They play, we pay!

The insightful 12-30-2015 letter, "Road to bankruptcy," talked about --- among other important matters --- the emerging entitlement society in America. Another view follows.

There are “takers” who are not paying their fair share of income tax. Brief descriptions of three of these groups follow:

• Takers 1 are able to work but don't. Instead, they rely on taxpaying Americans to pay their way. Consequently, taxpayers pay a lot more tax than they should.

• Takers 2 (the Underground Economy) are involved in criminal (drugs, pimping, gambling) and non-criminal (working off the books, cash-only businesses) activities. They pay little or no income tax.

• Takers 3 are undocumented immigrants who deprive Americans of jobs --- mostly low level. Most pay little or no income tax.

The above groups total in the double-digit millions of people and cost Americans hundreds of billions of dollars annually.

The above figures are intentionally vague to avoid possible accusations that the “takers'” problem is being deliberately overstated. Realistically, the actual figures will increase as more people realize that "Hey, why should I bust my hump working, when I can do better relying on the government (we taxpayers) to pay my way?"

Most “takers” also receive "entitlements" such as food stamps and Medicaid. These are additional costs that we taxpayers also pay.

This problem exists partially because of an inefficient IRS. The problem will be significantly reduced when the IRS is shut down and replaced with a national consumption tax, such as a FAIR Tax.

The FAIR Tax levies what we spend, not what we earn. Consequently, EVERYONE pays their fair share.

Tax plans being proposed by most 2016 presidential hopefuls allow this major “takers” problem to remain just that: a major unresolved problem.