Give Me a Tax Increase!

In Nassau County on Long Island the headlines read 265 layoffs for county workers.  The layoffs certainly were not the people at the top making the big salaries but lower rung workers of the middle class who are struggling to make ends meet.  This unfortunate situation is occurring all over this country.  The claim is that county and state governments are broke and no longer have the resources to keep these people employed.  Sales tax receipts are down due to the recession and maintaining programs is just unsustainable.   But this is not the reason for the problem.   Programs can be sustainable if taxes were raised temporarily!

Think about it, Bush's tax cut was temporary for a period of ten years.  Obama extended it for two more years but it was still for a limited time.  So if a temporary tax cut is OK with the politicians, why can't we have a temporary, limited tax increase?  Not one job would be lost in Nassau County if they raised taxes slightly.  If everyone paid an extra $.25  a week those jobs would be saved.  Instead, 265 families will now be on the unemployment lines collecting money for doing nothing through no fault of their own.  It doesn't make sense!

When times are good and the government is raking in the tax revenue we should get a tax cut, but when times are hard we need to pull together as a community to prevent job loss by paying a tax. This tax increase would be in effect until the economy turns around.  The priority must be to keep everyone working because that keeps the marketplace healthy.  A slight increase would hardly be felt and could easily be absorbed by those fortunate enough to have a job.  People have gotten drastic increases in their health insurance payments, gas prices, and food costs without a complaint.  When we go to the pump, sometimes the price of gas goes up $.05 in a day!  We just pay the price and go on our way because we have just accepted this as a new normal. But if the government wants to raise taxes by a quarter percent, people are up in arms!

What if you knew that the tax increase would automatically be reduced according to the percentage of unemployment in the county?  Why can't taxes be adjusted in direct correlation to the unemployment numbers?  A rise in taxes doesn't have much of an effect on the economy because people will not change their spending habits because of a few cents more.  However, when you put hundreds of families out of work it takes its toll on the local economy, as well as the federal budget.  The psychological effects are devastating to hundreds of people's lives and their children.  Cuts at the local level hurt local, small businesses, the backbone of our economy.  When people are unemployed it causes a negative ripple effect throughout the community.

So raise my taxes and save people's jobs.  I'll gladly take one for the team with the understanding that when times get better there will be some relief in sight.  We need to pull together as a community, as a nation, and help each other in our time of need.  It must be done collectively, and it must be a temporary fix.  If we receive a tax cut during good times then we need to be adults about having a tax increase during bad times.  Stop whining about your taxes and start to think about those less fortunate people on the unemployment lines.  That is what being a patriot really means, not just waving a flag.  It is called sacrificing  for the greater good and that is what Americans do in times of crisis.  Wake up, America!