Taxes are not a one-way transaction

We all complain about taxes and we all would like to pay less taxes or none at all.

But what happens when we pay less taxes?

We won’t have the public streets and highways that we want to be in pot-holeless condition.

We wont’t have fire departments coming to put out our house-fires or the neighbors’ house-fires that might expand to our house.  Does that give you a clue why tax supported fire departments are a good idea?  If not, consider how safe your house would be if you were the only one on your block who paid the fire department.

The same holds for police and snowplowing and street cleaning and …  Would you want to be responsible for clearing the snow from the street in front of your house?

And the irony of ironies is that the “conservatives” who complain the loudest about taxes for things they don’t like want to to throw money at the military, especially if it means a military base in their district.

Oh, yes!  If you can read this, thank a teacher.  If you're rich, maybe your daddy paid the teacher.  If you're not rich, hundreds and thousands of tax-paying citizens paid the teacher.  Or, the poor kid whose education you helped pay for in your middle-age may be the doctor that saves your life in your old age.

Grover Norquist calls 911

Grover Norquist is frying a couple of hamburger patties in his kitchen when some grease spatters and is ignited.  He rushes to his phone to call for assistance.

Scenario One

Grover Norquist calls 911.  He receives a recorded message:

If you require government assistance, please look in Grover Norquist's bathtub.

Scenario Two

Grover Norquist calls his private fire company.  He is given the following list of instructions:

If you are calling about a cat in a tree, please press 1.

If you are calling about smelling gas, please press 2.

If you are calling about a medical emergency, please press 3.

If you are calling about a fire, please press 4. (Grover Norquist presses 4.)

If you are calling about a car fire, please press 1.

If you are calling about a brush fire, please press 2.

If you are calling about a chimney fire, please press 3.

If you are calling about a kitchen fire, please press 4.  (Grover Norquist presses 4.)

He hears the following message:

All our agents are busy.  Please stay online for our next available agent.

After a minute, Grover Norquist hears the following message:

All our agents are still busy.  Please stay online for our next available agent.  Your approximate wait time is five minutes. (This is repeated every minute.)

Finally after ten minutes, he hears in an Indian accent:

"Good evening, my name is Stephanie.  It is my pleasure to assist you this evening.  May I have your name and address?"

Grover Norquist gives his name and address.

"I am sorry, sir, but we have no record of a client named Rover Northlist."

Grover Norquist spells out his name.

"I apologize for getting your name wrong, sir.  My computer is searching for your account."

After a minute, the agent says, "I'm sorry, sir, but we are having a typhoon and our connection to the Internet is slow."

After another minute, the agent says, "I'm sorry, sir, but our records indicate that you have not paid your last two premiums.  We are not permitted to dispatch a crew when a client is in arrears."

Scenario Three

As in Scenario two, but Grover Norquist has paid all his premiums.  After the agent finds his account, she says,  "I'm sorry, sir, but our crew for your town is now at an apartment fire and it appears that they will be there all night.  Would you like me to check with our backup crew?  They are only twenty miles away."

Is disaster relief tax and spend?

I've been wondering when one of the Republican governors who berates the size of the Federal government and decries the "tax and spend" policies of the Democrats, was going to call for Federal disaster relief.  Gov. Rick Perry of Texas may not be the first, but he is the first that I read about.  See "Texas Gov. Rick Perry Cut Fire Department Funding by 75%".

No wonder he can claim low taxes, but he gets high fire danger for it.  He may have decried "taxes and spend" but now he's calling on the Federal government to "spend for Texas".