a special crony capitalist favor for you. For these reasons and many more, I have been a consistent and vocal supporter of simplifying the code and decreasing the tax burden that Americans currently spend close to a third of the year bearing.
If you listen to the political discussion in our country very long, you will inevitably hear some lawmakers repeat one of their favorite lines – that all of our country’s budget problems would be solved if only we increased taxes. But our old friend across the pond Mr. Churchill once said, “a nation trying to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket trying to lift himself up by the handle.” History has shown the truth of this statement: increasing taxes increases government spending and crowds out private sector investment, diminishing our prosperity. Although we already spend nearly one-third of the year to pay our taxes, that does not satisfy the big government advocates’ insatiable appetite for more spending.
You may be interested to know that recently, Republican members of the House and Senate released tax reform proposals that would reduce tax rates, close loopholes, and make the tax code fairer, simpler, and flatter. While I have not endorsed any one plan, I am pleased to see this debate progressing. It is my hope you will join the discussion on Twitter or Facebook using the hashtag, #TaxFreedomDay. As always, if there is any way that I can assist you, or if you are interested in receiving regular updates about my work in Washington, please visit my website, foxx.house.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.
Sincerely,
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