Intelligent discourse on U.S. Taxes, by Erza Klein

Erza Klein had some interesting thoughts recently on the Tax Debate and its place in the presidential race:

The tendency to speak of taxes as an unpleasant surcharge exacted for the government and spent on...well...who knows, is poisonous. Within that mindset, folks probably prefer if you take the cash from the rich and not from them...It's worth it to have effective responses to natural disasters, worth it to have a modern national infrastructure, worth it to have national health care, worth it to have more than one safety inspector examining Chinese goods, worth it to invest in medical and scientific research, worth it to enact universal pre-kindergarten. Indeed, many of these priorities are not only worth the cost, but they're actually good investments. They're a damn good deal. And Democrats need to grow comfortable making that case. The Republicans have succeeded in moving the tax debate onto grounds of "who pays," and "how much." Democrats need to remember to ask, "what for," and "what if we don't?"