God Bless the Tax!

One of the reasons Linda and I like Minnesota is the care it demonstrates for its citizens. Call it "Minnesota Nice". Some historians refer to Minnesota's Scandinavian history which placed heavy emphasis upon community care. Others, including me, trace this compassion to the prevalence of private church colleges steeped in Roman Catholic and Protestant tradition, and the overall commitment to quality education and living out Christian ethics in the public square. Interestingly, in Jonathan Alter's book on FDR, he refers to Minnesota as one of those "communist leaning states" in the 1930's, referring to its people sharing the burdens of the challenges.

Well, this perception may be changing, if Gov. Tim Pawlenty has his way. With Minnesota facing budget challenges, as are most states, he is using his line-item veto to cut health care for the most vulnerable. It is now a "survival of the fittest" mentality that is emerging, at least for some. But not for Rep. Paul Thissen, a four term legislator, "Harvard and University of Chicago educated attorney, who used to play pick-up hoops with a skinny new U of C professor named Obama". He may run for governor. He says:

That veto was absolutely wrong, for two reasons. We are breaking

a promise that we've had in Minnesota for generations, that we are

going to take care of those least able to take care of themselves. The

other thing is, it's a clear example of short term thinking. It's thinking

we can solve problems by not paying for them, or just moving them

off the governor's books....We've had this notion put before us that we can

keep the Minnesota we've always known without paying for it....The pendulum

is swinging back to the idea that we do owe obligations to each other. That

is what the next election is all about.

We lived in Colorado for 20 years. We experienced what the lack of taxing freedom can do to the most vulnerable, to the quality of education. Not good. A friend of mine sent an email describing the California situation, of how the power to tax has been crippled by Proposition 13, making it nearly impossible for the legislature to raise taxes to provide for state needs. Interestingly, the same man who pushed through Prop 13 also pushed through the Colorado TABOR Amendment to the state constitution. TABOR means "taxpayers bill of rights". In Minnesota there was a movement to pass a similar amendment.

Jesus and holy scripture teaches us that we are each other's keepers. We need to share the burdens of living. We need to buy less trinkets and become more generous because it is the faithful thing to do. We need to remember "the least of these". Indeed, one of the major learnings of this economic dive is the price of greed. It's about ME. WE are paying a steep price for self absorption and forgetting the most vulnerable.

I'm all for taxes which address the legitimate, human needs of all people. Jesus said to "pay Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's". In Jesus' time, tax collectors were scorned for their cheating. Yet, I suppose to be honest, perhaps the people then didn't like paying taxes much either. But I suspect the reason for not liking to pay taxes was they weren't getting much return for their tax, as most was going to Rome. I believe it is time to increase the tax and insure the collection meets the basic human needs of ALL. It is time to be more generous for the sake of ALL. It is time to end the notion of survival of the fittest! God bless the tax!

Peace!

Ron