tax dollars

Lindsay Koshgarian 2-09-2024
The illustration shows army planes dropping bombs with dollar signs on them.

sorbetto / iStock

FOR MANY, TAX season is a scramble. Where are the receipts? How much do we owe? Why is it so complicated? But it’s also an annual opportunity to review our social contract, our shared moral obligation to fund the common good. The taxes we pay can affirm life, care for our elders, feed the hungry, house the poor, and care for creation. Taxes can also underwrite a bloated military budget that takes life and incentivizes war.

Until 2015, the largest segment of a typical tax bill did not support programs of social uplift for Americans, but instead supported the military-industrial complex and war. Over the last few years, however, there’s been a shift, even as military costs have continued to rise. That shift is due in part to expanded health care access — but also in part due to health care inflation. Now, providing affordable health care for those over 65 or on limited income through Medicare and Medicaid is the most significant portion
of your tax bill. Paying for war or supporting Americans at home are in a battle for top tax billing.

The average U.S. taxpayer contributes more than $13,000 each year in federal income taxes, according to our research at the National Priorities Project. That’s not a small chunk of change for anyone but the wealthiest among us. When we pool our funds, our federal income taxes are a powerful force, accounting for nearly half of federal revenue (much of the rest also comes from us, in the form of other payroll taxes).

Most people who follow the political public discourse in our country know the Republican mantra on the economy -- cut taxes, cut regulation, cut federal spending, balance the national budget, and all
Phil Haslanger 6-13-2011
Jesus never said anything about collective bargaining. He never called for the continuation of the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income workers.
Jim Wallis 10-28-2010

 

Dear Candidate, Party Organization, PAC, Super-PAC or any Committee that happens to be contributing to the non-stop political ads that have flooded my TV:

Tony Campolo 5-19-2010

I recently returned from a speaking engagement at the Bethlehem Bible College; and what I witnessed firsthand sent chills up my back. Listening to the horror stories told to me by oppressed Palestinians elicited feelings ranging from indignation to compassion.

They were described using the first word on George Carlin's list of the seven words you cannot say on television.
Ian Danley 4-15-2010
The following blog is a response to the passage of controversial immigration legislation in Arizona.
Chuck Collins 4-13-2010
This time of year it is useful to recount the parable of the angry taxpayer (from the VERY New Testament).
Katrina Abarcar 12-11-2009
For many of us in the U.S., the sometimes vicious attack ads of last year's presidential election are more than just a recent memory.
Jim Wallis 11-16-2009
The following is a memo Jim Wallis has provided to leaders throughout the nation concerning the ongoing issue of abortion within the health care reform debate and the need to find common ground