Without revenues, a government can have no power.
– Alexander Hamilton, First Secretary of the US Treasury
You will find no federal holiday dedicated to our love of taxes. There will be no parades in honor of taxes. No ceremonies, concerts, or TV specials. This is because many in the US think of taxes as a burden, this heavyweight on our collective shoulders that “isn’t fair.” Some folks even dare to say that they have never benefitted from our system of taxation. Those folks are wrong. In fact, it is completely fair to say that our country is the country that it is today because of taxation. Our history as a country is deeply affected by our system of taxation: the wars that we fought and won have all been financed by a system of taxation. All that has changed, really, from war to war is the kinds and levels of taxation.
In the late 18th century, in order to pay off debts from the Revolutionary War, Congress imposed a number of taxes on such luxury items as alcohol, tobacco, sugar, and some real property. A few short years later, Congress imposed additional excise taxes to pay for the War of 1812. Those excise taxes were later repealed.
In the relative peace that followed, the US government didn’t collect revenue directly from its citizens. Instead, the government depended heavily upon the sale of public land and customs duties. That all changed in 1861 when the financial pressures of the Civil War forced Congress restored excise taxes and instituted the tax many Americans grew to hate: the personal income tax. The income tax was levied at 3% on all incomes higher than $800 a year.
Nearly half a century later, the financial burdens associated with World War I made income taxes a centerpiece of our modern economy. By the mid-20th century, income taxes were firmly linked to maintaining our position as one of the most influential countries in the world, linked closely to the continuous presence of a powerful military.
This is not to say that all of our military decisions have been good ones or that our tax system is perfect. But before you decry taxes as completely wasteful and useless, take a moment to think about what it has bought us: freedom and democracy.
I say this on a day when we honor those who have fallen protecting our country, those that have offered up sacrifices far greater than a few dollars out of your pocket. The men and women who have served our country have spent endless days away from their families and have been thrust into dangerous and unfamiliar situations. Some of them never made it home. And many of those that did, came back with injuries and memories that are far more painful than we can imagine.
And maybe you don’t like paying taxes. But there are those who have gone to their deaths to defend your right to say that out loud, for me to scribble away on my blog, for you to attend tax protests and cast a vote about how you feel.
Think about that. And on this day of remembrance, take a moment to thank our soldiers for their contributions to our country. They’ve given us so much.
Finally, indulge me for a moment. I wanted to give a mention to my brother, Rob; my brother, Timothy; my father-in-law; my grandfather; my great-grandfather; my uncles; my cousins; and all of those that I know who have ever donned a uniform for our country. On this day – and every day – I thank you.
just because a person rails against taxes and joins tax protest such as tea parties does not mean that that person is against all taxes but rather is against the current or proposed tax scheme ( and many times against the spending that the tax increases are used for.)
Remembering those Pennsylvanians that fought and died so you could attend a tax protest without fear:
http://www.pahometownheroes.org
Like I’ve said before: tax $ doesn’t go down a black hole never to be seen or heard from again. The taxes you’ve paid are all around you: the roads you travel on, the cops catching the bad guy, the satellites that provide GPS and long-distance calling to any phone in the world . . .
Sure, some of our taxes go to pay for things we don’t want, or don’t think government should pay for. But a lot goes for stuff you may take for granted or, at least, you expect and want government to pay for.
I have this occasional fantasy about a Senator railing away against tax-and-spend. Okay, says the Prez and the Budget Office. No one in your state will pay any more Federal taxes. And you don’t get any Federal dollars, either. No money for schools, medicaid, medicare, social security for your elderly, housing for your poor; no money for roads or block grants. We’ll close the Federal courts in your state, and your citizens can’t file appeals with them or with the Supreme Court. We’ll close the Post Offices in your state. Your telephones can’t use our communication satellites or any of our GPS satellites. We won’t check your chicken for salmonella. Your Senators and Representatives will have to pay their own way. If the CIA hears of a plot to crash a plane into your downtown, or poison its water supply, we’ll just trash the information without telling you. You can’t call on the FBI. We’ll close that big air force base and move it to Pennsylvania. We’ll move the CDC out of Georgia, or the Federal reserve bank out of St Louis, and we’ll close Area 51.
How about them apples?
JB, I share your fantasy.
And I would move to that fantasy state in a second where private businesses would perform most of the functions you’ve cited at a fraction of the cost and way more efficiently.
I’d be free to take care of my own retirement and not have to subsidize someone else’s; I’d watch as medical care and advancements far outstripped places where mandatory government rules and regulations shackled the very people I was counting on to save my life; and I’d gladly pay state taxes to cover proper functions of government such as a police force and a judicial system.
Sure, it won’t happen … but we can dream, can’t we?
Re: JBruce comment.
Your premise assumes that the services a state gets from the Feds are valued at more than the state sends to the Feds.
If this is true some other states are getting short changed because it can’t be true for all states. If false the state is better off keeping its money and providing the services for itself. On top of this there is a certain amount of “overhead” at the federal level that assures that the total amount of money sent to the states will be less than the total amount received from the states; the difference being left in DC.
Yes, some things need to be done at the federal level like a federal court system and national defense, but the decisions on which highways, bicycle paths and local amenities to build are much better left to the states or the locals.