Pennsylvania Avenue versus Main Street

The folks on Pennsylvania Avenue know how to craft their message.  They are quite good at it.  Here are some examples:

·         We are spending more than we are taking in because we are saving the economy.  We need to keep high pay government jobs or else unemployment will be even worse

·         We are going to ask those who pay taxes to pay even more because they are not paying their fair share

·         We saved the automobile industry so we do know what we are doing

·         Sure the economy is not producing enough jobs but the republicans made quite a mess of things and it will take us a while to fix them

·         We are moving toward a green economy – use less carbon based fuels and use a lot more green or non carbon based energy sources.  It will take a while.  Don’t worry about gas prices.  It’s all about the problems in the middle east

·         Health care is a universal right for all which means the federal government needs to manage it with a consistent service level across the country

·         Every female has the right to birth control, abortions, etc. and should not be required to pay for those products and services

·         Debt is an issue but not one we need to be presently concerned with

·         Society is changing and it is important that we help those who seek equal status with the established groups in our country

On Main Street, there is no one to craft a single message; just a bunch of citizens (legal and otherwise) who go to work every day; pay their bills; try to raise their kids with their eye on a combination of safety, development and acceptance into the larger community.  They cannot be too involved with green energy movements and making sure the new citizens are getting a slice of the pie that they have paid for or if the teenager next door is on the newest birth control pill, no charge thank you, or if they can fit their family in the Chevy Volt that few seem to be buying but that they are subsidizing.

On Main Street, you worry about keeping your job; hoping your gas powered car doesn’t break down; trying to save enough so you can help the kids go to college without becoming indentured servants to paying off student loans and managing to pay the bills before the credit card company charges you 18% (that’s .18) interest while the bank pays you .18% (that’s .0018) on your dwindling savings account.

So what to do?

The government wants more money to do everything they do.  They don’t dare raise your taxes directly because you can’t make ends meet now.  So they tell the well off to pay more and, in the meantime, they figure out ways to make you pay more indirectly – real estate taxes, state income taxes, fees for every license, fine, parking meter, fee and permit you are required to have or purchase and pretend that they are doing their best to keep costs under control. 

So what to do?

Well you figure it out.  But let us give you a small hint.  People are not stupid.  They know darn well what is going on and they know darn well that the government is doing just fine by its politicians, bureaucrats and millions of employees.  They have good wages; good health care benefits and really good pensions.  Main Street doesn’t and it knows it doesn’t.  It also can see through (well some on Main Street can) the misleading and mixed messages coming from Pennsylvania Avenue – the inconsistencies of do what I say, not what I do; the lack of cutbacks and frugalities from government; the excess of government workers over needed government workers.

What does Main Street do when it sees things like this?  What does history tell us people do when one group takes advantage of another group?  What does our own history teach us? 

Well here’s a hint in the form of a question.   Why are tax revenues so low as a percent of GDP even with a growing population; pretty good stock market; the rich paying a higher percent of collected taxes than ever before; overall economic growth; good exports and the government spending so much more than it has ever done in history?

Could we be seeing the beginning of a tax payer revolt?  Could some people actually be doing things that don’t produce traceable transaction records that tax authorities need to chase tax avoiders down?

Here’s one other question.  Could it be that the real estate market will not rebound until local property taxes are cut drastically to reflect the substantial reduction in home market valuations?  Who wants the burden of high real estate tax burdens to pay teachers and city/county employee’s high salaries, benefits and pensions when the taxpayer cannot afford it?  What happens when fairness is gone and one controlling group lords it over the larger population?

The battle between Pennsylvania Avenue (government) and Main Street (taxpayers) is underway.  It has only just begun.