TAXES: Follow the money

Here are a few things to chew on, fellow Idahoans.

First, did you realize that governmental employees add nothing to the tax base in the United States? That’s right! Although they pay taxes, their taxes are paid with our (we civilian’s) taxes since our taxes pay their wages.

More to the point, most of our tax base comes from non-governmental enterprise, and our politicians and governmental employees only add tax monies garnered from the wages that we civilians pay them.

Of course, many governmental employees are necessary and create value because they keep us safe and/or add to the success and prosperity of our society. These employees (and others) include teachers, police officers, firefighters and our military.

Governmental employees more in question might include elected officials, administrators and bureaucrats. Their value is sometimes harder to justify, especially in times like these. Some (i.e. Jay Inslee) should be more thoughtful when making decisions about closing the businesses that literally feed our government’s existence.

We in Idaho should be thankful that common sense mostly prevails here. While all around us, thousands of businesses closed and millions of Americans lost their jobs due to governmental overreach and misinformation, cool heads from conservative leaders persevered and most will survive in Idaho. A heartfelt thanks for that!

Finally, why are we sending checks to people who didn’t lose their job (including most governmental employees)? Why didn’t we just send checks to people on unemployment and help the businesses that formerly employed them?

DAVE PULIS

Coeur d’Alene