What Do You Want From Your Government?

The basic decision in this year's election is whether you want the federal government to grow, or grow faster. In an effort to provide full disclosure I'll be voting for John McCain tomorrow morning when the polls open, however, if there were a candidate on the ticket who would shrink government, I'd be voting for them. And I don't mean a candidate who has no hope of attaining the presidency.

I feel like an orphan at this point. Left on the door step of the monastery by W, now 4 years later they are coming back pandering for my vote. Sad part is that just like an abused child who no matter how injured by the parent, continues to seek after their approval. Okay I'm getting off topic. Here is what I want my government to do.

1. Provide a military so powerful no one dares threaten our security.

2. Provide for a court system to settle disputes both civil and criminal.

3. Provide an interstate transportation system second to none.

4. Protect citizens abroad.

5. Ensure states make no law infringing on rights granted in the constitution and bill of rights.

I do not want my federal government to get involved in:

1. The economy

2. Education

3. Making life fair

4. Health care

5. Providing a safety net

If a state wants to get involved in those areas, great. As long as they don't infringe on your rights. What do you want your federal government to "do" for you?

I'm No Economist, But I Can Do Math

I'm going to warn you at the outset. There are a lot of numbers in this post, but I'm going to try to keep this simple. When I first heard about Obama's plan to give a tax cut to 95 percent of Americans and raise taxes to "fair" levels on everyone else I couldn't see how the numbers would pan out. So here they are. I have taken these numbers from the United States Census, National Taxpayers Union Foundation, and the Federal Government. I'll state at the outset that these are numbers from 2006 and will admittedly be a little off from 2008, but they are the most recent available when all needed information is considered. Please read this post as it is important to Barack Obama's plan for your taxes, health care, and the economic future of our country.

2006 Revenue $1,397,800,000,000 just from income tax.
Total Income is $2,407,000,000,000
2006 Expenditures $2,655,400,000,000
Top 1% AGI is $389,000 and pays 40% of all taxes.
Top 5% AGI is $153,000 and pays 60% of all taxes.
Bottom 50% make less than $32,000 and pay less than 3%
2006 population estimate 298,754,819..... 25% under 18

So let me break this down for you. There are 224,066,114 adults in the United States. 1% of that is 2,240,661 people. That means the average person in the top 1 percent pays roughly $250,000 in taxes. Remember the top 1 percent starts at only $389,000. Seems a bit extreme doesn't it. That leaves just $139,000 for raising their kids, paying their student loans and maybe even creating more jobs for other Americans. And that doesn't even include state and local taxes.

What about the top 5 percent who start at only $153,000 per year. Excluding those in the top 1 percent who have already been tallied; The average person in this category pays $31,191

How high do you want to raise taxes on the top 5 percent, so that we can give a tax cut to everyone else. Remember roughly half of all Americans pay virtually NO income taxes to the federal government. If you were to raise taxes an additional 10% on the top 5% of wage earners it would raise an additional $83,868,000,000 that is a heap of money. No question about it. But how much is that for the 95% of Americans who will get that money. That is right after raising taxes another 10 percent on those who create jobs we could cut a check to everyone else for a cool $394.

Remember Obama has also promised to provide you with health care and a slew of other spending programs that would either increase our indebtedness or come out of your 394 dollar check.

You could elect Barack Obama. You could get the check. But is it worth the damage it would do to our economy.

These are the facts. I didn't make them up. I did the math.