Professor Reich has it about right.

[caramida]

Some may disagree with me (heck, I don't think 'may' is the best word there). That's ok. We live in a representative republic, and we're all ultimately in the same boat. The CAUTION SHARED PATH icon is representative of that. I try to remember to use this icon when posting about political subjects, because it helps remind me that whichever road we're on as a nation, we're all on it together.

Bob Reich* says what I can't really find the time to say in A Short Citizen's Guide to Kooks, Demagogues, and Right-Wingers On Tax Day. It's true. Taxes are a good thing. They pay for all those things we often take for granted, like co-workers with basic reading skills, roads, and drinking water.

My brother's father-in-law noted on Saturday that the folks who grouse loudest are the same people who complain the most when there's a pothole in their cul-de-sac. I think he might have been talking about a specific person at the time. Anyway, sylphslider said it succinctly enough, "Hurray for paying taxes."

* I don't really call him Bob, though I'm told his friends do.

Comments

[jackkansas.livejournal.com]

I have a lot of contempt for right-wingers and libertarians who spout the taxation-is-theft bullshit when it comes to paying for social programs, but who are happy to have the government pick my pocket to pay for the military-industrial complex.

It's unfortunate that much of the additional revunue California hopes to gain comes from raising the sales tax and an across-the-board increase in the income tax, both of which are regressive. Also, these are sources of income that dry up in hard times, scarcely a responsible way to fund state expenditures.

That said, I found Garry Wills's account of the original Boston Tea Party (Inventing America: Jefferson's Declaration of Independence, Doubleday, 1978) to be fascinating. It was not simply a matter of a few individuals tossing small cannisters of tea into Boston Harbor — the tea chests weighed three hundred pounds apiece, and there were considerable logistical challenges to be overcome.

[caramida.livejournal.com]

I'll have to look for that one. I read and enjoyed Wills' Lincoln at Gettysburg and really enjoyed the book. Thanks for the recommendation. That goes on my wishlist.