Tax Breakage

In the Teacher Leaders Network discussion group, Mary Tedrow wrote:

A recent edition of NOW, the PBS news documentary show, reported on regressive tax systems, using Alabama as the example because it has the most regressive taxes in the nation.

The report "Taxing the Poor" explained regressive taxes to the uninitiated in great detail, but the true power of the lesson in taxation was told through the voices, faces, and the struggles of the poor of Alabama who are caught in a downward spiral of poverty -- brought on in large part by the structure of the taxing system.  I am sure that Renee (who lives in rural Mississippi) is intimately aware of the struggles of our rural poor and can speak to how this slow grind plays itself out in her state.

The reporter tried to get elected officials to explain their voting decisions from a moral standpoint.  It was obvious that not a one of them was comfortable defending their voting records when the hardship on the poor was highlighted, though they gave the usual lip service to "providing jobs" for all through tax cuts and favors to industry.

Conversely, these favors cut heavily into services provided for their electorate -- including gutting funding for schools. Leaving the poor inadequately educated only adds to their woes, including their inability to vote in behalf of their own interests. The uneducated voter is especially swayed by emotional appeals -- something that the resource-rich lobbies for business are especially able to exploit since there is plenty of money for quick, emotional spots on television. 

The industries are using the wealth created by the political favors to influence the electorate to vote against its own interests!  Tax cuts and write offs for the corporate world are made up by raising taxes on food, gasoline, and public utilities. Though these are often touted as a 'fair' tax because everyone pays them, for the poor, taxing food is particularly harmful as it means less food. For the well-to-do, taxing food is barely noticed.

I find this an interesting link to the argument we've often discussed that businesses think schools should be run more like a business.  The emphasis on a corporate view of the world continually puts profits before humans. In addition, the schools are often targeted by corporations as not producing an educated worker for their needs, even though the cuts to public moneys could be coming from those favors to industry mentioned above. Its a crazy catch-22 in some communities where schools are encouraged to do more with less only to provide employees for the groups who are profiting from public money spent to fuel private industry.

Though corporations do provide jobs, they often do so at the public's expense.  Corporations require a strong road system, rely heavily on the resources we all must share (clean water and air, places to dispose of waste), and the need for human capital in the form of raw labor and educated workers. When an industry moves into town and only offers hourly wages and weak insurance coverage (if that), the burden of keeping the workers healthy falls to public health services -- or is non-existent. (That’s another spiral: the poor avoid medical care until it is obviously late, making a controllable health issue into a critical medical problem.) Like the canary in the mine -- the worst damage is borne by the children, who are more vulnerable to poor nutrition, health, and cuts in other social supports.

The interesting point is that when most people come to understand the unfairness of the situation, they offer that they are willing to do more to help those less fortunate.  Most would willingly pay more in taxes so that all can benefit. They don't ever say they'd like paying the taxes, but they can see that having too much is just too much if it is at the expense of others.

Renee Moore replied:

I address a closely related issue in my most recent blog. Please read the PDK article by David Mathews if you haven't seen it yet.

This concept that if we run every part of the society based on free-market principles, we will fix everything, is at best oversimplistic and at worst heartless.

Theoretically, I have the right to choose whatever I want to eat, so I should be able to make healthy diet choices. But not if I live in a neighborhood that has only one poorly stocked, overpriced grocery store, no transportation, no reliable public transportation, and hungry children to feed. 

If I'm fortunate enough to have health insurance, I'm often told which doctors I can or can't use, and they're told what they can or can't do for me. If I don't have health insurance (like my daughter and son-in-law who both work full time and have three children), then I pray no one gets sick because there is only one hospital in town and they are not known for high quality service.

This is why I laugh whenever I hear people touting the benefits of vouchers and school privatization. If the government were capable of giving every family enough money to send all their children to a really good school, then the leaders who think this is a good idea must be planning on building a lot more schools, hiring a lot more teachers, and reinventing the public transportation system across the country. Right?

Of course not. Instead, they would give a token amount to each household and a "good luck to you" on your search for an educational option at the price you can pay.

Poverty is physically, emotionally, and spiritually draining. It sucks life out of a person and a community. Unfortunately, many of those who have never experienced it, tend to blame or overlook those who do.

Photo by romanlily - Creative Commons license