True North

I don't know what's worse — progressives thinking Minnesotans are too dumb to make an obvious connection between cause and effect or Republicans who think the way to Minnesotans' hearts is through the bile duct. Case in point: the controversy surrounding DFL Senate candidate Al Franken's failure to pay $53,000 in taxes in 17 states.

"This man is not fit to become a United States senator," said state Republican Party Chairman Ron Carey, according to the Pioneer Press. "Al Franken's credibility is really suspect at this point."

For the record, Ron is a friend of mine. We serve together on the board of a nonprofit organization. I'll have to ask him if he considers my credibility suspect: I've filed an amended tax return each of the past two years — once because I owed the government more than I thought I did, and this year because I discovered I owed less than I actually paid. And I guarantee my income is not nearly as high as Franken's, and my tax returns are not nearly as complicated.

Franken's past provides plenty of fodder for legitimate criticism of his ability to handle the job of U.S. senator. Twisting Franken's tax problems into a character issue wastes the opportunity to make a larger point while still hoisting Franken on his own petard — Franken's liberal policies support a tax system so complex even he isn't smart enough and good enough to navigate it.

And gosh darn, people don't like that system.

In his book "Do As I Say  (Not As I Do): Profiles in Liberal Hypocrisy," author Peter Schweizer notes that the essence of liberal hypocrisy is it imposes impossible-to-follow regulations on the country, which liberals themselves avoid — or, as in the unhappy case of Franken, inadvertently fall victim to. Victimization seems to be the story that Franken supporters are going with.

On his personal blog, "Across the Great Divide," Charlie Quimby, who also writes occasionally on behalf of progressive think tank Growth & Justice, says: "I'd wager at least half the U.S. Senate could not walk you through their tax returns, and if I found one senator's return without a signature from a professional tax preparer, I'd be shocked. ... Except for those stalwarts who do it for a living, filing tax forms and keeping up with regulations is minutia."

Quimby cites his own reliance on others when filing his tax return.

"Meeting this (out-of-state) obligation no doubt cost me more than I paid in tax," he writes. "Was I aware I owed this tax? Only because my accountants told me so. Did I pay the correct amount? I have no idea and even less interest in reworking my accountant's computations ... If a problem turns up, I'll address it."

Sorry, Charlie. If Franken is a victim of tax system complexities, the tax system is the bad guy.

What about the rest of us poor schmucks trying to earn a living and comply with that system? Not all of us can ignore the minutia and deal with tax problems as they come up. Not all of us have people. Not all of us can afford to spend more to satisfy government than we actually owe in tax.

And by the way, God bless HR Block, but every dime American taxpayers pay for tax preparation creates no new wealth and only sucks money from more productive uses.

Not coincidentally, a major cause of the complexity of the tax system is the taxing philosophy that Franken and the folks at Growth & Justice promote. They push a tax system that is "fair and equitable," which is a moral, not an economic, approach to tax policy. Whether the beneficiary is the proverbial "little guy" or "a level playing field" for one industry vis-a-vis another (the GOP version of "fairness"), such policy piles exception upon exception to ensure everyone "pays their fair shares," regardless of economic consequences, for the venerated "common good."

What actually makes a tax system fair AND economically sound is that it is uniform, easy to understand and comply with, and not used to reward and punish individuals and industries that please or tick off the powers that be.

If Franken is the victim of a complex tax system, then so are the rest of us. It is a system Franken and his people created (albeit with more than a little collaboration from the moderate GOP). He's got the means and the people to deal with it. The rest of us don't.

Franken's sin is he either doesn't care or hasn't given us plebes a second thought. Were I a progressive, I'd probably whine, "It's not fair."

Craig Westoveris a contributing columnist to the Pioneer Press Opinion page and a senior policy fellow at the Minnesota Free Market Institute (www.mnfmi.org). His e-mail address is \n This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

This column originally appeared in the St. Paul Pioneer Press May 7, 2008.\

Cross-posted at Minnesota Free Market Institute.