Financing our Common Purposes (F-2)

Description

Government meets its expenditures mainly through taxes. Taxes are a financial charges collected by the government and its functional equivalents for meeting certain state expenditures, such as on wars, law and order enforcements, infrastructural projects(roads, irrigation, etc.), education, health, pensions for the elderly, benefits for the unemployed persons, operation of governmental departments, etc. Government always try to distribute the burden of tax among different classes of individuals in accordance to their income levels by applying differentiated taxes and tax rates. Nevertheless, government budget generally don't balance, hence it has to borrow for these deficits which in turn gives rise to public debt. Managing public finance is not easy despite of its importance. 

As soon as public service ceases to be the chief business of the citizens, and they would rather serve with their money than with their persons, the State is not far from its fall. -Jean Jacques Rousseau, Philosopher, Writer, and Composer-

In the additional resources section to the right is a collection of related public service narratives "Ask me why I care, "under "Tell your story." They were curated by the University of Nebraska at Omaha College of Public Affairs and Community Service in a Public Service Stories Project. Project Co-Directors are Dr. Mary Hamilton and Ms. Rita Paskowitz. The collection includes videos and Suggested Assignments for Students.

Collection Items

Daniel W. Bell, Undersecretary of the Treasury, Washington D.C. 1939
Daniel W. Bell was an American career civil servant for 30 years when was appointed to political office. Born in Kinderhook, Illinois, he was acting director of the Bureau of the Budget (now the Office of Management and Budget) from September 1, 1934…

Tax expert favors incentive taxation, 1942
Lovell Parker after resignation

Tax expert favors incentive taxation. Washington, D.C., Dec. 12. Lovell Parker, who resigned last year after serving 12 years as tax expert for the Joint Congressional Finance Committee, today told the Senate…

U.S. Taxation, Public Tax Worker Circa 1936-1938
Throughout history, every organized society had some form of government. In free societies, the goals of government have been to protect individual freedoms and to promote the well-being of society as a whole. To meet their expenses, government needs…

Bernard M. Baruch 1870 - 1965, U.S. Financier, Stock-market Speculator, Statesman & Political Consultant
Bernard Mannes Baruch was a U.S. financier, stock-market speculator, statesman, and political consultant. After his success in business, Baruch devoted his time toward advising U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on economic…

United States Senate Committee on Finance, 1789 -
During the Senate’s first 27 years (1789-1816), it had no standing committees.  The early Senate was a small body.  It conducted its work through temporary committees that met as needed and disbanded when the Senate enacted the legislation that had…

ENERGY STAR, US Environmental Protection Agency Voluntary Program, 1992-
More than 80 percent of Americans now recognize the ENERGY STAR label. American families and businesses have saved a total of nearly $230 billion on utility bills and prevented more than 1.7 billion metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions with help…

The Fountain of Taxation, 1909
This illustration shows a large fountain with four basins, at top, supported by a crown and scepters, is a basin labeled "Millionaire", next resting on a cornucopia is "Well-To-Do", then the "Middle Class" basin supported by an octopus, and at the…

Uncle Sam’s Income, 1909
Illustration shows a customs officer placing a tax stamp on an American heiress, also vignettes showing some suggested ways of generating revenue, such as taxing "poodles and other precious pups", people who tell tall stories, "divorce",…

Everybody's doing it. Doing what? Paying taxes, of course, 1920s
Large group of people filling out tax forms in Internal Revenue office.

The Tea-tax-tempest, or the Anglo-American Revolution, 1778
A satire expressing a Continental European view of the American Revolution, showing Father Time using a magic lantern to project the image of a teapot exploding among frightened British troops as American troops advance through the smoke. In the…

Government Accounting Office, Center for Audit Excellence
Effective accountability organizations are an essential tool in helping improve government performance and the sound use of public resources.  With a cadre of highly experienced staff with expertise in a wide array of audit-related topics, Center for…
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