Read The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It Amity Shlaes 9780156011525 Books

Download As PDF : The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It Amity Shlaes 9780156011525 Books

Ever since Colonial times, Americans have been bedeviled by high taxes that seem to return little of material value to citizens. Taking a page from Thomas Paine's "Greedy Hand" manifesto, Amity Shlaes has written a provocative and fascinating book exposing the inequities of our present tax system, and offers concrete, coherent solutions to simplify our lives. Today, taxes make up more than a third of our economy, the highest level in peacetime history. We truly live in the land Paine foresaw when he warned of government "thrusting itself into every corner and crevice of industry." This book is a cultural examination of the way taxes influence our behavior, and how they force us into an arbitrary system that punishes families and individual enterprise. Shlaes shows how so-called tax breaks do little to help families and how married women are unfairly taxed more. She uncovers the problems that engage and enrage us, proving that Social Security issues and school inadequacies are at heart tax problems. And she charts a course out of the madness of tax oppression, offering a number of solutions that will give each of us a fairer, simpler system. With compassion for Americans and their dreams, Shlaes makes the best case yet for rethinking our tax code.

Read The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It Amity Shlaes 9780156011525 Books

"All Americans should read this eye opening account of Federal Governments insatiable appetite for imposing unnecessary tax burdens that seldom does not even solve the problem, but then hurts many to benefit a few. The tax code is riddled with help for some people but usually creates behavioral changes that defeat it's intended purposes. Most important to me is how much of our liberties and privacy is sacrificed while the government invades everything we do and own. A simple flat tax would be far more fair and does not require the invasion of our lives and property.

All freedom loving Americans will be angry as they read this and demand changes!"

Product details Paperback 288 pages Publisher Mariner Books (February 28, 2000) Language English ISBN-10 0156011522

Tags : The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It [Amity Shlaes] on . <div>Ever since Colonial times, Americans have been bedeviled by high taxes that seem to return little of material value to citizens. Taking a page from Thomas Paine's Greedy Hand manifesto,Amity Shlaes,The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It,Mariner Books,0156011522,General,Taxation,Taxation;Law and legislation;United States.,Taxation;United States.,Business Economics / Personal Finance / Taxation,Business Economics / Taxation / General,Business / Economics / Finance,Law / Taxation,Law and legislation,Personal Finance - Taxation,Political Science,Political Science / General,Politics/International Relations,Taxation - General,United States

The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It Amity Shlaes 9780156011525 Books Reviews :

The Greedy Hand How Taxes Drive Americans Crazy and What to Do About It Amity Shlaes 9780156011525 Books Reviews

• Most Americans do not like our current tax structure, and most in that camp recognize that the country is greatly overtaxed. In "The Greedy Hand," Amity Shlaes notes that the complexity of the system is one of its features that most riles Americans—she recalls the occasion on which 45 accountants got 45 different answers when trying to prepare a sample tax return (and exactly 45 calculated an incorrect return amount), leading even law-abiding Americans to wonder constantly if they are really on the good side of the tax laws.
  
  Shlaes takes the reader on a grand tour of the tax system in this volume, providing a bit of the history behind taxes in the United States and then delving into state sales taxes, Social Security payroll taxes, school property taxes, and how taxes affect a citizen's mortgage, marriage, and death. Medicare and the challenges of senior citizens trying to live on a fixed income are also examined.
  
  The book was written in the late 1990s during the Internet boom/bubble—the author made a comment about the "political hypersensitivity" of the late Nineties, which was, of course, mild compared to that of the late Teens, and the superb solutions to taxes and the welfare state suggested in the book were suited to and proposed in a much more optimistic time than our own. Dated as it is, “The Greedy Hand” is still a worthwhile read for Americans who want a better understanding of the behemoth that Americans feed far too lavishly each year.
• The history of U.S taxation is not well-known by most Americans, yet taxation affects all of us and plays heavily into current political debates. Simplistic notions of "kill the beast" (lower taxes) or "soak the rich" (raise taxes) do not do justice to the complexity of our tax code. In this magnificently written (I could hardly put it down) history, Amity Schlaes expertly tells the fascinating story of U.S. taxes, and lays out a sensible plan for keeping the government going while helping us all to escape the clutches of Thomas Paine's "Greedy Hand." I highly recommend this book for all those who care about our country, and especially those of us who are tired of the polarizing politics of political grandstanding and demagoguery. A great book!
• All Americans should read this eye opening account of Federal Governments insatiable appetite for imposing unnecessary tax burdens that seldom does not even solve the problem, but then hurts many to benefit a few. The tax code is riddled with help for some people but usually creates behavioral changes that defeat it's intended purposes. Most important to me is how much of our liberties and privacy is sacrificed while the government invades everything we do and own. A simple flat tax would be far more fair and does not require the invasion of our lives and property.
  
  All freedom loving Americans will be angry as they read this and demand changes!
• When George Washington was president, taxes were few. Since then, times have really gotten expensive. The 20th century especially was an arms race between the governments in the United States and its citizens to determine who would control the citizens' income. Government was on the offense and the citizens were on the defense. The citizens lost to date. Taxes went from less than 5 percent of income to 40 percent over that time. Most would agree that we cannot afford another century like that one.
  This book nicely lays out the history of taxes that take more income and waste a lot of time and effort in the process. The author looks at sales taxes, withholding taxes at work, the marriage penalty in the income tax, whether the housing deduction for interest and taxes is a good thing or not, the problems with taxes on domestic help, property taxes and school support, the social security system, and estate taxes.
  She doesn't like much of what she sees, and is concerned that reform could simply lead to adding new types of taxes (like a national sales tax while keeping all of the old taxes).
  The newer the tax or tax idea, it seems like the worse it is working.
  Her solutions are basically principles to be followed in reforming taxes. I doubt if they will be followed anytime soon. Recent polls show that most Americans are concerned about paying off the national debt and fixing social security before doing anything about cutting taxes.
  Although most of her observations were good ones, I was a little doubtful about her automatic focus on the high income people being taken to the cleaners unfairly. There was not as much attention paid to benefits that lower income people may be receiving.
  If you spend time thinking about how to keep your tax bill down, there's not much new in this book. If you are new to all of the ways that government helps you spend your money, this is a good introduction to the subject.
  The book is well written and pleasant to read. The only drawback I found was that it was a little depressing to be reminded of how much I actually pay to all of the various governments. Every year, I find April 15 more and more depressing.