Alabama Still Collecting Tax for Confederate Veterans

And not one of them is left alive.

Via Thomas Ricks, "Alabama still collecting taxes to support Confederate pensioners."

And this is evidence that conservatives like taxes? See AP Newswire:

Despite fire-and-brimstone opposition to taxes among many in a state that still has "Heart of Dixie" on its license plates, officials never stopped collecting a property tax that once funded the Alabama Confederate Soldiers' Home, which closed 72 years ago. The tax now pays for Confederate Memorial Park, which sits on the same 102-acre tract where elderly veterans used to stroll.

The tax once brought in millions for Confederate pensions, but lawmakers sliced up the levy and sent money elsewhere as the men and their wives died. No one has seriously challenged the continued use of the money for a memorial to the "Lost Cause," in part because few realize it exists; one long-serving black legislator who thought the tax had been done away with said he wants to eliminate state funding for the park.

Seems to me that if a memorial park is important and valued, people will agree to be taxed to pay for it. And this is another example of the power of government to tilt toward corruption and malfeasance. A memorial park is worth it, but not at the expense of deceit. See the Gadsden Times, "Time to end this tax":

We’re happy to see the park flourishing, and expect it to get a lot of business during the ongoing sesquicentennial celebration of the Civil War.

However, we question the fairness of this particular facility being subsidized to this level by the state — through a tax intended to pay for something that long ago ceased to exist — at a time when other historic tourist attractions in Alabama that receive money from the state’s General Fund are suffering because of budget cuts.

When those cuts were being formulated, Confederate history groups and others made it known they wanted the Mountain Creek park’s earmarked funding left alone, and it was. Support for the park is strong, so it’s likely to survive a vow by Rep. Alvin Holmes, D-Montgomery, to cut off its state money.

We don’t have an issue with the park getting state money, but it ought to come from the same pot similar attractions draw from.