Despite my long career as a cynic, I am still often surprised by things that should have been obvious.  A couple of recent examples:

• A number of folk seem to have recently discovered, to their collective horror, that there is no constitutionally-guaranteed right to vote in presidential elections.  Gee, I wonder how this could be?
• Allegedly intelligent candidates for the highest offices in this land have lately been heard arguing about whether, or how much, corporations should be taxed.   (Personally, I want to tax the Sun for causing global climate change — but, I digress.)

There are other, equally strange examples but these 2 will suffice for this particular rant.  My responses…

OK, who took my federal election voting right?

As so many have recently discovered, our Constitution is silent on the subject of voting in federal elections.  There is an extremely complicated reason for this — namely that there are no federal elections.  Since there are no federal elections in the United States, the Founders saved a bit of ink and parchment by not addressing the matter.  Seems they were content to leave the voting problem, like so much else, to the States.  For more, please watch the Government category.

So, next time you hear a discussion about the right to vote in federal elections, perhaps you should ask what country the questioners refer to?

You might as well try and tax the wind…

Rather than discuss if or how much a corporation should be taxed, I prefer to ask: Can a corporation be taxed?  The instant answer is no (I cheated – I already knew that).  Why, you ask, can’t we tax these fonts of greed and evil?  For the simple reason that they are artificial constructs.  That is, they exist only because we say they do.  Allow me to share a little known secret.  Only the producers can be taxed.  This is because they are the only source of new value in the economy, also the only valid basis for the issuance of new money which, after all, simply reflects the new value injected into the economy by the producers.  Oh, before I forget, ALL the producers are humans.  Folks.  Creatures just like you and me (hmmm… now that I think of it, they are you and me).

But there are taxes on all sorts of things and entities you argue.  And of all the things that deserve taxing, corporations have to be at the top of the list!  Sorry.  Nice try but not true.  Corporations are not humans.  Yes, they employ humans, their activities are directed by humans, but they are not human themselves, ergo, they cannot be taxed.  This brings us to dirty secret number 2.  While non producers cannot actually PAY tax, they can be involuntarily enlisted by your government as unpaid COLLECTORS of tax.  And, you must admit, this is an almost magic trick.  The government taxes the (word of your choice) out of you and me, all the while making us think someone or something else is paying.  Not especially ethical but darned clever.

I have an idea that would save an enormous expense while making America even more productive.  Why don’t we demand an honest and accurate accounting from our corporations then, otherwise, leave them alone to create the jobs that create the wealth of our nation?

So, next time you hear would-be leaders debating if or how much to tax corporations, please ask them to explain exactly how that works.  Inquiring minds want to know.

Tweet This Post 

Hello and welcome.

The first thing a new visitor might wonder is, why the name “Return to Common Sense”?  This reflects my thinking that most of the issues of our day can actually be understood by the application of what is usually called “common sense”.  (Don’t ask me where that name came from because, in my experience, it is anything but common.)

The point is that any rational individual, using only their native intelligence, sans any extended or specialized education, should be able to grapple with real issues.  For sure, there are many in politics, the media, and academia who would have you think this is not true but, I assure you it is.

Yes, you might occasionally have to break down really complex issues into their component parts (that is, into units small enough to be dealt with), but this is no real task.  Simply approach things like you would the task of eating an elephant… nobody reading this is capable of eating an elephant in one bite.  But all of us should be able to eventually devour the beast one bite at a time.  Dealing with issues is no different, plus, you don’t have to develop a taste for elephant!

You might also notice, from the above, that I attempt to inject a bit of humor — perhaps outright silliness — into my otherwise weighty pronouncements.  This is intentionally done to remind both you and me that I am not to be taken too seriously.  Even though the topics I hope we discuss here are often deadly serious.

Bloggers Note:

There exists a book named “A Return to Common Sense”.  There is no connection whatever, excepting recycling of a clever phrase, between that book and this blog.  In no way should the book’s author, editors or publisher be held responsible for anything contained herein.

Tweet This Post 

Tweet This Post