The religious community has been involved with tax justice for centuries but in
the recent past has been very active on all levels trying to obtain economic justice
for all but with an emphasis on tax justice for the poor. The TN Catholic Bishops
addressed the issue forcefully in a compelling video Tax Reform in TN in 1994.
They essentially advocated, in the video, the package that is
now being promoted by the Tennesseans for Fair Taxation. This package is supported
by the 30-affiliate organizations and hundreds more. Tennessee organizations
like the AARP, Assoc. for Retarded Citizens, Catholic Charities, Citizen Action,
Church Women United, Common Cause, Conference on Social Welfare, League of Women
Voters, Education Assoc., Health Care Campaign, Save Our Cumberland Mountains
and religious bodies affiliated with the Commission on Religion in Appalachia
are formidable allies.
Some of the allies see the package as the best way of assuring
a sound tax structure that will afford the state continuing fiscal strength
(AAA ratings) while serving the very evident needs. Others develop goals and
criteria for a just system.
Like the Catholic Bishops, the Cumberland Countians for Peace
& Justice believe that the package being championed by Tennesseans for Fair
Taxation addresses the goals, and criteria, not perfectly but quite adequately.
The package includes: * a 4% tax on individual income with generous
exemptions; * removing the sales tax from grocery food altogether; * reducing
the sales tax on other items to 4%; * repealing the Hall income tax; and * closing
loopholes in the business taxes.
The goals of advocacy concerning tax policy are theologically
supported and quite typical, namely:
- To create tax policies that offer all persons access
to real equality of opportunity and that therefore provides the basis for
a healthy state and nation- sociologically, economically, ecologically and
corporately. (The future of all of us is diminished by the deprivation, lessening
and wasting of any of us or Godÿs creation.)
- To support intentional tax reform that equalizes opportunity
and redistributes revenue and expenditures to eliminate inequalities and disparities.
- To advocate tax policies that confront the source of
the problem and genuinely work toward permanent, substantive resolutions,
rather than short-term treatment of symptoms. (This could result in a less
economically and socially polarized state.)
The criteria for a just system are:
- Adequacy. Taxes should provide adequate funds, now and
into the future.
- Simplicity. The law should be understandable and relatively
easy for all to administer.
- Distributive Justice. Taxes should fall on all taxpayers
in accordance with their ability to pay.
- Neutrality. Taxes should not create artificial incentives
for making economic decisions except where explicitly intended as a matter
of public policy.
- Vitality. Both the nature and extent of taxation should
be designed to enhance rather than inhibit economic efficiency, sustainability
and productivity in a socially constructive manner.
- Encouraging Voluntary Agencies. The tax structure should
continue to stimulate the use and development of voluntary agencies for their
salutary contributions to our life.
Tennessee is 49th nationally in the percentage of personal income given toward
taxes. Our frugality has gone too far and needlessly sacrificed the standard
of living of most citizens and our future. Our schools on all levels are impoverished
and environmental protection is underfunded, to name only two areas of concern.
You will be deluged with unpleasant realities of injustice as the discussion
of tax reform intensifies.
I am compelled by hope to make a plea for congregational and organizational
involvement in helping all of us work through the tax reform proposals and get
involved in the decision making process. Many of us could wax eloquent about
government by the governed and citizenship as stewardship but none of us is
unaware of the many ways the process is sometimes corrupted or deceived by powerful
special interests.
We cannot ignore the way in which wealth and power accumulated
by some and unavailable to many can produce unjust decisions. That hard reality
is all the more reason for an alert citizenry that not only rallies but also
sustains its advocacy at every governmental level. It is never too late to start
taking back our democracy.
Donald B. Clark
P.O.Box 220
Pleasant Hill, TN 38578
clarkjd@multipro.com
(931) 277-5467 fax: 277-5593
Representing views of Cumberland Countians for Peace & Justice,
Obed Watershed Association, United Church of Christ Network for Environmental
& Economic Responsibility
