Palin's kind of Patriotism

[17aurelianos]

I couldn't have said it better! I don't mind paying taxes and when people (conservatives mostly) bitch about paying taxes I try to find some common ground because while I really don't mind paying taxes I absolutely hate governement waste- I think we could have a lot more for each citizen in this country if we got rid of a lot of stuff like no-bid

Comments

[professormcjerk]

i love when you post these because i don't usually read any friedman articles . . . for whatever reason.

my favorite part about the anti-tax mentality in this country is that old "he wants to raise taxes" rhetoric works so well. i want taxes raised a lot. on people who make more money than they need to live. there are people out there who make enough money to live filthy well on three or four or forty times over and those people should pay some fucking taxes. the rest of us should too. because i want the fire department to put out my house when it's on fire.

but i'm just a greedy public school teacher, so all i know about is taxation and leeching off society.

i like to imagine you reading this article at the counter of the brandywine. looking forward to seeing you man. some time or other . . .

[jr_bee]

great article. I agree with this sentiment 100 million percent. I remember in my early western civ class when Sarah Wiley (the prof at Delta) made the argument very cogently that taxes enabled us to be civilized and enabled our government to represent our ideals. In many ways, there is nothing more patriotic than paying taxes. Grover Norquist and his drowning the government in the bathtub ideology is bankrupt beyond bankrupt now, and all the right wing conservatives clinging to that rubicon are like dinosaurs leaping head first in to the tarpit.

Things I never thought I would say-

[mandyrhea]

This is a great article.
But, it made me debate with a girl at work today who was complaining about paying such a large percentage of her check in taxes.