Have we reached the point in

this still-new experiment we call the United States that we're afraid

to make a real, positive change?

Are we in danger of atrophy

from shear fear of too much success?

It's quite possible, and the

tax cut that finally made its way out of Washington is a good example.

If you are of one mind, you

may consider this an extreme tax cut, but it's not. Consider the two extremes,

and the middle ground where we now stand, and ponder whether we're making

any real progress.

On the one extreme you have

those who hate tax cuts. Some hate them because they feel there is so

much good that the government could be doing, should be doing, and tax

cuts prevent that. Others, though you'll never hear them say it, hate

tax cuts because their lust is for power, and having less of your money

to spend as they please gives them less power.

Whatever their motives, if

these people had their way there would be no tax cuts, and in fact taxes

would be much higher than they are now. Government would control much

more than it does now, and would provide much more in services than it

does now. Socialized health care is the prime example.

These folks like the European

system, in which the government takes care of one's basic needs from cradle

to grave.

On the other extreme you have

Libertarians. Perhaps even more extreme would be anarchists, but anarchy

doesn't count, any more than nihilism counts as a true philosophy. Nihilism

is the absence of philosophy, and anarchy is the absence of government.

So, the Libertarians will suffice

to represent the furthest extreme in terms of philosophy of government,

and their tax cut would make President Bush's plan look like communism

in comparison. In fact, they would run their entire model of the federal

government on excise taxes and tariffs.

That government would have

no Department of Education, no HUD, no Fannie Mae, no Park Service ...

a multitude of federal bureaucrats would be out looking for real jobs.

And the Libertarian Party's military would be about a tenth the size it

is now.

There would also be no war

on drugs, and pretty much whatever you wanted to do would be legal as

long as it didn't infringe on anyone else's constitutional rights. Legalizing

drugs and prostitution is where many conservative members of the Republican

Party often part company with Libertarians.

If you are capable of honest

reflection, you'd be tempted by either extreme. Government as benevolent

parent seems to work all right for the Europeans, yet it's also tempting

to imagine what you could do if you had all of your income at your disposal,

and that certainly speaks to the American ideal of self-reliance and personal

responsibility.

Neither extreme is the final

answer, but an insipid middle ground isn't either.

This current tax cut is touted

as a tax cut for everyone, yet it's handed out in dribs and drabs, with

this first round reserved for the top four tax brackets when we should

really be moving toward eliminating brackets altogether.

True, everyone who pays taxes

gets a rebate this year, and that's a good thing. But most of us will

spend our $300 or $600 within a few weeks after receiving it. That will

help the economy ... a little ... but it's hardly a permanent improvement.

And about the time the deepest

tax cuts come around 10 years from now, thank you very much! the bill

our representatives passed automatically expires and the death tax goes

back into effect, along with all the higher rates.

And if Congress changes hands

in the next few years, you'll never see those truly helpful tax cuts ...

that's a guarantee.

What we need are deep, immediate,

permanent cuts. We need to reduce the burden of the government to a reasonable

level, with the pledge never to increase taxes or spending beyond that

level unless there's a true national emergency.

Along with that we need a balanced

budget amendment to the Constitution, because we the people are supposed

to control our government, and our nation's establishing documents are

the vehicle by which we gain the power to do it.

The Democratic Party will probably

never take us all the way to a socialist system, because the Republican

Party will fight that. The Republican Party also seems unable to move

us very far toward a truly streamlined government and permanently reduced

taxes.

We're stuck in the middle.