"The Gaping Maw Of Government"

Rob Tracinski over at The Intellectual Activist Daily writes:

Those who accuse the Democrats of a policy of "tax and spend" get it backward. The Democrats never figure out where the money is coming from before they spend it. They always spend it first, point to the resulting fiscal disaster, and then demand higher taxes to pay for the runaway spending.

In fact, the really crushing burden of government spending comes from a program created more than 70 years ago: Social Security. We're still raising taxes to pay for the spending commitments Congress made in 1935.

Here's the latest ominous news: increased chatter about piling a national sales tax on top of all of the existing taxes, as a way of paying for Obama's new socialized medicine scheme. No, I don't think we will see this national sales tax soon. Congress will spend the money first, and only then will they get around to figuring out new ways to tax us for it.

The worst part about a national sales tax, by the way, is not just the fact that it will funnel more private money into the gaping maw of the government. Consider also the sheer economic disruption of creating a totally new kind of tax, which will require individuals and businesses to rethink all of their economic plans. That's enough to create a recession all by itself. (Also read Once Considered Unthinkable, US Sales Tax Gets Fresh Look)