“The multiplication of public offices, increase of expenses beyond income, growth and entailment of a public debt, are indications soliciting the employment of the pruning knife.” Thomas Jefferson
Many years ago, a newspaper columnist, Donald Kaul, from another paper, made this statement: “No man’s person or property is safe while the Iowa State Legislature is in session.” I think he was telling us that: once in session, the state legislature was no longer mindful of the real cost of the legislation being passed. This may have been true at the time. I think our Iowa State Legislature and our governor have decided to change this perception. Together, they have been making decisions that reflect genuine concern for the taxpayers.
In recent years the Iowa State Legislature has been passing tax relief, over and over again. According to Iowa State Senator, Brad Zaun, in 2018 the legislature reduced Iowa’s top income tax rate.
Zaun also reports that in 2021, the Iowa State Legislature passed a billion-dollar tax cut package providing tax relief to small business and individuals. This legislature also provided both income tax rate reductions and eliminated state tax on inheritance income.
Finally, Zaun reminds us that in 2022, the Iowa Legislature passed the historic flat tax and eliminated taxes on retirement income. The income tax is scheduled to be reduced even further in the next few years.
While reducing the tax burden, the State of Iowa continues to enjoy a cash surplus.
According to information from the organization, “Iowans For Tax Relief,” our Union County Supervisors have kept spending and taxation below the rate of population growth and the rate of inflation.
The Union County Assessor is in the process of adjusting property valuations based on the recent state-mandated re-assessment.
We need to encourage our county, city and other property taxing authorities to not consider the new property valuations as a “windfall” opportunity to increase property taxes without an increase of the rate.
Actually, our state and local officials have done a pretty good job of providing the services we both need and are required by law.
The federal government, on the other hand, has been an extremely poor steward of the public purse. It almost seems like the federal government has looked at Jefferson’s admonition as a challenge.
Our federal government has created a myriad of ‘alphabet’ agencies to guide, assist and control the American citizen, our American businesses, of all sizes, and even our daily lives and the choices we are allowed to make in the public market place. This is known as the Administrative State. I call it Leviathan.
Leviathan is a mythical beast, similar to a dragon, or a sea-serpent. Leviathan is evil, powerful and invincible. Leviathan wants to control all aspects of our lives. Leviathan demands obedience.
The administrative state has all of the characteristics of Leviathan except one. The administrative state is not mythical. It is real, it is dangerous, it makes its own rules and it does want to control our lives.
The administrative state is similar to what Thomas Jefferson warned us of, over 200 years ago. It seems like our federal government has never seen a program, an agency or a tax that it did not like.
Ever since Woodrow Wilson, the administrative state has continuously grown. There is always supposed justification for this growth. There is a war against foreign enemies. There is a great depression. There is runaway inflation. There is an unlawful concentration of economic power. There is an arms race with potential foreign adversaries. There is discrimination against a minority group. This group, or that group, is in need of government assistance. The climate is changing. The excuses are endless.
All of these, and other, reasons are used as justification to increase the size of the federal government. The un-elected administrative state is close to a perpetual motion machine.
We have ignored Jefferson’s admonition. The result is an immense amount of useless expenses, runaway taxes, a huge, largely uncontrollable, bureaucracy and incredible public debt.
Today, we have to say: “No man’s person or property is safe while the United States Congress is in session.”
We have to ask: where can we find a really, really big pruning knife?
Mike Lang, Chairman, Union County Republican Central Committee