Back to some politics

Dear James, Daniel and Emily,

So the Spineless Senate Democrats appear to be in danger of blowing the vote on the Stimulus package (you'll have to scroll a little to see the article). And I read more and more about how the Republicans are winning the spin on this issue. And I am worried that when all is said and done what gets passed will not amount to a hill of beans. And all I hear from the Republican side is 'lower taxes'.

Well here's my response: Kim & I made a little more money last year than the year before, and yet we have to pay a substantially larger amount of taxes to the State of Colorado. This may seem like an argument for lowering taxes, but it isn't because I know that Colorado already has a ridiculously low tax rate compared to other states, and yet the state is already having to cut large chunks of projects etc from the budget. So if the taxes are so high (when they aren't) where is all that money going? It's not helping pay for health care, or education or bridges or law enforcement because the level of those services are quite low here. I think the reality is that all of this money is ending up in overpaid sweetheart contractors who are paid to do the work that used to be done more efficiently by the government.

I am angry about this whole idea that the government is the devil, and it is almost a civic duty to pay lower and lower taxes. The real economic fact is that the Middle class families have to work harder now than they did 40 years ago, for a smaller piece of the pie. I know my parents saved, and cut budgetary corners to an extent, but when it came time they were able to send all of us kids to college (and pay for me to go to a ritzy private school). Now, with a family of the same size and comparable salary there is no way I can envision that happening. And the level of education and governmental services that I can expect for myself has declined (while my taxes are also supposedly declining but actually aren't).