In the Daily Breeze today, an article written by Tom Chorneau discusses the problems our governor is facing in trying to cut the budget and maybe get it balanced. One of his team's major proposals is to borrow $15 billion dollars to bring in revenue. OK, so we will be more in debt.
Yet, even if we borrow this money, essential services such as education or other things upon which we all depend, will also have to be cut. And of course, those with the greatest need will pretty much be out of luck. But then they are just freeloaders anyway, aren’t they. By ignoring them, maybe the problems will just disappear. Right? But, for the grace of God....
Why not? What the heck, we might be paying less taxes.
Or at least, the most wealthy and privileged will be paying less taxes. Everything else will cost us more.
A young couple who is trying to buy their first home will be paying way more tax on their property than those who live in the identical house next door.
Parents will either constantly spend more time scrambling to help their local schools in fundraising attempts or pay out of pocket to get what is needed to teach their children. Or the schools will go with out.
Those who can afford it can always send their children to private school! Of course, then there is the problem of those pesky neighborhood kids who are not getting a good education and the mischief that this creates. But Of course there is an answer to that as well.
Those who can afford to do so, can move into a private gated community which provides for much of their own services. Their own parks and schools, their own paved and repaired streets, their own protection.
Yet, once and awhile, even these people will still have to venture out, for maybe a job or a trip to the airport, or to obtain some medical services that may not be available in their secure little community. And, in doing so, encounter the rest of us.
Well, maybe not. They could, of course, provide their own security detail and hope that all goes well.
This scenario may seem far fetched. But really, cutting services ends up costing us all much more then we save. This magnifies problems rather than bringing about remedies.
But that’s OK, isn’t it? We get to keep more of our earnings so we can buy more stuff that we don’t need. We can continue to waste, and pollute the environment in order to have more toys.
We can insulate ourselves. The only problem I can see with this, is that we still have to breathe the same air, we still need to have available clean water, and we may want to go somewhere else. But, who knows, maybe we will find an answer to that too.
Really folks, would it really hurt us to pay a bit more to insure the general good? There are more that 35 million people living in this Great State. Even the illegal aliens are working, and paying taxes too. …At jobs most of us wouldn’t take on a bet. We have the 5th largest economy in the world!
Isn’t it possible that those of us who could afford to do so could ante up a bit more. That is most of us. Would our kids really miss one more toy? Couldn’t we go with out one more Big Mac or VCR? Would it really change our life style that much? Would it really damage the economy to spend a bit more of our expendable income on the common good?
My bet is No! That, in that in spending a bit more in the right places, things would get better. We would end up with a better place to live and an expanded economy. We might just realized how privileged we are and think about the rest of the world.
Yes folks, I am talking about paying more taxes!
Posted by Judi at December 4, 2003 2:25 PM | TrackBack