America and Taxes

As something of a neo-comm, I am a big fan of taxes. As I see it, the more taxes we pay, the better our community. Taxes pay for roads, school, police, libraries, museums ... all the stuff that makes a city and country great. More taxes, I say. In fact, it has always confused me that America hasn’t recognized this for America is usually a nation of astute consumers. Every American knows that if you pay more and buy a Lexus instead of Cavalier, the extra money is worth it because you get a better product. But, when it comes to taxes, Americans want to pay less and have an economy country instead of paying more and having a luxury country. So strange, so strange.

Why am I thinking about this? Because on a historical tour of Philadelphia, I learned of one of the first American tax evasion schemes. Back in the day, the King (who really shouldn’t have been taxing without representation, so glory glory to the Revolution) taxed houses based on how many panes of glass you had in your windows. So, all of a sudden, there was a rage for shutters and on tax day all the houses closed their shutters so the tax assessor couldn’t count the panes. Pretty clever stuff ....