The California Budget Project’s Budget Bites blog has a post up, Taxes Are What We Pay for a Civilized Society, that begins,
“Taxes are the collective price we pay for public goods and services.
State and local taxes support our public schools, streets and highways,
public hospitals that form the backbone of the state’s trauma care
system, parks and beaches, the public health infrastructure that
ensures that our food is safe to eat and our water is safe to drink
(and that delivers water to homes across California), as well as a
range of other services. While the primary purpose of a tax system is
to raise the money needed to support public services, tax policy can
also serve as an end in itself, providing incentives for taxpayers to
engage in desired activities or providing cash assistance to certain
individuals.”