Rev. Jennifer Hope Kottler
So it's tax day. I paid taxes on the limited money I made, and I was happy to do it. Taxes pay for just about everything. I don't particularly understand why everyone is so averse to paying taxes. Sure, I'd rather keep my money. But I'd also rather have roads, schools, a military, hospitals, courts, airports, prisons, and all of the other things that my tax dollars pay for. Sure, we always make jokes when stupid things happen, saying, "Ladies and gentlemen, your tax dollars at work." But I'd rather my tax dollars pay for the occasional stupidity, so long as they, for the most part, pay for things I need.
I was watching CNN this morning, and a woman from I think Florida was being interviewed. She's a Tea Party leader. Her main argument was that the government needs to stop spending money in order to solve our problems. She asserted that we eliminate the federal Department of Education, and leave that to local governments. I'm not sure that's the answer. We have to set up national standards for education so that we can all have the same regulations for applying to college and getting jobs.
But that's not the point. There are people who don't want to pay taxes. I don't understand this. We pay taxes because we live in a country in which we share things, and we, therefore, have to take responsibility for sharing the cost of those things. If you want to live in the United States of America as you have known it, you must pay your taxes. Sure, I love socialism more than the average bear. But this isn't socialism. This is citizenship.