Paying dues

A spokesman for a conservative public policy outfit in Alabama visited The Anniston Star the other day. The visitor was pleasant enough. However, his message was blunt: His agency would not lend its full support to tax reform in Alabama, something desperately needed in a state that lays a heavy burden on low-income taxpayers. His reason: Tax reform might mean more taxes for the wealthier of his group’s con-stituents.

Something’s wrong here.

Tax reform is a big wonky word that means different things to different people. What it’s really about is distributing the burden of paying for government fairly. A progressive tax code is rooted in the Biblical admonition that for whom much is given, much is expected.

Taxes are a way to fund essential services. They are like dues one pays to belong to a club. If they don’t get paid, the club or the state government, in this case, will suffer.

Surely, all the constituents in our friend’s conservative public policy organization benefit when government has adequate public safety officers, when schools are fully funded and when the poverty-stricken can rise above their situation, to name just a few benefits.

(For the curious, Alabama Arise nicely frames the reasons for tax reform in Alabama.)