Academic

TAD DEHAVEN: The Something-for-Nothing Quandary. Most of the debate over extending the Bush tax ?

By Glenn Reynolds

TAD DEHAVEN: The Something-for-Nothing Quandary.

Most of the debate over extending the Bush tax cuts has focused on whether to extend slightly lower marginal rates for higher earners who already bear a huge burden. But at the other end of the income spectrum, a growing share of Americans don?t pay income taxes. Indeed, the Bush tax cuts increased the share of U.S. households that pay no income taxes. . . .

As the price of something drops, the demand increases. For a growing share of Americans, government services are effectively ?free,? so they are demanding even more and policymakers are giving it to them.

Everyone — at least, everyone who votes — should pay something and that something should go up or down with federal spending. Some earlier thoughts on that here.

Full post as published by Instapundit.com on September 16, 2010 (boomark / email).