Should Nevada borrow tax structures of the states everyone is fleeing?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE DATED DEC. 16, 2001
THE LIBERTARIAN, By Vin Suprynowicz
Should Nevada borrow tax structures of the states everyone is fleeing?
Here in Nevada, the Governor's Task Force on Tax Policy held its first meeting Wednesday, and it's already clear Chairman Guy Hobbs will have his hands full reining in those who see this as an opportunity to hand the state bureaucrats a new blank check to "Spend, spend, spend."
Mandalay Resort Group Vice President Mike Sloan -- a task force member -- cited "repeated studies" purportedly showing "The state is going to have a budgetary imbalance at some point if we rely on a narrow tax base" (the favored euphemism of the hour for "not enough loot.") The casino boss then adds that there's a "growing sense" the state is failing to meet educational and health care "needs."
But the perceived "needs" of those who seek free schooling, food, shelter, and health care can never be "met," of course. Set up a table offering "free sandwiches," and see whether anyone ever says, "No thanks, I've had enough."
The flaw here can be traced back to the Assembly Concurrent Resolution which called this task force into being -- a pretty good imitation of the piteous sound issuing from a basketful of blind and hungry kittens, penned by Assemblywoman Chris Giunchigliani and launching into blatant falsehood by the time it gets to its 28th word, where this entertaining document asserts "The rate of growth of Nevada's population is much faster than the rate of growth of its public revenue."
(In fact, any schoolchild capable of working out percentages can determine that, since 1987, state revenue growth has exceeded what would be necessary to compensate for population growth and inflation combined in every year but one.)
The task force is then instructed to determine "optimal tax rates" by a set of politicians who refuse to admit that even 90 percent rates should be disallowed, in a resolution that rounds off with repeated euphemistic calls to "broaden the tax base" and "stabilize the tax base" ... echoing nary a word of Mr. Madison's stern warning that "No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be laid," nor Mr. Jefferson's sage advice that government must not "take the bread from the mouth of labor."
Instead, emulating the classic Roger Corman film, it's all "Feed me, feed me!"
From this starting point, it should come as no surprise that commission members were soon suggesting Nevada model its tax structure on those of other states.
"Where do people find revenues in the other 49 states?" asked Mr. Sloan, ignoring the fact that Nevada's 38 percent reliance on a gaming tax could render such comparisons considerably misleading (or does Mr. Sloan mean to suggest that we should adopt their prohibitions, as well?)
The task force should look into the tax structures of "Ten states with better quality of life and ask them about their situation," echoed Henderson real estate heir Brian Greenspun, also a task force member.
Apparently Mr. Greenspun is unaware that most Nevadans were not born here, but rather moved here on purpose. It is therefore reasonable to assume that many would agree there are no other states with a "better quality of life," or they would have moved there ... especially if freedom (including the freedom to keep what we earn) is placed at or near the top of the list of "qualities" sought, considerably above "better recycling programs" and "free cheese."
This nation was built on two powerful notions: that government at any level should have limited powers -- not a blank check to raise as much revenue as necessary to "meet everyone's needs" -- and secondly on a notion called "federalism," which meant that aside from their cooperative efforts on a small number of matters they could not handle alone (like raising a Navy), the several states would remain sovereign and free to do things differently, facing would-be tyrants with the prospect of free citizens merely "voting with their feet," moving to a freer, lower-tax environment any time they desired.
Why do the task force members think Nevada -- where residents pay no state income tax and are free to own machine guns and carry pistols and smoke in taverns and frequent casinos and bordellos -- is the fastest growing state in the union?
If New York or California tax their citizens at twice the rate of Nevada, in order to offer such "services" as additional "code enforcement officers" to protect endangered rats and block home-building and leaf-blowing and outdoor smoking and barbecue grilling, then those who prefer such a level of "service" should simply be advised to move there. If they reply that they can't find work there, or affordable housing, the correct might be: "Gee, that sounds almost like they're doing something wrong, and we're doing something right ... doesn't it?"
Before they go much further down this path, Mr. Hobbs might want to assign his task force some homework, starting with Friedrich Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom"; Walter Williams' "More Liberty Means Less Government"; and Canadian historian Charles Adams' "Those Dirty Rotten Taxes: The Tax Revolts that Built America" ... perhaps winding up with New York Timesman Henry Hazlitt's classic "Economics in One Lesson."
Book reports due Jan. 16.
Vin Suprynowicz is assistant editorial page editor of the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the author of "Send in the Waco Killers". Subscribe to his monthly newsletter by sending $72 to Privacy Alert, 561 Keystone Ave., Suite 684, Reno, NV 89503 -- or dialing 775-348-8591.
Vin Suprynowicz, vin@lvrj.com
"When great changes occur in history, when great principles are involved, as a rule the majority are wrong. The minority are right." -- Eugene V. Debs (1855-1926)
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed -- and thus clamorous to be led to safety -- by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -- H.L. Mencken
