Op-Eds

One month ago was Tax Day - the day that hardworking Americans sent their money to Washington. And since taxes claim almost 27 percent of the average American’s income, most individuals worked the first three months of this year just to pay them.

Sadly, at a time when 15 million Americans remain unemployed and many more are struggling to make ends meet, President Obama and the Democrat Majority in Congress continue to advocate for policies that increase taxes and add more government spending, both of which are already out of control.

The solution is not taking more taxes from the American people. The answer is fiscal discipline in Washington, DC

President Obama and the Majority in Congress are spending the federal government into a record deficit of $1.5 trillion dollars this year alone in pursuit of an ever-expanding bureaucracy, with its tentacles in all facets of American life.

Unfortunately, the burden to pay for their plan will be heaped on the backs of American families and small businesses.

President Obama has refused to renounce the idea of forcing a Value Added Tax (VAT) on the American people and his economic team has already run the numbers. The VAT is essentially just a national sales tax that hits everyone who buys any goods - food, clothing, ect. - costing households thousands.

This European-style tax wouldn’t replace income taxes in this country. It would be on top of them.

Under a five percent VAT, a $3.70 gallon of milk would sell for $3.89. A five percent VAT would pump nearly $300 billion into the government’s reserves.

It’s time for Congress to put the American people first and simplify a complicated and overreaching tax code. The American people know that we can’t spend and tax our way back to a growing economy.