Paying the piper: Catholic social teaching and the tax debate

'IN THIS WORLD NOTHING IS CERTAIN but death and taxes," Benjamin Franklin observed in 1789. On no day does this seem more true for most Americans than on April 15, the day they take part in the annual ritual of filing a tax return. Knowing that April is a time when taxes are much on the minds of voters, presidential candidates have traditionally used the April 15 deadline as an occasion to highlight their positions on tax policy. This year should be no different, and the differences between the major party candidates could not be clearer.

Although Catholic teaching has ...