My cause was to fight for life. Abortion was an injustice I could do something about. I could educate my peers. I could raise money for pregnancy resource centers. I could be a silent witness outside abortion facilities. Nothing held me back from helping at least one young woman who struggled with an abortion decision. Nothing held me back from trying to save at least one life. How many other causes allow an ordinary individual to directly help save a life?
Q. In just about every column, it appears you take a stance which seems to be against taxes. How about writing a column that points out some of the positive parts of taxes?
A. This reader and others requested a pro-tax effort. Weâre especially grateful to Professor Mary Ellen OâConnell, a member of the Notre Dame Law School faculty, who reminded us of a famous quote from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes: â I like to pay taxes. With them I buy civilization.â
Another jurist, Federal Judge Learned Hand wrote, â⦠nobody owes any public duty to pay more than the law demands: taxes are enforced extractions, not voluntary contributions.â
Just over a century ago, the United States government – in the midst of World War I – undertook unprecedented efforts to control and restrict what it saw as “unpatriotic” speech through passage of the Sedition Act of 1918, signed by President Woodrow Wilson on May 16 of that year.
The restrictions – and the courts’ reactions to them – mark an important landmark in testing the limits of the First Amendment, and the beginnings of the current understanding of free speech in the U.S.
As a scholar and lawyer focused on freedom of speech in the U.S., I have studied the federal government’s attempts to restrict speech, including during World War I, and the legal cases that challenged them. These cases helped form the modern idea of the First Amendment right of free speech. But the conflict between patriotism and free expression continues to be an issue a century later.
There are some really bad ideas that seem to have traction these days. The notions that the election was stolen or that defunding police can improve law enforcement are good examples. The thought that we can have a country, a military, highways or government without taxes may be the most damaging of all.
This Monday, May 17, is the day our federal income taxes are due. Most of us dutifully pay our fair share. Enabled by the U.S. Congress, many of the wealthiest Americans and some of our largest corporations engage in blatant fraud. Some will pay nothing.
Due to 40% budget cuts since 2010, the IRS can no longer administer tax laws. The Internal Revenue Service now has 21,000 fewer workers than it did in 2010 â and more responsibilities. There is a backlog of over 29 million tax returns that await processing.
Facebook Board Announces Trump Remains Banned. Trump Starts His Own âPlatform.â
Then-President Donald Trump listens during a discussion with state attorneys general on protection from social media abuses in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on September 23, 2020.
MANDEL NGAN / AFP via Getty Images
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âSo shines a good deed in a weary world,â said Willy Wonka when confronted with an unexpected kindness. The candy master may have had similar words about todayâs decision by Facebookâs new 20-person âOversight Board.â For the time being at least, the silence will continue to reign, and a weary world sighs in palpable relief.