Tim Russert, Subsidiarity & Taxes

1) Tim Russert was a great newsman, sitting in one of the iconic newsmaker seats in American media, and he was a Catholic, formed—and living by—those sensibilities he learned from the nuns while being educated in Catholic schools.

Here is an excerpt from a recent post at First Things by Fr. Neuhaus:

“From his Catholic faith and from Big Russ, Tim Russert learned the “lessons of life” that enabled him, and can help the rest of us, to survive the follies of life with a measure of equanimity and with uncompromised conviction. John Meacham [in Newseek] writes that Russert believed that there are three really big things: God, human folly, and laughter. The first two surpass human understanding, so in our humbled state we should make the most of the third.”

2) If anything represents the core ideal of the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, it is keeping as much of what you earn as possible—think low tax rates—so that you and your family, the smallest unit of society, can do those things proper to its health and prosperity rather than always asking that of the state, the largest unit of society.

Subsidiarity is defined in the Catechism as:

“1883 Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal freedom and initiative. the teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity, according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of need and help to co-ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to the common good."

In this excerpt from an article in the Wall Street Journal about the views of Robert Mundell—a Nobel Laureate in economics—we are reminded of the history of tax rates in America since the early 1900’s:

“Should taxes instead be cut again, I ask him, to stimulate the sluggish economy? Mr. Mundell replies that he favors a ceiling of 30% on marginal rates (the current top rate is 35%). He recounts how the past century experienced a titanic struggle over whether tax rates are too high or too low: from a 3% income tax in 1913; up to 60% during World War I; down to 25% before Congress and President Herbert Hoover raised taxes back to 60% in 1932 and "sealed the fate of our economy for a long, long time"; all the way up to 92.5% during World War II before falling in three steps, reaching 28% under President Ronald Reagan; and back to nearly 40% under Bill Clinton before George W. Bush lowered them to their current level.”