The stubby phrases ~ incomplete sentences, after all ~ stand in for complete paragraphs of meaning. They sound snappy and hit the comprehension bulls eye. Or do they?
Short cut news reporting is an attention grabbing style that is now well established as a news format. If more data is added it seems superfluous. The longer the verbal report the less interest it retains. Age demographics support this notion and news programs specifically targeted to viewers under 30 are quick moving, filled with flashing lights and action, and quickly move among several topics in short order. Depth of material is lacking but the viewer gets the sense of what happened. The why is left dangling.
Also left out is context. What’s that you say? Well, it is the sense of where and how a story fits in with the rest of our complex lives. What does this story relate to? Why is it important? Was there a story preceding this one that gave rise to the current item? Where is this topic likely to go in the near future? And why are we reporting this to you at this time?
Context. It cannot be successfully provided in a sound bite. It takes more than a few words. It requires a bit of history and some effort to communicate time and place roles tied in with the story. Think of this as a living essay on modern life being played out in real time. How do we cover that intelligently in a sound bite?
Let’s use an example. A recently televised debate among Republican presidential hopefuls included a sound bite campaign proposal from Herman Cain. It’s his “9-9-9” proposal. It stands for 9% personal income tax, 9% corporate income tax, and 9% national sales tax to replace the current cumbersome federal income tax code. Sounds good, right? Simple? Take another look.
Very few individual taxpayers pay the stated rate for their category. The reason is a number of deductions and exemptions are applied before the tax is calculated. So a 12% rate actually may work out to be 7%, or maybe even as low as 0%; in some cases a credit occurs with the option of taking it in the form of a refund check or a prepaid credit for next year’s taxes. Same for corporate taxes. By the time exemptions, loopholes and other fast hand tricks are applied, corporations pay a much lower rate on their income than 9%. [Recall General Electric’s zero taxes paid on $14 billion of profit in 2010.]
Now for the national sales tax. None exists currently. State, county and municipal sales taxes exist but they support government expenses from those jurisdictions. Does Candidate Cain expect those taxes to continue while adding a national levy of 9% on top of those tax rates? Does this mean we might be paying as much as a 20% tax on common sales transactions? Yikes!
Here is another point to consider: regressive tax levies and the damage they do to those least able to afford paying such taxes. The logic goes like this:
· Low income person expends all of his income for living expenses
· This means he pays taxes on all of his income and sales taxes on all outflows with no net income left over
· Wealthier person uses less of his income for basic living costs
· Even after these costs and taxes he has net income to do with as he pleases
· Taxes paid on left over income only occurs as he spends it on something
Under this scenario the poor get poorer and the wealthier remain wealthy. Sure they both pay taxes but only the lowest income group loses. The upper income groups pay less in taxes under Cain’s proposal, but they still have an economic gain from the proposal. Corporations probably will pay less than they do already, making this attractive to them.
The bottom line is two-fold: the government will receive fewer dollars and deficits will grow; and the allure of simplifying the tax code is a worthy goal.
As to the latter, the entire tax code in my opinion needs to be simplified for ease of calculation and understanding. It should be first designed to produce the same amount of income for the government before efforts to reduce spending or deficits are attempted. Let’s get the tax part designed better first. Then let’s work on the other goals.
The current tax code is a horror of complexities which have grown over time as politicians have played games with it. Pure and simple. Those who are unimportant to the politician are not favored under this system. Those who do have impact on power and political donations are favored by the complexities. All manner of detail is hidden in the dark shadows of the tax code.
A lot of work needs to be done before a “9-9-9” plan is workable. The sound bite is misleading, as are most debates. They rely on sound bites and fast moving talk. They don’t rely on wisdom, history, logic or analysis. That takes a lot of words, more time, and a willingness to engage in meaningful dialogue.
The stakes are high, too high, for us to take short cuts with truth and fact. Let’s slow it down and develop insight before making important decisions. We all have a lot to learn from each other. That requires patient focus as well as a trusting spirit to enable collaboration. Dare we demand this of our news organizations and elected officials?
Yes. Before it’s too late.
October 14, 2011
Well put, George. I would add that, in addition to context, there needs to be honesty, a clear distinction between facts and opinions, and an ability to have real conversations about philosophies underpinning ideas. Of course that also means people need to be educated (as Jefferson said, Democracy will only succeed if the people are educated and informed). Unfortunately, in our "teach the test", and increasingly out-of-reach college costs, we will be faced with a growing population that is good at responding to information it is fed, rather than thinking and contextualizing it.
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