Taxes and patriotism

I had the privilege of breakfasting today with Brian Corbin, who pointed out a Thomas Friedman Op-Ed I overlooked yesterday. Friedman takes apart Palin’s assertion that, “In the middle class of America, which is where Todd and I have been all of our lives, [paying taxes is] not patriotic.”

Friedman responds:

What an awful statement. Palin defended the government’s $700 billion rescue plan. She defended the surge in Iraq, where her own son is now serving. She defended sending more troops to Afghanistan. And yet, at the same time, she declared that Americans who pay their fair share of taxes to support all those government-led endeavors should not be considered patriotic.

I only wish she had been asked: “Governor Palin, if paying taxes is not considered patriotic in your neighborhood, who is going to pay for the body armor that will protect your son in Iraq? Who is going to pay for the bailout you endorsed? If it isn’t from tax revenues, there are only two ways to pay for those big projects — printing more money or borrowing more money. Do you think borrowing money from China is more patriotic than raising it in taxes from Americans?” That is not putting America first. That is selling America first.

It’s a good read; I hope you can take time to catch the whole thing.

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