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The purpose of taxation is to fund the activities of government, so defining the proper role of government will naturally determine the amount of money required to fund these activities and the kind of tax system necessary to generate it. Under the United States constitution, the role of the federal government is to act as an impartial, neutral broker whose responsibilities are to protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, which means administering justice, enforcing contracts and ensuring national and individual security.
Because government is run by people, money creates power and power tends to corrupt, the government’s ability to tax should be limited and the tax system impartial, something like a flat rate income or sales tax. The more power that the government wields, the more corruptible and corrupt it becomes, communism and socialism being the obvious examples. So the problem with a progressive tax system is that the government becomes a tool of social engineering by rewarding groups and behaviors which it favors with tax breaks and subsidies and punishing those it disfavors with high taxes and penalties.
President of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, Star Parker
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