Free Mexican Food

[Chuck Stromme]

We once asked our then-college freshman daughter to join us for dinner. Her reply: "Oh boy, free Mexican food!" No, darlin' daughter, there's no free Mexican food.

A $35 dinner bill is one thing, a tril bailout is quite another. It's free Mexican food today that you have to pay for forever.

Refundible tax credits sound pretty benign, like something any of us might benefit from. Not quite. It's the problem that lies at the heart of using taxes to shape social policy. Are taxes about government revenue or are they about "fairness" as the prez told us during his campaign? If the former, shouldn't tax policy feature revenue-enhancing components? If the latter, is fairness merely a subjective concept momentarily defined by the party in power?

Does Congress lack the honesty to tell us that they're redistributing income via tax credits for people who don't pay taxes? Yes, policies like that already exist but they're getting way out of hand. That's what Charlie Rangel was talking about when he said “From the tax point of view I think we’ve done a great job”. He wasn't talking about taxes, he was talking about Free Mexican Food. Charlie is OK with taxing us to chase votes because... (drum roll please) he doesn't pay all his own taxes. Kind of like Congressman Wm. Jefferson complaining about the hell of being investigated AFTER the feds found $90 large in marked money in his freezer. C'mon, guys.

Does it feel like Congress wants to take more of your money for no other reason than they've identified voters who are unfairly burdened by not having your money? And does that feel kinda weird? It's not just our money, they're taking money from all our heirs... maybe forever. How long do you think it takes to repay, say, 2 tril? Maybe 3 tril? Pay up, heirs.

If Congress was a good steward of our money it might all go down a little easier. Maybe we could pretend that the administration's tax scandals are not definitve of our circumstances. But now it seems like they just overpaid by some $78 billion for TARP assets in the first bailout. $78 BILLION! Isn't that 22% of the first $350B, wasted? Remember the outrage when the first year of the Iraq war was going to cost $70 billion? For or against the war, at least the $70B paid for something. The $78B got us nothing but a snicker from the folks who knew we were overpaying but kept their hands out anyway, and they still have them out.

There's no free Mexican food. Somebody always gets stuck with the check. Can you look your kids in the eye and tell them it's going to be... them? Poor them.

This country has come to feel the same when Congress is in session as when the baby gets hold of a hammer. Will Rogers

[LC-Hawk]

The issue I have, with most arguments on the economy, is that we continue to use terms like "my money" or "your money", "your children's money".

It is NOT my money! anymore than if I was handing it to a retailer for a pair of underwear. Once I pay the merchant, it is his to do with as he pleases. Once I pay my taxes the money is no longer mine.

Do I hope the government uses it wisely? Yes! But if they don't, then it is my responsibility to put people in place that take care of the household budget the way I would like to see it spent.

It's just like that box of chocolates that costs too much, and I don't really need, I don't have the cash in my pocket, but I buy it anyway with my credit card. I'll pay for it over time, but at a higher cost (once interest is added to it). Can I blame my government for having a sweet tooth too?

[Edythe Stromme]

LC and I will have to agree to disagree here. I have a different view of our tax dollars. They aren’t like a purchase to me. If they were we didn’t buy a box of chocolates. We bought a couple of hundred thousand Willie Wonka factories.

If my tax dollars were like purchases, it would be like driving past Macy’s and throwing some money at the store hoping they would throw something I want or need back to me.

My tax dollars are an investment in the biggest corporation of all-- the United States government. We can’t all attend board meetings and vote on each and every issue of our country’s business so we elect representatives who we think will best represent our beliefs and interests. Their job is to meet with others who have been elected by their constituents and wrestle, negotiate and compromise to create an end result that most closely represents the people who sent them to Washington.

If the hue and cry over these vast spending bills is any indication, they are not doing their jobs. No one seems to want to bail out big corporations who have acted selfishly and unwisely and now want to be saved without consequences for their bad decisions. And yet we are doing it. We, the country; and, yes, I do believe that is US, ALL OF US. And yes, I know, it's all very complicated. Way beyond our poor ability to comprehend. Well baloney to that. I'm pretty sure I can understand anything Barney Frank can understand--and then some.

I pay taxes for many reasons. To support education, health and welfare, food and drug safety, transportation, defense and at least an illusion that my money is being spent to ensure a safer present and a better future for my children and grandchildren.

If we go bankrupt, who will bail us out? No one will. Why should they? They can buy us for a nickel on the dollar. After all is said and done, we might be remembered, if we are remembered at all, as the experiment in representative government that failed.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box. I feel better now. Edythe

[LC-Hawk]

Edythe Stromme said:

LC and I will have to agree to disagree here. I have a different view of our tax dollars. They aren’t like a purchase to me. If they were we didn’t buy a box of chocolates. We bought a couple of hundred thousand Willie Wonka factories.
If my tax dollars were like purchases, it would be like driving past Macy’s and throwing some money at the store hoping they would throw something I want or need back to me.
My tax dollars are an investment in the biggest corporation of all-- the United States government. We can’t all attend board meetings and vote on each and every issue of our country’s business so we elect representatives who we think will best represent our beliefs and interests. Their job is to meet with others who have been elected by their constituents and wrestle, negotiate and compromise to create an end result that most closely represents the people who sent them to Washington.

If the hue and cry over these vast spending bills is any indication, they are not doing their jobs. No one seems to want to bail out big corporations who have acted selfishly and unwisely and now want to be saved without consequences for their bad decisions. And yet we are doing it. We, the country; and, yes, I do believe that is US, ALL OF US. And yes, I know, it's all very complicated. Way beyond our poor ability to comprehend. Well baloney to that. I'm pretty sure I can understand anything Barney Frank can understand--and then some.

I pay taxes for many reasons. To support education, health and welfare, food and drug safety, transportation, defense and at least an illusion that my money is being spent to ensure a safer present and a better future for my children and grandchildren.

If we go bankrupt, who will bail us out? No one will. Why should they? They can buy us for a nickel on the dollar. After all is said and done, we might be remembered, if we are remembered at all, as the experiment in representative government that failed.

Ok, I'll get off my soap box. I feel better now. Edythe