O'Dowd Politics

Should Citizenship be Free?

The title of the post probably harkens up thoughts of immigrants sailing into New York harbor or perhaps visions of Mexican immigrants pouring over our southern border.  My intention however is to consider whether or not people who live in the greatest country on earth, and who benefit every day from the privileges that millions of men and women only dream to enjoy, should be able to live with no personal contribution to the government that protects their life, liberty, and prosperity every day.  Recent studies have shown that 45% of individuals who filed taxes payed not one dime to the federal coffers.  Conservatives like me may think “Great!  At least someone wasn’t robbed blind by Uncle Sam.”  I beg to differ.

There is a legitimate purpose for government and we all, regardless of political views or party, recognize that freedom isn’t free and that the federal government is necessary to protect us from those who would do us wrong.  In my view, the proper role of government doesn’t stop there–Washington has a role to play, as is outlined in the Constitution, in commerce, promoting science and research, the post office and roads, and a variety of other duties that we take for granted every day.  Without the government in its proper role, there would be anarchy, we would have no economic system, and the strong would lord over the weak.  Do we need a well-funded federal government?  Absolutely.  Now back to my question: should citizenship be free? Absolutely not.

One of the major reasons we are in this fiscal mess is the law of givers and takers.  If the taker can require the giver to give, then the taker will always take until the giver has nothing more to give.  To make matters worse, when takers outnumber the givers, the giver will be exhausted of resources much faster and there will be nothing but poverty throughout our land.  Today we are not quite there.  45% of taxpayers are takers and 55% are givers although this doesn’t account for the many who do not file taxes.  This must change.

We can argue and debate about what the percentage needs to be for each tax bracket, and how much more the rich should pay than the poor but I have a simpler solution and one that will go along way toward achieving a balanced budget in this country–ensure that everyone, including my friends who are poor and who gain thousands of dollars a year from Uncle Sam simply because they have children, pay at least $1 no matter how small their income is. If everyone is a giver, and nobody is mooching at tax time, we will have a much better outlook on our country’s balance sheet.

Today a dollar isn’t much.  You can buy a large soda or a king-sized candy bar for a dollar or go to the 99 cent store and load up on tons of junk but how much is your freedom worth?  Go ask the Jews who lived in Nazi Germany or even those who lived in slavery in our country’s darker times–I’d bet a dollar that they’d trade you that candy bar for their freedom any day, and twice on Sunday.

O’Dowd