What the anti-taxation sentiment gets you

The American people are sleeping at the switch when it comes to recognizing the role taxation plays in creating the necessary income for basic area services. In a recent New York Times piece, Paul Krugman believes that we should all be worried over this. Services that make for safer communities, fuel commerce and educate our young should not be slashed, but tax cuts have made it so, at least on the local level. Cutbacks run deep, and not enough tea partiers seem to realize that tax dollars could change those fortunes.

Governments wonder, ‘Where’s the taxation’?

While various economic theories exist regarding taxation, it is difficult to dispute that tax boosts could help local governments provide more reliable important services. Krugman points out that the federal government “isn’t cash-strapped at all,” thinking about that they’re more than willing to sell inflation-protected long-term bonds at only 1.04 percent interest. More can be done. The sense of priority is in effect warped, says Krugman. The able rich appear to be more interesting in barding for personal war than really waging war on behalf of a disappearing America.

Cutting out services and casting jobs to the wind

State and local governments are spending less on nearly anything, which doesn’t bode well for families. America is moving backward, says Krugman, as local and state governments are locking down due to lack of tax dollars when the federal government begins to turn off the stimulus faucet. An employed teacher serves the community and creates a definite job. But you will find no guarantees when it comes to tax cuts for the rich; they may spend it or hide it away.

Assuming the worst about government money management

Many believe the public sector doesn’t possess the skill to manage tax earnings appropriately. Tea party rhetoric says that taxation is wrong because it contributes to waste and fraud. Krugman argues that there was never so much waste as the right claimed, nevertheless. Thinking about how far America has fallen in education and infrastructure while fear of new taxation has reigned, perhaps taxation shouldn’t have been the focus of the fear. Now, writes Krugman, the fear of taxation may have us on the “road to nowhere”.

Additional reading

New York Times

nytimes.com/2010/08/09/opinion/09krugman.html?_r=1 and amp;partner=rssnyt and amp;emc=rss