Chadds Ford businessman Rob King is centuries removed from a certain French manufacturer, but the two men do seem to share a basic idea when it comes to government and the economy.
It was during the 17th century, the story goes, when the French economy was in bad shape. Minister of Finances Jean-Baptiste Colbert asked a group of businessmen what the government could do to improve things. A man named Legendre stood up and said, “Laissez-nous faire,” meaning let us alone.
Jump ahead to late July 2012 and the U.S. economy is in bad shape. Two federal lawmakers, U.S. Reps. Pat Meehan and Jim Gerlach are doing much the same as Colbert did, talking with business people.
They came to Chadds Ford as part of that fact-finding trip and spoke with Mr. King, who owns and operates the Chadds Ford Tree Service. When asked what would be best for business, he told the congressmen in one word: “Simplify.”
He said the tax code, along with the mass of regulations, federal, state and local needs to be simplified.
That the tax code needs to be simplified is something that’s been said for a long time. The fact was made more manifest when it was revealed that the U.S. secretary of the treasury and the head of the IRS can’t fill out their own tax forms because the forms and the laws are too complex.
But the complexity of government today is not limited to the federal level. Encroachment comes from the local government, too. As Katharine King, Rob King’s wife, later said:
“The employer must first research what is required, obtain forms, have employees fill out forms, submit forms to agencies, set up accounts, withhold taxes, file reports and payments, and then, at the end of the year, file a reconciliation tax. And, of course, there is the threat of fines or prison if the employer doesn't follow these regulations. This is time-consuming, and it’s in addition to the federal and state taxes we are obligated to withhold and file.”
She added that permit fees, that are paid just to be allowed to work in a given municipality, are like an additional tax that only adds to the cost of doing business. If those fees are not known before a job is quoted, the business can actually lose money on a job.
Such a set up can’t do anything but lead to failure and a poor economy. As long as government sticks its nose where it doesn’t belong, as long as it continues to complicate things with a tax code that nobody understands and as long as governments on all levels continue to add thousands and thousands of pages of regulations every year that the lawmakers themselves don’t read, there will be no improvement.
The best simplification would be to get government out of the way and let people alone who are peaceful and honest and just want to make a living.
(2 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)
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