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The dreaded April 15th Tax Day is upon us, a day it’s safe to say no one likes. But this year, perhaps more than any other in recent times, a basic question confronts us: What will we pay to help the nation, our communities, families and individuals get through this tough time and create a better future? As you race to meet the April 15th deadline, would you pay more?
Make no mistake there is a growing battle within the nation over government spending and taxation. For instance, the “Tea Bag Protest” is urging Americans to mail a tea bag to the White House to protest current tax policies and President Obama’s budget. I’m not sure placing a 42 cent stamp on an envelope demands the same bravery as those involved in the Boston Tea Party, but the protest is noted.
Few of us will send a tea bag to the president, but there are plenty of people of all political persuasions concerned about government spending – from the bailouts of financial institutions, auto companies and housing foreclosures, to pending health care reform, education investments, and other major initiatives, each and all of which will require new spending, at least in the short run.
And all this activity raises some penetrating questions. For instance, one individual who commented on a recent blog of mine asked, should communities like Detroit receive special assistance when their own community is struggling? Just who does deserve public aid, and under what conditions? What kinds of investments are worthy of public support? Nothing is for free; even if your own taxes don’t go up this year, we’ll be borrowing so much money that you or someone’s kid eventually will have to pay it off.
I don’t intend for these to be abstract questions. Nor do I wish to get into the decades long debate about “deficit spending” that so many groups, like the Concord Coalition, took on. God bless them for their efforts.
For me, as we near Tax Day, this is a more immediate concern, and a more personal one, and one that goes to the very heart of how we want to move ahead – and now!
My question is, if signing on the dotted line tomorrow meant that you were committing yourself to pay more in taxes because you thought we needed to spend more to get ourselves out of this economic ditch, and to lay the foundation for the future, would you do it? How much more would you be willing to pay? What, if any, conditions would you set? What level of confidence would you have that these funds would ultimately make a difference – and how would that color your thinking?
I ask these questions because I believe we must be clear on the level of commitment we’re willing to make for moving ahead – and under what conditions. Indeed, Tax Day is not simply about what each of us “owes,” it is about what each of us believes must be done, and what we’re willing to ante up.
On this Tax Day, what are you willing to do?
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Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 27, 2009 | Gerald E.We have to admit that before the economic crisis started two years ago, many of us don’t care about economy. But after the crisis hit the country, many wanted to understand deeply about it. The declining move our economy causes a lot of Americans to get laid off and many housing units were foreclosed. Foreclosure may not be a worry to some, but to others, foreclosure looms dark on the horizon, paralyzing the potentially foreclosed with fear and loathing. The loss of home is a terrifying prospect; many look into any and all options to stall foreclosure. A payday loan can get you your next payment funds early, but you must pay it back for a fee, so the best way to guard against foreclosure is to decrease expenses and increase income in any way possible. However, if a payday loan can hold you over until a refinance can be completed, it might be the best thing for you. When borrowing money, be wise in your decision, as adding debt to cover other debt is a stall at best in the short term, ruinous over long term. A short term loan is only a temporary guard against foreclosure.
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Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 20, 2009 | DBPersonally I would be willing to pay more if I knew change would come. But honestly i do not believe sending more money is going to fix the mess we are in. For one I do not trust that my money would be used to better anything. Our nation as a whole is very selfish. we live in the now and worry about the future later. Many of the programs that are being set up are just quick ideas that were used to get money and will soon fade leaving no affect on anyone. We have to devalue money and treat the underlying cause of this mess which is greed. We need to take a step back and realize that the gov't was not intended to play this huge part in our lives. We have become very dependent on the gov't (a sector that many of us feel we can not even trust). Lets put our money into our local community groups that are making change. Then we will be able to see exactly where our money is being used. So I guess the answer is yes and no. Yes I do give quite a bit to local non profits where I can be actively involved in the change they produce. No I would not give my money to the Federal gov't to allow them to misuse it.
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Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 17, 2009 | AmberI would like to ask the question of, “Who is ‘WE’?” It is many times we hear that phrase ‘We are all in this together’- but how true is it? (As eloquently stated by Valerie) I still see large separation in our economy, government and leadership within. How can ‘we’ say we are united when we are all individually struggling to stay afloat?
I would be willing to give if everyone could see a difference. I feel like too much money is being kept at the top and given to the ‘experts’ to help us get out of this mess. It seems to me our top leadership does not have to take the sharp pay-cuts as the lower class citizens being asked to give more. It seems we would not be making an impact for the positive, but more for the worse. -
Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 15, 2009 | CFDadI would send in more in taxes under two conditions: 1) It was a temporary situation. Government is already too big and too few people pay the taxes. 2) I could actually trust that the money would be wisely used.
Unfortunately, I fear neither condition could be met given the current state of our political reality. -
Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 14, 2009 | ValerieWhile we are all struggling in different ways with an economy that has created job losses, homelessness, and increasing poverty for many - I also see a glimmer of the kind of wealth we have needed for a very long time in this nation. Volunteerism is on the rise, caring about our neighbors and our communities is increasing, and there is a redundant theme I keep hearing at conferences across the country - 'We are all in this together.'.
I am very blessed in many ways, and our family would gladly give more in taxes ( and donations) to help put our communities, our country, in fact our world in a better situation than the one we find ourselves in today.
Taxes are the financing for safe communities, good schools, healthy families, dtc. We all pitch in for the greater good...and we get what we pay for! So yes, we would gladly pay more. -
Re: Tax Day: What Are You Willing to Pay?Apr 14, 2009 | EricThe issue isn\'t the willingness to pay more, but one of who do you trust to dispense. There is a lack of trustworthiness in our nation\'s capitol.