THE LIGHTHOUSE "Enlightening Ideas for Public Policy..." VOL. 3, ISSUE 15 April 16, 2001 Welcome to The Lighthouse, the e-mail newsletter of The Independent Institute, the non-politicized, public policy research organization <http://www.independent.org>. We provide you with updates of the Institute's current research publications, events and media programs. Do you know someone who would enjoy THE LIGHTHOUSE? Please forward this message to a friend. If they like it, they can add themselves to the list at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/Lighthouse.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- IN THIS WEEK'S ISSUE: 1. America's Tax Serfs and Slaves 2. National Debt Grows under Veil of Deception 3. John McWhorter Transcript and Audio Now Available ------------------------------------------------------------- AMERICA'S TAX SERFS AND SLAVES Tax Day may have arrived one day later this year, but this isn't much to celebrate given that the colonial tax burden that culminated in the American Revolution was but a small fraction of today's. Is America's tax system compatible with the land of the free? Hardly, writes Paul Craig Roberts, research fellow at The Independent Institute, in his syndicated column. "Low-income Americans face a Social Security and Medicare tax rate of 15.3 percent, a federal income tax rate of 15 percent, federal excise taxes, state income and sales taxes, and local property taxes. The combined tax rate exceeds the burden borne by a medieval serf," writes Roberts. "Upper-income Americans are exploited like 19th century slaves. The uncapped Medicare tax places the top federal income tax rate at 41.5 percent. Adding in Social Security, excise, state income and sales taxes, and property taxes produces a tax burden in excess of 50 percent." Americans' loss of financial freedom -- through confiscatory taxation -- mirrors the losses of other freedoms, notes Roberts. In recent years, this has included the ridiculous. One employer, for example, lost the legal ability -- under the Americans with Disabilities Act -- to fire an employee because grooming compulsions kept the employee from performing her work. Nor are presumably well-heeled employers the only victims of tyranny. A third-grade child, for example, lost the freedom to draw of picture of his father, a soldier, because his teacher said it promoted violence. "The United States has become a tyranny," concludes Roberts, "and it has happened on our watch." See "Bring Back Serfdom" by Paul Craig Roberts, at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-1.html. For The Independent Institute's taxation archive, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-2.html. For more on oppression in the name of promoting physical and mental health, see "The Therapeutic State: The Tyranny of Pharmacracy" by Thomas Szasz (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Spring 2001), at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-3.html. ------------------------------------------------------------ NATIONAL DEBT GROWS UNDER VEIL OF DECEPTION Without denying the fiscal achievement represented by the current U.S. budget surplus, the federal government still carries a worrisome debt load -- a whopping $5.6 trillion or about 60 percent of gross domestic product -- that taxpayers will eventually be forced to pay. Budget observers have offered dozens of explanations for why the federal government has leaned so heavily in favor of debt finance for the past five decades. But one fact may underlie the less fundamental explanations: the national debt may have grown so huge largely because the federal budget is too complex -- too obscured by government jargon and accounting tricks -- for the public to carefully scrutinize. In other words: no budgetary transparency, no fiscal accountability. How transparent is the U.S. budget? asks economist Jody W. Lipford in the spring issue of THE INDEPENDENT REVEW. His answer: not very. "Many budgetary processes and practices lack transparency and accountability," writes Lipford, "the use of off-budget Social Security surpluses to reduce total-budget deficit figures; baseline budgeting; the backloading of politically unpopular spending cuts and tax increases in multiyear budget deals; specification of unrealistic and unattained deficit targets in [the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Act] and the 1990 [Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act]; an inflated defense baseline in the 1990 OBRA; violated spending caps in the 1997 [Balanced Budget Act]; and avoidance of significant entitlement-program reform in all budgetary legislation." How does this affect political spending decisions and the national debt? "Regardless of the budget's balance, politicians will continue to use budget legislation and practices that obfuscate citizens' ability to understand budgetary provisions, monitor compliance, or hold politicians accountable." See "How Transparent Is the U.S. Budget" by Jody W. Lipford (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Spring 2001), at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-4.html. Also see: "How Big a Budget Do the People Prefer" by Earl Brubaker (THE INDEPENDENT REVIEW, Fall 1998), at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-5.html. "A New Device to Curb Big Government" by Earl Brubaker and Robert Higgs, http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-6.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- JOHN McWHORTER TRANSCRIPT AND AUDIO NOW AVAILABLE We are pleased to announce that a transcript and recording of John McWhorter's recent Independent Policy Forum presentation, "Losing the Race? Black Progress, Freedom and Independence," are now available on the Independent Institute website. If you were lucky enough to witness the talk, in person or on C-SPAN2, you know that Professor McWhorter's captivating talk is worth studying -- both for its content and for its brilliant delivery. Among the points Prof. McWhorter covered: Why a so-called dialogue on race is usually not very productive; the hidden but deeply flawed assumption about black progress held by many blacks and whites; the continuing relevance of the writings of W.E.B. DuBois; why the true message of the early 19th century race riots in Tulsa, Oklahoma, shouldn't be "Watch Out," but should be "Look at the Community We Had Built." John McWhorter's book, LOSING THE RACE: Self-Sabotage in Black America, has earned him a national following. For the transcript of his talk, "Losing the Race? Black Progress, Freedom and Independence," see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-7.html. To hear it in Real Audio, go to: http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-8.html. For more on race relations, see related Independent Institute writings at http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-9.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- THE LIGHTHOUSE is made possible by the generous contributions of supporters of The Independent Institute. If you enjoy THE LIGHTHOUSE, please consider making a donation to The Independent Institute. For details on the Independent Associate Membership program, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-10.html, or contact Ms. Priscilla Busch by phone at 510-632-1366 x105, fax to 510-568-6040, email to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>, or snail mail to The Independent Institute, 100 Swan Way, Oakland, CA 94621-1428. All contributions are tax-deductible. Thank you! ------------------------------------------------------------- For previous issues of THE LIGHTHOUSE, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-11.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- For information on books and other publications from The Independent Institute, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-12.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- For information on The Independent Institute's upcoming Independent Policy Forums, see http://www.independent.org/tii/lighthouse/LHLink3-15-13.html. ------------------------------------------------------------- To subscribe (or unsubscribe) to The Lighthouse, please go to http://www.independent.org/subscribe.html, choose "subscribe" (or "unsubscribe"), enter your e-mail address and select "Go." Copyright � 2001 The Independent Institute 100 Swan Way Oakland, CA 94621-1428 (510) 632-1366 phone (510) 568-6040 fax
