We go back and forth on Tom Friedman here at MoJoBlog, but we have to give him props for standing up for the basic civic function of paying taxes. He mentions that Sarah Palin dismissed paying taxes as “not patriotic” and has some follow up questions.
Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed?
And he’s just getting warmed up.
Sorry, I grew up in a very middle-class family in a very middle-class suburb of Minneapolis, and my parents taught me that paying taxes, while certainly no fun, was how we paid for the police and the Army, our public universities and local schools, scientific research and Medicare for the elderly….
I can understand someone saying that the government has no business
bailing out the financial system, but I can’t understand someone arguing that we should do that but not pay for it with taxes. I can understand someone saying we have no business in Iraq, but I can’t understand someone who advocates staying in Iraq until “victory” declaring that paying taxes to fund that is not patriotic.
Preach, brother! Look, here’s what people like Sarah Palin do not understand, or pretend to not understand. If we could achieve our necessary public policy goals without taxing American citizens, we would obviously do it. But we can’t. Taxes are the building blocks of a healthy, functioning society that protects its citizens are provides them with an opportunity for a brighter future. Conservatives argue that the American people built America into what it is. I would argue that the American people and the taxes they pay have built America. And they can rebuild America. How is that not the very definition of patriotic?
