Been hearing about a couple polls recently looking at whether folks in the US think tax cuts are a good idea and whether their taxes are too high. Apparently a majority think their taxes are too high, but at the same time a majority thinks tax cuts aren't necessarily a good idea at the moment.
The question I have is "too high for what?" I'm sure we would all like to have more money in our pocket, but I think the real question here is what are we getting for the money we give to Uncle Sam (or to our state and local governments)? And a related question: how do taxes fit in with the rest of our expenses? Even in the best of times, it seems our public institutions are strapped for cash, and as a result we get mediocre schools, underpaid cops, bad roads, the DMV (speaking collectively) from hell...the list goes on & on. It's hard to get excited about handing over our hard-earned money when the benefits we get are so hard to see. At the same time, there are a number of expenses that we have to pay for in addition to our tax burden, such as health insurance, or in our case a streetlight whose electricity we have to pay for that doesn't even illuminate a fraction of the street in front of our house.
So are my taxes too high? Well, our income is largely dependent on state and federal dollars...so I would say, "No they're not, but for Chrissakes Dubya, quit nickel & diming education and if you want to bomb someone hold a friggin' bake sale.
Posted by Jason at April 15, 2003 10:14 AM