Nothing is as certain as death, taxes and our dislike for them both. It is really hard to do something about death, other than to postpone it for a while. But taxes are a burden that we all have to bear. Just as most people don’t spend a lot of time worrying about death, I suggest we all accept taxes as inevitable and get on with it. And, may I add, that taxes almost have to rise as the problems we face increase.
Let’s start with the federal government. If there were no threats to our security, the military, not to mention the Department of Homeland Security, could be eliminated. All we would need are a few trumpet players and some guys to play soldiers for honor guards. Bang, taxes go down like a shot. If we all gave up moving around so much, and limited ourselves to bicycles, we could save $4 zillion on roads, airports and trains, and taxes would fall accordingly.
If autos had been selling like guns, and if banks were rolling in good mortgages, the government would not have had to bail out both industries. And, yes, our grandchildren wouldn’t have been burdened with the debt. (Note: Nobody has had to bail out the arms manufacturers.) As it is, however, taxes either go up or our grandchildren will not have an economy to worry about. And, finally, if everyone lived to 109 in complete health, and dropped dead on their 110th birthday, there would be no need for health care reform. But health care, as it now exists, is going to bankrupt the government unless the government undertakes to provide it for everyone in the U.S. Whether that may cost more in taxes than some of us presently pay is an open question, but it is not really a choice.
Of course, we all pay taxes to state and local governments in the form of sales taxes, income taxes and/or property taxes. Added to this list, but usually ignored, are two kinds of taxes I find horrendous. In the first place, Pennsylvania has recently encouraged the building of casinos on the theory–supposedly–that the state’s and locality’s shares of the casinos’ revenue will lower other taxes. Then there is the state lottery, plugged by the second most famous groundhog in Pennsylvania.
The revenue from the lottery is advertised as going to needy senior citizens. However, sales taxes, and gambling, are taxes on the poor. Sales taxes do not distinguish between the wealthy and other groups. Accordingly they fall most heavily on those who are least able to pay. While rich people may gamble, the primary market for gambling enterprises are poor people using there limited funds to try to pull themselves out of poverty by some lucky break. The chances of that happening are ridiculously small. Sales tax and gambling are in place because the legislature can’t find the courage to raise income taxes.
Graduated income taxes are the fairest form of taxation, with property taxes based on proper assessments a close second. It pains me not that very wealthy people have to pay a higher percentage of their income in taxes than I do. That is merely just. It also pains me not that very valuable property is heavily taxed (assuming fair assessments). Owners of such properties are often, although not invariably, wealthy people who simply do not earn reportable income.
I take it that we all see a need for state government. We also need some form of intermediate government, like townships, cities and/or school districts, although I am not sure about county government. The reason for this is not so much that this system is efficient–it is not. Rather, it gives the average voter the feeling that at least he or she is making a difference in some form of government that affects the voters’ lives. Voters in federal and state elections often think they are too remote. One vote, they believe, is not going to affect the outcome.
Governments on the local level could certainly be combined–school districts, for example–in the interest of efficiency, but, as taxpayers, we ought not to choose what taxes we pay on the basis of what government service we believe benefits each of us individually. Perhaps everyone would be willing to pay taxes for police protection, as everyone benefits. It is harder to see, on the other hand, why people without children in a school district should have to pay for the education of others. The wider view is that the survival of our nation, and our entire economic well-being, depends upon the education of our children. Accordingly, no one should resist paying for it.
My message, brothers and sisters, is that the obligation to pay taxes is the price we pay for civilization. Taxpaying is patriotic providing the taxes are just. Thus endeth my sermon. Go in peace, and don’t shoot the pastor.
Arthur Joel Katz is a Lower Saucon Township resident. He is a former columnist for both the Saucon News and Hellertown-Lower Saucon Patch.
