Choosing to Pay

It occurred to me, as I was listening to the ongoing harangue by America's politicians, that this is an absurd debate that we are having.


We are able to keep taxes low by voting out of office anyone who suggests we might need to pay more for government services.


We don't get to vote for price increases for anything else.  Would you agree to pay more for, say, homeowner's insurance?  (The ever popular dumping ground of South Carolina was chosen to have a rate increase this year, my policy increasing by 18%!)  How about airfares -- how would you vote on doubling fares on the Sunday after Thanksgiving?  And don't forget the cost of food; would raising food costs get your vote?


Yet the service that has always given the most bang for the buck continues to get squeezed, to the point of failure.  Take schools, or the postal service.  And my own personal favorite, public libraries.


Why do we continue to think that we should get to vote down the cost of government services, while paying top dollar for everything else?


Let's take a look at this fallacy, and let's figure out a way to give it the fresh air it needs.