ArcaMax

America’s annual rituals and observances include days we usually celebrate together (July Fourth, Memorial Day, Veterans Day), or as members of special groups (Passover, Easter and Christmas).

The one annual ritual it can be safely said most Americans despise is April 15, when the half of us who pay federal income taxes must “render unto Caesar” portions of our hard-earned money to a government that wastes much of it and dislikes exposure and accountability. It’s why Elon Musk and his band of DOGE warriors are despised by the Left and the misspenders.

Two constitutional amendments have been especially hated by the public. One was the 16th Amendment that was ratified on Feb. 3, 1913. It granted Congress the authority to impose and collect taxes on income. Before then the government raised money through tariffs (sound familiar?) and excise taxes.

The 18th Amendment prohibited the manufacturing, sale and transportation of intoxicating liquors. That amendment was repealed in 1933. The 16th Amendment remains, allowing Congress to continue its intoxication with our money, bilking those “millionaires and billionaires” Democrats love to attack, although some of them are wealthy. How did some become millionaires on low six figure salaries?

The largely indecipherable federal tax code is incredibly complex – so complex that it covers 6,871 pages. If tax regulations are added – the Treasury's official interpretations of the tax code – the number of pages climbs to 75,000. One needs instructions on the instructions to understand it, which has kept tax accountants in business for decades.

The Internal Revenue Service is only partially to blame for this annual annoyance. Bureaucratic regulators who add to laws passed by Congress, and Congress itself, which grants deductions to some, but not others, are the real culprits. While DOGE is exposing some of the waste, fraud and abuse in government, it won’t be fully stopped until two things happen. First, Americans must rely less on government and more on themselves. Responsible decisions in one’s personal and financial life mostly guarantees that government will be less likely a first resource and more likely a last resort.

Second, the people who have tortured us must be shamed. In Puritan society shaming, or public humiliation, was a common practice. Its purpose was to enforce moral standards and maintain social order. Today, almost nothing is shameful because most standards have been discarded.

Members of Congress, who voted for spending and programs that are now being exposed as unnecessary and wasteful, should have shame heaped upon them. This would include “earmarks,” which is spending by members for favored projects that have not gone through the proper budgetary process. Public shaming might force members to be more responsible with the power and purse they have been given and put the country’s interest ahead of their personal interests, which include re-election.

As I have repeatedly argued, every Cabinet agency and most government programs have been established by a charter or legislative authority. If agencies and programs are achieving their purposes and goals and their work can’t be done less expensively and more efficiently by the private sector, we keep them. If not, we get rid of them. DOGE has begun that process. Simply firing people won’t fully solve the problem. The value and success of these entities must be examined for their cost and efficiency. The ones that are not performing must be shut down, otherwise a new Congress and a new administration could fire them up again and we will be back where we started.

An unhappy tax day to all who pay income taxes.

========

Readers may email Cal Thomas at tcaeditors@tribpub.com. Look for Cal Thomas’ latest book “A Watchman in the Night: What I've Seen Over 50 Years Reporting on America" (HumanixBooks).

©2025 Tribune Content Agency, LLC.