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November 1, 2006
Taxes: They're a Good Thing
Watching the evening local news is a joke. Chock full of political ads. I still don't know all the propositions on the California ballot, nor do I know all the politicians up for election. I was able to hear about a Tiger fighting for Californians (which I noted sounded a helluva lot like a junior high student council election slogan). And I asked my flatmates their opinion on this proposed cigarette tax hike. I'm so damn sick of politicians balancing budgets on the backs of smokers and drinkers. Everywhere I've lived - from Washington State to Chicago to Cali - seems to think that the answer to skyrocketing healthcare costs is more "sin" taxes. Apparently, drinkers and smokers aren't as well organized as homeowners and the general public, so its easy to just tax the hell out of them. Enough is enough. If we're going to seriously tackle the public health problem caused by our insistence on a for-profit health system; if we're going to really tackle the absolute lack of affordable housing; if we're going to cut the bureaucracy in our schools and increase the funding that actually goes to teachers and classrooms, than we're just going to have to raise taxes. Not just on smokers and drinkers. Let's start by forcing the rich to pay their fair share - once we cut all the corporate loopholes, then we can start on the income tax system. And before we raise income taxes, lets get more auditors out there to go after the rich and powerful and get the money they owe to the system.
You want a society that is fair and just? Then accept taxes as a necessary part of the system.
And if you're a bloody rockstar who made an angelic name for himself championing the poor, you sure as hell better not skirt your tax bill. I am disgusted to report that Bono and U2 have move their publishing headquarters to the Netherlands to avoid taxes in Ireland. This is sad & hypocritical. But what can you expect from men who have everything they've ever wanted?
"Bono, Tax Avoider: The hypocrisy of U2." by Timothy Noah in Slate
Posted by cj at November 1, 2006 11:56 PM
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