Sacrificing Our Liberty

To Government

To the Editor:

Very disturbing thought processes were on display in last week’s Editorial Ink Drops [“Government’s New Normal”], and I’d like to set the record straight before it leads more Americans to think this way.

The Ink Drops talks about political scientist Suzanne Mettler, who interviewed people to examine “the disconnect between what people believed they receive in government services and what they actually receive.” I believe Ms Mettler has a disconnect with the definition of government service. For example, included in her list of so-called “government services” were: home mortgage interest deductions; child and dependent care tax credit; earned income tax credit.

The items above are not government services. They’re merely part of the tax code. By law you must file federal income tax forms and pay income taxes due, or risk being imprisoned. The current tax laws allow all sorts of credits and deductions, as listed on these tax forms. By allowing credits and deductions, the government isn’t giving us anything — at best it’s letting us keep a bit more of our own money. (The exception being the earned income tax credit which becomes a form of welfare if the credit exceeds taxes due and a “refund” is provided.)

Since when does allowing us to keep some of our own money become misconstrued as a “government service?” The fact is, our federal government has no money of its own. Besides printing or borrowing money, the only way it gets money is to take it from the individuals and institutions that are the producers of our economy’s wealth. So tax deductions and credits are no more a “government service” than a robber who didn’t completely empty your wallet is a “service provider.”

I must also respond to this statement made in the Ink Drops, “The bad news is that we may be tempted in our zeal to shrink government to stop investing in programs that strengthen us collectively through education, preventative health care, clean environments, better engineering and maintenance of our infrastructure, and safety in our homes, workplaces, and neighborhoods.”

What makes America unique among the nations of the world is the Constitutional limits that we place upon government in order to retain our essential liberty. Unfortunately, giving control of “investing in programs” to government necessarily means sacrificing our liberty. American ingenuity and enterprise by private citizens and groups have historically shown that we are world class in “strengthening us collectively” without making this tradeoff.

Unless we quickly change our country’s course, the “new normal” is for the federal government (and in Connecticut, the state government, as well) to seize more and more power and authority over every aspect of our lives until we’re all feeding from the shrinking public trough. All we need to do is agree to hand over more of our money, our liberty, and our dignity.

Regards,

Cathy Reiss

42 Obtuse Road, Newtown                                         August 10, 2011