One of my many objections to the Internal Revenue Service, as I have written before, is its distance from its original function, which is to raise money for use by the government.

As a Libertarian, I find its basic function offensive enough; but the IRS has now strayed into the dodgy area of trying to manipulate behavior.  We give tax breaks to citizens for adopting children, investing in certain industries, giving money to charities, and buying medications, among others.

Mind you, I think that giving to charities and adopting children are noble behaviors.  I just object to my government mixing behavior modification with fund raising.  I object to my government indulging in behavior modification at all.

The current heated debate among our legislators about extending tax cuts seems to me to be the classic embodiment of this dichotomy.  Some of them want to keep the tax cuts for everyone.  Some of them want to keep the tax cuts for only the less wealthy.  Where to draw the line that determines who is more wealthy and who is less wealthy is the only item still on the agenda, and will almost certainly be the tool of compromise.

Wealthy people in our culture are, after all, always suspect.  They’re probably evil and exploitive, don’t adopt children or give to charities, and got their money by cheating more deserving folks.  And since we can’t find a way to legally modify their behavior, at the very least we can make them pay a larger part of the shared expenses.

Posted by Sharon under Libertarianism | No Comments »