Ethical Basis of Taxation

I am sorry that I have not posted lately.  Sickness and busy-ness have kept me away.  Hopefully the current tax season won't conspire to keep me away so much.  Happy Valentine's Day, by the way.

I recently became aware of the work of a law professor in Alabama who, after attending classes at a  seminary, made a critical examination of the basis for taxation in Alabama.  Her results were published in a law review article, here:  Susan Pace Hamill's law review article

The article is titled "AN ARGUMENT FOR TAX REFORM BASED ON JUDEO-CHRISTIAN ETHICS".  It reviews the current structure of the Alabama tax regime and compares that to the principles that are espoused from the Judeo-Christian viewpoint.

I don't intend to have a significant political (or religious) aspect to this website, but where one discusses law and taxes, it is fairly difficult to avoid politics completely.  My main thought regarding political issues is that we must always keep in mind the fundamental principals by which we choose to organize ourselves.  Often, this is summarized by reference to the Constitution, and usually that is my starting point.  We are best served when we remember that the nation is strongest when it maintains strong connections to the concepts of fairness, equality, liberty, freedom, privacy and other similar broad objectives embodied in the United States Constitution.

When we ask ourselves, on any given issue, "are we choosing a path that maintains our connection to these fundamentals?", I believe that is how we as a diverse nation can guide ourselves into the future and include the entire population, not just me, or those like me, or those that will benefit me.  Ethically, and I believe Constitutionally, I am bound by my citizenship to consider my neighbor in making decisions that affect each of us.  My neighbor is of course similarly bound.

Susan Hamill's law review raises important issues for us to consider when we analyze and discuss tax policy.  It may not be an answer, or a solution easily implemented, but that is not the message I take away from it.  I hear that we need to examine our underlying assumptions about our society and the principles by which we maintain fairness, equality, liberty, freedom, privacy and the other grand notions of the founding fathers.

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