April newspaper column: paying taxes is patriotic?

Here's my April newspaper column. Since it ran on April 1 the local right wingers pretended it was a joke-- but I'm serious. Before condemning taxes in general we really should recognize the benefits they bring. Minnesota is fortunate to have had good leaders in the past but we've been coasting on their investments for a decade now.

-Dr. DRL
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Times Writers Group: 'Taxes are bad' is disingenuous

By Derek Larson • April 1, 2009

St. Cloud (MN) Times


Tax Day is just two weeks away. While most of us paid our taxes for 2008 long ago, anti-tax complaints are rising in the media and likely around kitchen tables as well. A bit of historical perspective, though, shows that Americans haven't always felt so bitter about paying their taxes. In fact, at times it seemed like the patriotic thing to do — even when the top rate climbed above 90 percent.

During World War II, cartoon celebrity Donald Duck appeared in short features calling on all Americans to pay "taxes to beat the Axis."

"Taxes," the narrator proclaimed, "will keep democracy on the march!" Not a very subtle piece of propaganda but likely an effective one during that time of global crisis.

Today we face another global crisis — an economic one this time — and our country is engaged in not one but two wars. But instead of silly cartoon ducks reminding us to pay our income tax on time, we face a regular media barrage from conservatives claiming taxation is destroying the economy and that government is really something we'd be better off without.

Of course, some of them also have directly stated the goal of destroying government by starving it of operating funds, so that sentiment is no surprise. What is surprising, however, is that so few people speak out in support of the opposite view — that taxes are the price we pay for everything from abstract goods like "freedom" to literally concrete things like highways. Not paying your fair share, as Donald Duck knew, is fundamentally unpatriotic.

Minnesotans know that folks elsewhere envy us. Our state and many of our cities rank highly in "most livable" surveys every year. Thousands of newcomers move here annually, despite the sometimes challenging climate. Corporations invest here. Students come here for college.

We are national leaders in many things and rank near the bottom in very few. Minnesota enjoys frequent top five rankings among "best states to live in." Top 10 rankings for most statistics that matter to children, including quality of education, children who are read to daily, and bottom 10 rankings for children living in poverty. The highest voting rates in the country. A No. 1 ranking for adults with high school diplomas. The list is almost endless.

But all this comes at a price. Our state tax burden falls somewhere between No. 10 and No. 17, depending on how it is calculated and which year's figures you use. While the anti-tax zealots are quick to point out our relatively high tax burden, they always ignore the benefits those taxes bring: quality of life unmatched in other states and a society that does better than most at making sure those toward the bottom have what they need to get by.

There is an alternative of course: We could slash taxes and government programs, as many conservatives suggest. But the economic renaissance and subsequent golden age they predict is at best a fantasy and at worst an intentional deception.

The Census Bureau's list of the 10 states with the lowest per capita tax rates includes Oregon, Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Missouri, Colorado, New Hampshire, Texas and South Dakota. Of these only South Dakota and Colorado even break into the top 25 places to live, much less the top 10. Many on the low-tax list are used as object lessons about how not to run a state or as places you'd never want your job transferred, essentially the opposite status that Minnesota enjoys.

As our leaders face tough budget decisions in St. Paul and Washington, they would all do well to remember Donald Duck's lesson. Thankfully we're no longer fighting a war against global fascism, but we are fighting real wars on multiple fronts, at home and abroad.

Taxes are the primary source of revenue for the public goods and services that make Minnesota and the country as a whole places people want to live. Citizens will always have complaints about government priorities but claiming taxes are the root of all evil is the sort of inflammatory rhetoric that Minnesotans can live without.

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This column will be available on the St. Cloud Times web site until it moved to the pay archive on April 8th.