Funding Government Without An Income Tax

    Before the advent of the Income Tax, the United States government was funded by a series of taxes under the heading of ad valorem taxes Overview of Ad Valorem Taxes .  Ad valorem means "to value" in Latin and ad valorm taxes are taxes based on the value of various business transactions.  At the local government level, ad valorem taxes are also sometimes levied on ownership of certain types of personal property, like land, buildings or vehicles.  At the federal level, the United States did not tax property, only the value of imports and transactions of certain products. like alcohol and tobacco.  The ad valorem tax is still used in the United States.  They fund public education, police and fire departments in many local areas and make up a good portion of current federal government revenues.  

Why are ad valorem taxes more desirable?  Ad valorem taxes were much more voluntary.  There is no requirement that a person or business import goods from other countries, or sell alcohol or tobacco, to survive.  In the modern world, people need some form of income to survive.  Taxing income in the 21st Century is like taxing breathing or eating.  Ad valorem taxes also can be designed to match the tax to the government service more closely.  An example of this was when highways were funded with taxes on gasoline and vehicles.  More gasoline and vehicles purchased meant both more need to build highways and more revenue to build highways.  Not only is taxing somebody who walks everywhere to build a highway they will never use unjust, it leads to decisions like the famous "Bridge to Nowhere Scandal."   

The time is now to transition the United States back to its roots.  For 170 years, ad valorem, not income taxes, were the primary funding mechanism for the federal government.  It should be so again.      

California Attempts to Limit Presidential Candidates

According to a recent article in New York Magazine , the California Senate passed a bill which may have sweeping effects on presidential elections.  Targeted at president Trump, the bill requires presidential candidates to release five years of personal income tax returns in order to be placed on presidential primary ballots.  As many as 24 other states are contemplating similar laws.

There is a question as to whether such a law is constitutional.  As a general rule, individual states are not allowed to add qualifications for president not outlined in the Constitution.  That is why there are several states where there will be a presidential candidate representing an alternative party, but no other candidates of that party for other office on the ballot.   If it is allowed, expect similar bills in other states that will have the requisite "does not apply" to the "two largest parties."

Conscious Conservatives are in favor of ballot access for all candidates that meet the basic qualifications outline in the Constitution.  Manipulation and game playing with the voting process by the Republican and Democratic Parties must stop.   

Pipeline Companies Find Loophole to Take Land for Free

According to an article posted this week in on the  Forbes Magazine website, the Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to end pipeline companies' practice of taking private owners land without paying for it.

It works like this.  A pipeline company makes a low ball offer on a piece of private property.  The property owners refuse to accept the offer.  Then the pipeline company gets a court order to take the property using eminent domain, with a fair market purchase price to be determined later.  The pipeline company builds the pipeline, but never pays the fair market price.

The case highlighted in the article is that of Gary and Michelle Erb.  Gary and Michelle own 72 acres in the Susquehanna Valley (Lancaster County Pennsylvania).  The Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Company (Transco) got a court order to put a pipeline through their property, 400 feet from their front door in 2015.  The pipe line has long been built and oil is flowing, but the Erb family has not received a cent for their land.

All Conscious Conservatives should hope that the Institute for Justice prevails and that this legalized theft is stopped.