Buying Civilization

By Patrick Weadon

“I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.”

- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.

As the quote from Justice Holmes notes, the subject for this month’s column is taxes, specifically taxes in the great Free State of Maryland. In order to make my point, I would like to return to the year of 1993. President Clinton’s budget for that year contained a wide range of tax increases. Many of his advisers at the time were against this policy, but Clinton was betting the revenues raised would demonstrate to Wall Street the U.S. was serious about paying its bills.

The reaction from many quarters was predictable. “Experts” claimed the proposal would amount to the biggest tax increase in world history, kill millions of jobs and plunge the country into a recession. Their predictions proved to be wrong. In fact, the revenue raised was one of the critical factors that led to a balanced budget and an eventual surplus in funds.

Fast forward to today. In May, state leaders closed out a successful special session, the result of which was an increase in taxes. Once again, those on the right claimed that raising tax rates would lead to ruin. As an alternative, they proposed a “doomsday budget” that would have had a devastating impact on the quality of life in our state. Most importantly, it would have decimated the nation’s finest educational system.

However, because the current leadership in Annapolis had the courage to raise taxes, there will be no drastic classroom cuts in public schools across the state. The budget package included full funding of the Thornton education formula, including a 1 percent inflation increase. Also, school budgets will now remain intact, restoring $38 million to Prince George's County, $33 million to Montgomery County, and $22 million to Baltimore City, as well as funding for other counties.

On the college level, had the conservatives had their way, tuition would have increased at the University of Maryland by 13 percent, making it harder for middle-class students to get the skills needed to compete in today’s global economy. Finally, the doomsday approach would have had a deleterious effect on the state’s ability to help those most in need.

Many on the right point to California as an example of what can happen when state governments tax rather than cut their way to prosperity. They fail to note, however, that one of the major reasons that the Golden State is in trouble is that California state law requires that tax increases cannot be implemented without a super majority vote in the legislature. This has resulted in a situation where the citizens of that state have continued to demand services, while making it impossible for their elected representatives to raise the funds needed to pay for them. Thankfully, our legislative leaders have no such impediment to paying the state’s bills.

Conservatives love to promote the concept of “limited” government. They forget that Webster’s definition of the word not only encompasses checks on government power, but also means “having only mediocre talent or range of ability.” This is the major point. Do we want a mediocre state in which only the wealthy have the ability to reach their potential? Or, do we want to continue to live in state with superb schools, top notch public services, good roads and a superb quality of life?

Let’s face reality. Taxes are the price we pay for civilization and those who work to ensure that our state remains fiscally sound should be applauded and admired for their efforts. Freedom isn’t free, but neither is civilization.