TAX CODE

With the nation’s Independence Day celebration coming up, it is time to make a few changes which would streamline our government.  One such change is the tax code.  For years our leaders have been squabbling over taxes.  Where to get tax money, how to spend tax money, who to tax and how much.  The government has been taxing  citizens and corporations based on income and revenue generated, then taxing again on spending. Their (government) spending is based on wants instead of needs.  The system outlined in the following could solve this problem.

The first problem to tackle is spending. Like any grade school student should learn about a pie chart, you only have one pie. The number of pieces you cut that pie into doesn’t matter as long as you don’t try to take more pieces out of the pie than exist. Some pieces may only be slivers but they are still in the same pie.  Once a slice is eaten, you can’t borrow from another slice, you can’t borrow from a future pie that might be made, it is just gone.  Therefore, when you’re slicing the pie, be very careful to realize that another pie wont be made until the following year. 
Next year’s pie may be bigger or smaller and if adjustments need to be made to the size of the slices, they need to be decided on at least two months before the next pie is presented for slicing.  With all of the technology we have today, it should be fairly easy to estimate the size of the pie within that time frame.  Only slight tweaking to the allocations can be made once the pie is presented and the exact size is known.  Again, you only get one pie a year. When each department gets their slice of the pie, it becomes their personal pie to slice and they, too, only get one pie.
 If the system is implemented when a deficit exists, the deficit will be allocated a slice and all slices will be adjusted accordingly over a reasonable period of time until the deficit is paid.  If there is a surplus, this is put into the next year’s pie and allocated accordingly at that time. If any department starts with a deficit or a surplus, they too will follow this procedure.  The object here is balance.  Deficit is bad.  Surplus is great. Spend only what you have, save when you can, owe nothing.  Credit is not an option.

The second problem is fair taxation.  Whether it is corporate verses personal income tax, rich verses poor, or anything in between, everyone should pay their fair share. But how does one decide what is fair.  This should solve the problem of fairness:
Do away with corporate and individual income tax and impose a one cent per roll tax on toilet paper and paper towels as well as one cent per box on facial tissue.  This is something everyone uses, it is a renewable, recyclable resource (with the exception of toilet paper) and is something that is most generally wasted.
There would be no corporate tax cuts or loopholes for the rich.  If you use it you pay for it.  If you have a need for more and feel that the tax is an imposition because of a physical ailment, just consider the fact that you are doing your part and illness falls on the rich and the poor alike. 
More people would have to consider the foods they eat to achieve a healthy balance to cut down on their tax bills. Health conscious and fastidiously conservative people would inevitably pay less in taxes, but would cost the rest of the people less in the long run due to lower health care bills.
Of course, there are alternatives to all of the paper products mentioned.  One could use handkerchiefs instead of tissues, dish towels and kitchen towels instead of paper towels and whatever a person may try to use to substitute for toilet paper.  This may be looked on by some as rebellion, but in the paper society, this would only be extreme conservation of natural resources.  If you are willing to resort to those measures to avoid taxes then you deserve some recognition for your efforts.
As ridiculous as it may seem, stiff penalties would need to be imposed for anyone caught stealing any of these products from other homes or businesses.  A $1000.00 fine and community service should suffice. There may be a need to create a special task force to monitor such activities nationwide as theft rings may begin to operate and black marketeers begin to emerge.  One suggested name for such a task force: Public Oversight Of  Paper  or P.O.O.P. for short.
The paper tax would not only help to reduce the ever increasing obesity problem which creates a multiplicity of healthcare issues due to poor diet, but could also reduce needless waste in our landfills.  We have become a throw-away society. We use it up and throw it away because we know there will always be more. Not only could we reduce the waste in our landfills and improve the health of the nation, but, if balance is applied to diet and to government spending alike, we could wipe out the deficit in no time.

© MC Andrews, 2013.