A rant in which we discuss taxes, government, and citizenship

I have to agree with Lance, below, that another tax is a horrible idea. When will they learn that taxpayers are not just one huge bottomless pit of tax revenue, and that they ought to be slashing budgets?

Real leaders would encourage citizens to be less dependent on the government, and to stop looking to the government to solve all problems -- because the government's favorite solution, of course, is to raise taxes.

Case in point: A few years ago, I called our former Rep. Kleczka's office to ask why I was getting the long form of the census in 2001, a year after the full census was done. I also wanted to know why they needed answers to all those nosy questions.

Part of the answer from his staffer was, "Well, the government needs to know if your commute is too long, because if it is, we might have to build more roads, or put in rapid transit, and get more federal dollars to your part of the country."

WRONG! If my commute is too long, I'll take care of it! I'll move, or get a different job, or, heck, strap on a jet pack -- but in any event, it's my problem, not the government's!

Citizens are not helpless, passive subjects whose lives can be made better only by the beneficence of the government.

But I'm afraid too many citizens have adopted exactly that attitude, so it's all too easy for government officials to think, "I'm with the government, I'm here to help -- and the first thing I'll do is take some more of your money."