- "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The reality is not that I lack respect for the law; it’s that I have greater respect for justice. Where there is a conflict between the law and the higher moral code that we all share, my loyalty is to that higher moral code."
Tim DeChristopher
“This is what you shall do; love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem and have the richest fluency not only in its words but in the silent lines of its lips and face and between the lashes of your eyes and in every motion and joint of your body.”
Walt Whitman
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Tag Archives: flat taxes
Quit Yer Bitchin’ – $80k Looks Mighty Rich From Here
Do you remember “Joe the Plumber” from 2008? He worked for a small business owner, who himself, after dedcutions for business expenses, said he earned less than $80K/year. Wow, he must be RICH huh? The comment above comes from a thread about Democrats, Republicans, and regressive taxes on one of the blogs I read regularly. Many in the conversation rightly find fault with both parties, and I’ll be the first to argue against regressive taxation – tax policies that favor … Continue reading
Five Biggest Lies Republicans Tell About Taxes
It’s that time of year again; time to grab your ankles and cough one up for Uncle Sam between now and April 15th. In honor of all you folks out there getting ready to file your tax papers, and hopefully get a nice refund in the mail, here’s a short list of the five biggest whoppers tax hating, government cutting, tea bagging Republicans (and a handful of wayward Democrats) love to trot out whenever the subject of funding our society … Continue reading
Public Spending Benefits Everyone
ProPublica posted an interesting piece recently, examining how flat taxes are playing out in several former Soviet bloc states. The article ultimately pointed out that comparing those economies to ours is an apples/oranges game, but feel free to draw your own conclusions. One commenter on the article touched on the government spending, and made a great deal of sense to me. The problem with a flat tax is that it ignores the nonlinearity of money. That is, it’s disproportionately harder … Continue reading
Under No Circumstances Would a Flat Tax Ever Be Fair
The reason we have a progressive tax system is because we have a democracy. People who make more do so because of the investment in governent that We, the People make. We, the People pool our money collectively and use it to build the infrastructure that lets people make so much money. That’s the roads, schools, police, courts, etc. — they whole system — that provides the foundation for our businesses to go out an compete in the world. And when our … Continue reading
