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| 28 April 2004 |
| 1. ACTON COMMENTARY |
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“The Sin Tax Craze: Who’s Next?” by Rev.
Robert A. Sirico
 State
governments looking for ways to patch budget gaps are
increasingly raising taxes on what some lawmakers view as
socially suspect activities, such as smoking and drinking.
But, as Rev. Robert Sirico observes, raising “sin taxes”
should be resisted for economic and moral reasons.
Acton Web Poll: Should cigarettes carry a heavy sin tax?
Vote |
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| The Acton
Institute is funded through the generous contributions of
individuals such as yourself. |
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| 2. THIS WEEK AT ACTON.ORG |
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Vision
into Practice. A new conference from the Center for Effective
Compassion
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Acton’s CEC is hosting an intensive, one-day
conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Friday, June 4, that will
focus on civil society's responsibility to help the poor. Policy
makers, philanthropists, foundation grantors and grantees,
grassroots community, and faith-based service providers will
come away with the tools and skill sets necessary to improve
programs and better measure results. Sign up today. |
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| 3. ACTON NEWSMAKERS |
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“‘Passion’ prompts Hollywood to embrace faith films”
by Rev. Robert A. Sirico, The Detroit News
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With box office receipts topping
the half billion dollar mark, “The Passion of the Christ” has
the film industry rethinking its views on religious stories.
What does Mel Gibson’s triumph portend for Hollywood? (This
column was also published by the Daily Progress in
Charlottesville, Va., as “Hollywood Understands Message of
Money.”) |
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| 4. FOOD FOR THOUGHT FROM ACROSS THE WEB |
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“Making
Room at the Inn” by Jennifer Roback Morse,
Hoover Digest
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“The problem of the legitimately
dependent cannot be finessed or argued away,” writes Dr. Morse,
member of the Board of Advisors at the Acton Institute and
fellow at the Hoover Institution. According to Morse, it is
possible that “dependency is not peripheral to the social order
but is somehow central to it.” |
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| 5. THIS WEEK AT THE ACTON BOOK SHOPPE |
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The Sin Tax: Economic and Moral Considerations by
Rev. Robert A. Sirico
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This monograph discusses the negative impact of
sin taxes. “The sin tax,” writes Sirico, “promoted primarily as
a fiscal last resort -- does not qualify as a legitimate
intervention under the principle of subsidiarity. In short, the
sin tax fails from both an economic and a moral point of view.” |
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| 6. IN THE LIBERAL TRADITION |
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Benjamin Constant (1767–1830)
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“Whenever there is no absolute necessity,
whenever legislation may fail to intervene without society being
overthrown, whenever, finally it is a question merely of some
hypothetical improvement, the law must abstain, leave things
alone, and keep quiet.” |
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Acton Institute for the Study of
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