Back in the ribald and ridiculously profligate 1960s, we came up with sayings — dare I use the term mantras — that made sense only to us.
Try a few:
“Love the one your with,” compliments of Stephen Stills.
“Steal this book,” from Abby Hoffman.
And, of course:
“Make love — not war.”
But one of my very favorite lines was a slight twist on the traditional liberal dogma to tax the rich. We would consume them; we made signs that read: “Eat the Rich.” We thought that was so, so funny and wry and iconoclastic. Hat tip to Jonathan Swift’s satirical essay, “Modest Proposal” in which he suggested that the Irish control overpopulation by eating their own children.
Now I see the utter folly in our youthful insouciance. I am far from rich, but I am a bit older and wise enough to realize that the rich pay the taxes that finance our governmental services — from traffic lights and cops in D.C. to armies and oil spill remediation funded by the feds.
It saddens me to see that eating the rich is still taken too seriously in the nation’s capital city. The District government is facing a $500 million budget deficit. Politicians and bureaucrats are scrambling around to find money in the corners, to identify programs that can be cut, to find more ways to raise funds. As in: Tax the rich.
On Friday, D.C.’s Democratic State Committee endorsed a proposal to increase taxes on wealthy residents. It would raise the income tax rate by .5 percent for households earning more than $200,000. They would be forking over 9 percent of their annual income. And for residents of our fair capital city who earn more than $1 million, taxes would rise nearly a full percentage point and bring their annual gift to the city to nearly 10 percent.
The Democratic State Committee is a pathetic bunch, beset by infighting and inbreeding. It is not to be taken seriously. But balancing the budget by raising taxes on the rich is favored by more than a few city council members. Activists of various stripes believe that raising taxes is the best way to preserve services for the needy.
Permit me to suggest another method: Eat the government. Better yet: Eat the politicians. That’s 1960s shorthand for cut up the government, reduce its size, slice its staff. Start with the political side. If the mayor cuts social workers, as he did last week, he cuts his staff, too. Same for city council members.
The wealthy few have been paying for the D.C. government for decades. If not for taxes from them and the commercial real estate sector, D.C. would be totally broke.
It’s time to pare down government functions to the basics: cops, schools, streets, services for the most needy — and tax collectors. Gotta bring in the cash.
As for the rest of the government: Eat it.
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
