Am I the only guy in America who doesn’t mind paying for social services? Education, law enforcement, libraries, environmental regulation, business regulation, even the military…I’m happy to pay taxes to fund them all. I swear these rabid anti-tax idealogues need to have a few police/fire/ambulance emergencies where nobody responds. I’ll bet they’d sing a different tune then. We’re all in this together, guys, whether you like it or not.
Oliver Wendell Holmes said, “Taxes are the price we pay for a civilized society.” While my agreement with his statement should not be construed as a belief that all is well in the world of government, I do agree. Oregon needs to close the tax loopholes in its tax system—the state gives away more in tax breaks than it now receives in tax revenue—and use the money to fund social services at their minimum level. As it stands we’re over $1 billion short. We’re looking a little uncivilized at present.
It’s even worse, if that’s possible, on the federal level. We need first and foremost to get George Bush out of office. What kind of “conservative” runs a deficit of hundreds of billions of dollars? $724 billion in tax cuts? Even $350 billion is a travesty that imperils Society Security and future economic growth. One must confront the sad fact that this administration among its numerous other faults carries the baggage of a Clintonesque, Alice in Wonderland approach to the meaning of words. No “conservative,” compassionate or otherwise, would do what George Bush has done to education, the economy, the budget, the states, and so forth. Here’s how a real fiscal conservative would manage things [old Dean for America link now dead]. If he gets into office, I’m gonna feel even better about paying my share. I think we all will.