On The Ed Show last night, Bill Press pointed out a very important argument against the flat tax, the one that was made in the Bible.
Over and over the Bible points out that those who get more from life, the economy, or if you want to think of it religiously, from God have an obligation to give more back.
But now Republicans are calling over and over for a flat tax, an action they wouldn't dare do if we had half the quality press we need. Too many pundits will just repeat over and over again what Republicans say, trying to keep on the good side of the wealthy people paying their wages.
The Bible is all for the big wage earners paying a higher rate of taxes. It praises generosity in the wealthy, and considers their lot to look out for poorer people.
Remember how Jesus warned that it was easier for a camel to go through
the "Eye of a Needle" than for a rich man to get into heaven? There
was some discussion whether there was, in Jesus' days, a small gate called
"The eye of the Needle" in which a camel would have to crawl on its
knees to make its way through, but pastors I consider more honest
said, no, that's about an actual needle.
In fact, the Christian religion actually demands that the wealthy to let go of their love of money, to divest of it, at least in a committed spirit which would require constant charity inspired giving that would tend to reduce one's ability to grow great wealthy or to become a Bill O' Reilly who is worried about a 50% tax on the immense amount of wealth he makes telling lies on FOX News.
Applying a graduated tax on citizens is also a matter of common sense. Forcing poor families to pay higher taxes removes their chance to buy a house, create a stable future for their family, and for you, because who is going to buy your home if the tax burden is increased on working and middle class families?
It has been shown that the ability to purchase a home and make some progress in life makes people more dependable and less likely to commit violence. Many of the rioters in Britain this summer get (or got) no or low rent housing from the government. That free housing did not keep people calm. If more of the poor young people had come from a family who owned a house themselves, they would likely have been less willing to burn down someone else's home.
There have been many crazy tax changes. During the 80s Reagan's new tax plan eased out the personal interest deduction. Most working class families couldn't get rid of the debt though wealthy Republicans swore it would be easy to do so. Coupled with Congress' refusal to force credit companies to restrict the interest they charge their captives .. er .. "customers" many families never were able to pay off that debt, and that is one of the reason we are having huge numbers of bankruptcy cases flooding our courts.
Even if the wealthy want to pretend they can put more tax burden onto the working class, it won't work. Unequal societies are inherently unstable and can turn over and dump anyone into the muck at any time.
See video linked here for Heidi Harris's complaint that poor people don't have to pay taxes at the same rate as wealthy people and "horrors, the earned income credit means that some poor people don't pay any federal income tax at al"l. Bill Press's response was my inspiration for this post. I just thought the Biblical message needed to be explained a little further to help people deal with a perverted idea of what the Christian religion teaches.
