On the Fourth of July the Gruntleds celebrate Independence Day along with other patriotic Americans. We will hear often today that "freedom isn't free." What most people who I hear use this phrase mean is that we have to be willing to go to war to defend our freedom, and sometimes other people's freedom. This is true.
I was surprised when some of these same people mocked Vice-President Biden for saying that paying taxes is patriotic.
Freedom Isn't Free in the most obvious financial sense, too. We honor our military for defending us. Most of what we pay federal taxes for is to pay for our military expenses. Taxes pay for our freedom in the most direct way. And the thousand and one other things that we expect the government to do also cost money. Of course some tax money is badly spent. But nearly all of it is spent on what we the people elected our representatives to spend it on - serving the common good. Many government programs do not benefit me directly, but they benefit some citizens. Paying for programs that benefit other people is what good citizenship requires.
Freedom isn't free. Paying taxes is patriotic.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
Taxes also pay for the thousands of AmeriCorps VISTAs around the country who are giving a year or two of their lives in domestic service to the USA. =)
Only 24% spent on defense. Much spent to protect other countries which mock us.
Biden is mocked because he is full of himself and not too smart.
People dislike the enormous waste of tax money not paying a fair share.
Happy fourth to all.
The 24% is current budgeted Defense Department allocations. If you include the off-the-books wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, plus paying for past wars, the total war expenditure is about 54% of the federal budget.
We get the "centrist" Europeans to defend themselves and we cut the number in half whichever number you prefer.
Post a Comment