(no subject)
Sep. 8th, 2003 01:04 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pearwaldorf*looks up at sky* Nope. Not falling.
So Alabama has this really horrible regressive tax system that makes poor people pay about three times more than wealthy people do in state income tax. And this tax professor wrote a thesis about the injustice of this and the moral duty of the Christians of the state to make sure this is corrected.
In her thesis, Hamill stakes claims more reminiscent of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Party than Pat Robertson and the religious right. Citing ancient precedents of land tenure rights and debt forgiveness, she says the Bible mandates a “minimum opportunity” for the poor. Lest anyone miss the point, she goes on to argue that “minimum opportunity” in contemporary America consists of a decent public education. Lest anyone miss that point, Hamill demonstrates that Alabama public schools fall so woefully short of adequacy that only a drastic increase in funds could fulfill the state’s moral obligation.
And I'll be damned if one of the most backward states in the south didn't up and pass tax reforms to make the contribution of tax income more equitable. Maybe there is hope in the world after all.
So Alabama has this really horrible regressive tax system that makes poor people pay about three times more than wealthy people do in state income tax. And this tax professor wrote a thesis about the injustice of this and the moral duty of the Christians of the state to make sure this is corrected.
In her thesis, Hamill stakes claims more reminiscent of Dorothy Day and the Catholic Worker Party than Pat Robertson and the religious right. Citing ancient precedents of land tenure rights and debt forgiveness, she says the Bible mandates a “minimum opportunity” for the poor. Lest anyone miss the point, she goes on to argue that “minimum opportunity” in contemporary America consists of a decent public education. Lest anyone miss that point, Hamill demonstrates that Alabama public schools fall so woefully short of adequacy that only a drastic increase in funds could fulfill the state’s moral obligation.
And I'll be damned if one of the most backward states in the south didn't up and pass tax reforms to make the contribution of tax income more equitable. Maybe there is hope in the world after all.
