In the fall of 1786, a radical movement took place. Units of rebel farmers took to the streets and courthouses in Massachusetts with the intention to close them down and prevent judges from taking their farms because the country was in debt and heavily taxing its citizens. This event is referred to as Shay’s Rebellion.
Last week, the Senate blocked a measure endorsed by President Obama that would eliminate tax breaks for major oil companies. With major influence around the world and profits in the hundreds of billions of dollars, it is easy to demonize and oppose tax breaks for oil conglomerates.
The issue up for debate revolves around tax breaks for major corporations. Ranting on a flawed and treacherous philosophy, the president sees tax breaks as losing money and calls it a “tax payer giveaway.” This could not be more backwards. Tax breaks mean that less is collected for government purposes. The president's fault lies in the assumption that the government owns a certain portion of businesses' profit.
President Obama's erroneous view of the economy leads him to support what he says he is out to destroy: an uneven playing field. He seeks to raise taxes on productive and innovative businesses to prop up the opposite.
Green energy is the future of energy production in America. This, however, does not provide justification to forcefully take from certain businesses in order to make others profitable. The president is culpable for promoting a crony capitalist market, the very thing he vowed to weaken during his presidential campaign. His hypocritical stance is evidence to how politicians operate.
At the core of the riots and chaos of Shays Rebellion the country faced a problem that we still have not been willing to solve: inequality in taxation.
Tax policy in the United States has become a political tug of war between so-called conservatives and liberals. Hiding under the banner of equality and fairness, they advocate for special treatment for their respective cronies, seeking to further their wealth and power.
It is interesting when I meet college students who have a naïve notion of good government. The ignorant belief that with the right laws and the right people, our government can be a force of good and justice hasn’t held up throughout history. Instead, our money is spent on the promotion of “nanny” laws, like marriage bans and drug law enforcement.
Even though some say the free market is to blame, government and the cronies of politicians have always been at the forefront of inequality in the market.
Our economy is so heavily influenced and controlled by mega-conglomerates and huge corporations that a good product is not enough to succeed. One might assume a business hoping to grow must also have a team of lawyers and lobbyists in order to destroy its competition with laws and regulations. Subsidies and tax breaks are given to those that are politically connected. What is free about that?
If we want an even playing field where people prosper and where no one has an upper hand to force competition out, we must get rid of all subsidies . Government, not business, is the origin for inequality.
Reach the columnist at calfaro2@asu.edu
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