Time to put on My Pseudo-Intellectual Hat

First of all, full disclosure and a disclaimer.

When I leave my job in December money will be tight enough for us to qualify for food stamps. Under the Obama tax plan (should it go through in time to be used for 2009 Tax Returns) my family would probably benefit directly.

What I’m about to say is meant to be a philosophical argument. Ultimately taxation is not really theft, and the fact that one chooses to live someplace with a representative government where taxes are levied and collected does imply consent to be taxed.

But here’s the thing.

Taking something that I haven't earned is stealing.

Taking something that someone else took from somebody who earned it is receiving stolen goods.

The tax plan that the blue states are voting for will result in, according to a report on NPR this afternoon, a "direct payment" to roughly the bottom third of tax filers (people who right now get pay no tax and get full refunds at the end of the year). That's right, 30 to 40% of people who file tax returns pay no income tax at all.

The "refundable tax credit" means they (and probably I) get a check that contains more than what was withheld in taxes. Sure I can use the money, but taking it is wrong.

That extra money came from someone who might not have been willing to give it up. Someone who spent roughly 2 1/2 hours a day, every day, working to do nothing more than hand those wages over to me.

That's the problem I have. To me, this tax plan looks like the government is brokering stolen goods.

Also at the core of the argument for me is the question “Why should I work hard if I’m not going to be any better off than I am now?”

After all, what's easier (and for that matter which do you value more)- working hard and earning an extra three, four or five thousand dollars or just having faceless donor write you a check?

That ends the philosophical portion of today’s discussion.