by Klaus Rohrich
april 26, 2004
Do you ever wonder why the only way taxes seem to travel is up? When you consider the rate of inflation and compare it to government spending, you will see that there is little relationship between the two, the latter being more than substantially higher. Yet, each and every year our political masters seek to find new and infinitely more rewarding methods of separating us from our money.
This in itself would not necessarily be a bad thing, if the services we received in return reflected the added dollars we are paying. But truth is, there appears to be a direct correlation between paying more for government and a steep decline in the quality and quantity of services available to taxpayers.
Perhaps I am dating myself, but I distinctly remember a time when a doctor’s appointment could be had same day or next day. I even remember a time when all doctors took new patients. Yet today our socialized health care system is actually bad for our health in that those in need of care are having a tough time finding it. There are still waiting periods of two weeks to several months, making appointments to visit a specialist and certain tests seem to routinely take upward of six to eight months of waiting. I have heard of patients dying while on a waiting list to get a procedure.
all this despite the fact that we are spending more money on health care today than at any time in our history. You would think that with all the money that’s currently being spent on health care, the system would improve. Yet the opposite is true; the system is heading for complete failure and our politicians for some reason keep chanting the same refrain. Someone needs to inform them that if you keep doing the same thing you will keep getting the same thing.
Education is no different. For years the teachers unions and educrats have been telling us that we need to spend more money "for the children". This is something we have done with a vengeance to where we now spend more money on education per student than anyone else in the world! Is the quality of our education any better because of it? are our graduates better equipped to deal with the real world? and, most importantly, if money is the only thing that improves education, then someone please tell me why our rate of illiteracy is dramatically on the increase?
Yes, we have spent a lot more money on education. But, as far as I know none of it seems to have found its way into the classrooms and a lot of it has found its way into teachers’ salaries, pension funds and the inevitable pet "feel good" programs designed to give our children more "self-esteem" and other psychobabble. If you want your child to become motivated, enjoy learning and achieve academic excellence, then you are much better off sending him or her to a private school where things like achievement matter.
The trend toward paying more and getting less for it has extended into civic government in a huge way. Each year our municipal officials twist themselves into pretzels in an effort to demonstrate to the taxpayers how they are trying to keep costs down, so that the inevitable tax increases can be kept to a minimum. I’ve watched this trend for some years now and realize that it’s a scam designed to co-opt any resistance toward the increasing taxes. But the other half of the story is the reduction in municipal services.
In the town where I live, we have had municipal tax increases in excess of the rate of inflation every year since I have moved here. In return, we have lost a number of previously included services and are now paying extra to have them. For instance, each household is assessed $30.00 per year (Up from $25.00 last year) to have recyclable garbage removed. In addition, non-recyclable garbage is picked up at the rate of $1.50 per bag, a fee that will increase by $1.00 (or 66%!) this summer.
Yet each an every year for the last four years, our town has undertaken massive "beautification" projects that cost hundreds of thousands and do nothing for the town economy. For example, three years ago our main street received new sewers and as an adjunct to this, the town decided to narrow the main street and reduce the amount of parking available. Yet our downtown core is in steep decline with small merchants closing shop every day. Duh!
Logically, we can conclude that on the present trajectory, we will eventually be paying the government all of our money and getting nothing in return. It’s high time that citizens become actively involved in controlling government spending. Think about it, if the only individuals that benefit from your taxes are politicians and public service unions, then what’s the point in paying taxes? Taxes were initially intended to form a pool of public money to provide services that were of use to all the citizens. More and more they are becoming tools that politicians use to stay in office and that benefit a select few. It’s time we got our money’s worth.