“The people are hungry: It is because those in authority eat up too much in taxes.” – Lao Tzu
The rallying cry of the American Revolution, “No taxation without representation,” leaves us with the impression that taxation was the primary irritant between Britain and the colonies. Yet few people realize, taxes in the colonies were much lower than taxes in Britain. The central grievance of the colonists was not paying taxes to a foreign government on many goods and services, the colonies believed that since they were paying taxes to the king, they should have a voice in government.
This makes one wonder how wise King George really was? If a little representation in Parliament could have prevented a war for independence, why didn’t King George have the wisdom to realize this? In drawing attention to the role of representation as a spark for revolution, they note that the average British citizen who resided in Britain paid 26 shillings per year in taxes compared to only 1 shilling per year in New England, even though the living standard of the colonists was much higher.
There were proposals to settle the colonial crisis peacefully, most notably by Thomas Pownall and Adam Smith. Smith, for example, proposed “a system in which the political representation of Great Britain and America would be proportional to the contribution that each polity was making to the public treasury of the empire.” Such proposals were rejected by the ruling coalition in Britain.
Two hundred years ago, The Stamp Act Congress met in New York and condemned the Crown for taxation without representation. The colonies told the English they had no right to tax anyone who had “skin in the game” if they had no voice in government. They held this as an abatement of the rights of the governed and demanded: “Give us a voice in the rule of law, or take this tax and shove it!” The English repealed The Stamp Act but the colonies soon discovered this olive branch would quickly turn into poison ivy when Parliament indiscreetly passed the dreaded Declaratory Act.
The Declaratory Act reaffirmed the British held all rights to tax their subjects without their consent. The colonies learned the hard way about representation. It took almost a decade for them to realize they had been hoodwinked by the British, which led to the revolt in Boston Harbor in 1773. Since the end of the Revolution, Americans have had taxation with representation (or at least that is what they think) but they have spent decades tying to figure out what they gained or even lost.
So what is so great about taxation with representation? This establishes a powerful taxing authority composed of politicians, not the people. It empowers a body of men who love to spend our money and sets in motion the machinery by which the sum total is to be expended by them, not us. Nothing that politicians do registers its effect upon its constituents so swiftly as the levying of taxes.
It is for this very reason taxing entities take refuge in those taxes, which are least noticeable to those who pay them. But when this is no longer possible, they simply increase their government borrowing, which is merely another way of taxing everyone to pay off future government deficits. We’ve grown accustomed to government taxing and spending. We’ve forgotten this is our money?
In 1764, James Otis wrote “the very act of taxing, exercised over those who are not represented, is formally depriving them of one of their most essential rights, as freemen; and if continued, this is the disfranchisement of every civil right.” In May 1765, Virginia’s Patrick Henry said in the Virginia Resolves, “taxation without representation was indeed the basis for a revolution.” And the colonies listened. They took a stand: No representation no taxation! “Parliaments are in all cases to declare what is good for the whole; but it is not the declaration of parliament that makes it so.” – James Otis
Today, millions of Americans pay taxes to a government that passes tax increases through shell games to take more money from them without calling it a tax. Obamacare was only made legal when it was elasticized as a tax by the high court. Yet we never approved any tax hike nor did our representatives. Public certitude at all levels of government today is at historic lows. This is a by-product of Americans believing they are paying for things they never authorized or wanted. And it has become abusive. “Worse than a corrupt government is an incompetent one.” – Victor B. Accioly
Enlightenment thinker Thomas Paine was so adamantly opposed to our system of representative government he was banned from the Convention. He theorized that representatives would end up voting the way they wanted to support an expansion of government at the expense of the people. And this would entail the collecting of more taxes to do it. He wanted all laws that increased taxes placed on a ballot for the people to approve or deny them. This would ensure they were approving new taxes they found beneficial. This would be the only way people could control a government.
The vast majority of Americans have forgotten that “taxation without representation” isn’t just a relic in high school social studies. It’s a real deal and going on in all levels of government. Governments are agencies of political relationships, not relationships with constituents. People only have a voice in new taxes if they have a referendum. But even then, they play hide and seek from the enraged taxpayers, disguising taxes as fees, inflated property assessments, fines and new permits for everything from A to Z. “If government were a product, selling it would be illegal.” – P. J. O’Rourke
If we consider local government is the most accessible, you’d think we have the loudest voice and best representation there. But this is not the case when civil servants are allowed to run for public office. We have two strikes against us the day they are elected. They are collecting two paychecks from taxpayers. How can they serve two masters? This is blatantly apparent when they raise taxes to build an unpopular civic monument and vote on municipal budgets. Each involves “your money”, and “their department’s money”. Guess who wins this uncivil chess game of hide the tax hike? It is not the taxpayer! Of course, “We have the best government that money can buy.” – Mark Twain
The oldest tax in the U.S. and the most unfair is the property tax. Biannual reappraisals always go up even if the market is down. It is the financial cow for local governments. Most of the times these appraisals are not true market value. When people appeal these ludicrous assessments, there are complex, expensive, time consuming hoops for homeowners to jump through if they appeal their taxes. They are not allowed to use data obtained from a bank appraisal, comparative home values or information they discovered on their own. This is the most impudent kangaroo court in America.
It is not the tax people fear, but the trickery and deception how it is achieved. More times than not it is taxation without representation. This unilateral demand is depressingly common as governments clamor for ways to secure more revenue for their ever-increasing spending. It should be evident to fair-minded people that the involuntary extraction of taxes from those who do not stand any benefit from a tax is tantamount to public theft. “For a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle.” – Winston Churchill
This article was originally published at www.thecentersquare.com
