Am I the only one who is fed up with politicians – federal, state, county or local municipality – who are afraid of raising taxes? Whose response to every crisis – and we have many of them – is to cut taxes on the rich? Whose mantra is the unproved assertion that cutting taxes improves the economy? Who say without proof that the U.S.
Now before you think I’ve lost my head, I don’t exactly like paying taxes. But what I do like are some services that my and our taxes pay for: honest police who guard our communities; roads which allow for easy and safe passage; firefighters and EMS personnel; an army which is competent, not corrupt, and obedient to civilian executive authority; social services to help the needy, such as the unemployed, disabled, and homeless; protection of the environment; and safety in the workplace. There is no free lunch, and there are no free police, firefighters, EMS , army or social services.
On the federal level there are heated debates about cutting spending as the one and only means to bring down the ballooning debt. The December 2010 Bowles-Simpson debt commission report called for significant cuts in federal and military spending AND increases in payments for social security, raising the federal gas tax, eliminating tax loopholes and other serious measures.
Two theological reasons for supporting judicious raising of taxes are persuasive to me. The first is that taxes are one concrete expression of the common good. We as citizens live in community together. This means that certain sacrifices are made so that people can live in peace. The common good may mean restrictions on my personal freedom (not being permitted to walk down Main Street naked; not allowed to play my music at ear-shattering levels at 4 am). The common good may mean standards for honesty and truthfulness. The common good also means that the citizens all contribute to the social infrastructure that allows people to live in peace and harmony. In this sense, taxes allow for goods (see above) which very, very few of us can afford on our own.
The other concept from Catholic social thought is subsidiarity. Most of the time when a newspaper editorial board or citizen or that rare politician suggests raising taxes, they are smeared by “You just want big government!” Or “You are afraid to make cuts in spending!” According to the U.S.
The primary norm for determining the scope and limits of governmental intervention is the "principle of subsidiarity." This principle states that, in order to protect basic justice, government should undertake only those initiatives which exceed the capacities of individuals or private groups acting independently. Government should not replace or destroy smaller communities and individual initiative. Rather it should help them contribute more effectively to social well-being and supplement their activity when the demands of justice exceed their capacities. This does not mean, however, that the government that governs least, governs best. Rather it defines good government intervention as that which truly "helps" other social groups contribute to the common good by directing, urging, restraining, and regulating economic activity as "the occasion requires and necessity demands".
Social security, health care for all, military protection from enemies without and safety for citizens within, care for the most destitute when private charity fails, protection of human life—these are just some of the basic and necessary functions of government. Admittedly it is difficult to judge just when there is enough “government intervention” and when there is too much. But government is necessary for our social welfare—and the primary means of paying for government is taxation. By almost every measure, U.S.
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