Caring remains cornerstone of community

I am one of the few people I know who feel good about paying taxes and about taxation in general.

A fair system of government and a fair system of taxing citizens provide the makings for a balanced and secure nation. I do not want big government or small government – I want an adequate and responsible government to protect and provide for the basic needs and concerns of citizens – like retirement and health care.

I do not want a tax system that burdens our poor or middle class. I do support taxing those who make more so that those who make little or are in need of social services can be provided for.

Judaism holds as its social ideal a society in which individual members are obligated to the well-being of the community, and the community is obligated to care for the individual. We maintain that an individual’s economic wealth obligates that person to care for those with limited access to wealth.

Jewish tradition holds that the rights of property ownership are tempered by the obligation to support the community in general as well as to care for those members of the community who are most in need, typified by the widow, orphan and stranger.

In March, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, or RRA, of which I am a member, passed a resolution regarding our Social Security system. It is influenced by a resolution passed in 1999 by the Reform association, now called the Union for Reform Judaism.

The RRA (as well as the Reform movement) opposes all efforts to dismantle Social Security as a federal social insurance program that provides for our elderly, widows and widowers, orphans and people with disabilities. We support maintaining the progressive nature of Social Security benefits, whereby low- and middle-income beneficiaries receive a proportionally greater amount of benefits relative to their lifetime earnings.

Social Security is a cornerstone in our American society. It is more than a retirement benefits program. It embodies our biblical teachings of intergenerational responsibility and support. For more than 60 years, Social Security has provided a reasonable income to our retired workers and their families and to those who have lost family income due to the death or disability of a worker. Social Security provides a crucial safety net for some of the most vulnerable in our society.

Some facts: Poverty rates among the elderly have fallen from about 50 percent in 1935 to around 11 percent today. Over two-thirds of elderly Social Security beneficiaries receive more than half their income from Social Security, and for a third of this group, Social Security provides at least 90 percent of their income.

Our Social Security system helps us, as a society, honor our elders and care for those in need.

More facts: President Bush claims that Social Security is in crisis and will soon be unable to meet its obligations. However, conservative estimates by the Social Security trustees and the Congressional Budget Office project that full benefits can be paid for another 40 to 50 years, at which time scheduled benefits (assuming no changes are made to the system) would fall by about 75 percent. Considering a 75-year time horizon, the Social Security trustees estimate that the shortfall is $3.7 trillion (in present value). If one-third of President Bush’s tax cuts were rolled back and that money were deposited into the Social Security trust fund, the entire 75-year shortfall would disappear.

President Bush is proposing to reduce our Social Security benefits due to the current financial shortfall. He is suggesting that soon we would reduce the benefits paid out to most retirees and to those most in need. Others are suggesting that we roll back the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, or find other revenue sources, so that we can maintain our responsibilities to our citizens, especially those most in need.

I certainly do not understand the reasons we approved a tax cut at a time when our economy is suffering. We are at war in Iraq and Afghanistan. Oil prices are at an all-time high and we are not investing in alternative energy sources. Our Social Security system needs support. Our schools are not getting the funding they need to keep America on the cutting edge of new ideas and technologies so that we can lead our world to a safer, cleaner and prosperous future.

Taxation is a legitimate and necessary method for paying for our communal obligations. The levying of sufficient taxes to ensure the solvency of Social Security as a social insurance program that will support those in need at a level consistent with human dignity is part of our national responsibility.

Rabbi Barry Krieger is the rabbinic facilitator for the Hillel organization at the University of Maine in Orono. He may be reached via bkrieger56@aol.com. Voices is a weekly commentary by Maine columnists who explore issues affecting spirituality and religious life.