...and pretty much everyone does.
Madison Daily Leader publisher Jon Hunter says paying taxes is part of being a good American. His exact point is hard to pin down (our man Hunter is notorious for editorials like this), but he seems to think that letting lower-income folks off the income-tax hook creates class warfare:
In a tax system divided essentially into givers and takers, people who don't pay for things care less about them. Nonprofits and charitable groups know this well: when recipients have a financial interest in something, both the provider and the recipient care more about the outcome, and keeps the relationship one of mutual respect.
We're not arguing for burdening lower income people with an income tax. Not at all. But paying something, even a tiny amount such as a few dollars a year, could help us resolve this new class struggle [Jon Hunter, "Part of American Citizenship Is That We All Contribute," Madison Daily Leader, 2011.04.29].
Givers and takers... Jon, have you been reading Ayn Rand between meetings again?
Hunter acknowledges earlier in his editorial that "there are plenty of other taxes that all Americans pay, like sales taxes, payroll taxes and property taxes." He says he doesn't want lower-income people to pay income tax. So by his own statements, class warfare shouldn't exist, since lower-income people pay something more than a tiny amount in tax just for groceries and gas in South Dakota.
It sounds like Hunter is the one trying to stoke class warfare, incorrectly casting as "takers" the people at the bottom while ignoring in this essay the "takers" at the top. His "solution" to class warfare, taxing everyone, is already in place.
But perhaps Hunter nods: perhaps he meant to say that paying income tax is uniquely powerful in tempering class warfare. In that case, we could only conclude that South Dakota is suffering class warfare because it imposes an income tax only on banks and a handful of other industries while leaving Hunter's advertising fortunes untaxed. Hunter must thus support imposing an income tax on all South Dakotan individuals and corporations.
On the bright side, Hunter seems to agree with me that paying taxes is a patriotic duty that demonstrates and enhances our investment (dare I say love?) in our community. Dakota War College has tried weakly to deny that point, but has lost the point by devolving into relativism, which conservatives hate only until they need it to save their bad arguments.
"... In that case, we could only conclude that South Dakota is suffering class warfare because it imposes an income tax only on banks and a handful of other industries while leaving Hunter’s advertising fortunes untaxed. Hunter must thus support imposing an income tax on all South Dakotan individuals and corporations."
Cory, the Vulcan High Command has just issued a memorandum recommending that the Ambassador to Earth, Professor Emeritus R. Ä. ╪. Zurak, offer you a position of First Minister of Propaganda.
Has the surface of your lake fully thawed yet? Vulcan ships hesitate to set down on dry prairie land for fear of starting fires; they fear thin ice on liquid surfaces for obvious reasons.
Please convey my respect to the Vulcan High Command and to Ambassador Zurak. It is logical for me to accept such a position, as it will permit me to continue to promote the cause of Vulcan logic among the Terrans, especially among its local newspaper editors, who seem to struggle with its basic concepts. The ice is gone; Vulcan shuttles may be able to land on the gravel near the boat ramp.
The river Temarc in winter! Kadir beneath Mo Moteh. The Beast at Tanagra.
Kiteo, his eyes closed. Shaka, when the walls fell. Kiazi's children, their faces wet.
Zinda, his face black, his eyes red! Rai and Jiri at Lungha. Uzani, his army with fists open. Uzani, his army with fists closed. Darmok and Jalad at Tanagra.
Larry,
How dare you use a Next Gen allusion in response to a serious discussion of Vulcans?
I know Spock; Spock is a friend of mine. Data was no Spock. Besides, no one in the Next Gen crew was even close to Scotty.
More directly on topic, it appears to me that Hunter refers to federal taxes, not state taxes.
Doesn't every employed person contribute something to federal coffers in the form of the payroll tax?
I don't care to label this person as "patriotic" and that person as "less patriotic" or "unpatriotic," with one exception: Tax fraud and evasion constitute antipatriotism.
Anyone of note come to mind?
It seems that we have the givers and the takers already in South Dakota, with those having the highest 1% of incomes being the takers (contributing 2% of their incomes to support state and local government) with the bottom quintile being the givers (contributing 11% of their incomes to support state and local government). Those in the middle 60% contribute just under 7% of their incomes for this purpose. On the whole, South Dakotans pay 8% of their personal income for the support of state and local government. The national average is a tad under 11%.
(Data is from the US Bureau of Census, Bureau of Economic Analysis, and the Institute on Taxation & Economic Policy--Who Pays? A Distributional Analysis of the Tax Systems in All 50 States, 3rd Ed, 11/09)
Socath, his eyes opened! Spock is changing the timeline for the love of a woman. Can't say that i blame him.
Mirab, with sails unfurled.