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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: E who wrote (41702)	6/24/1999 7:05:00 AM
From: nihil	Respond to of 108807

Public finance is a difficult part of welfare economics. Everyone knows that one cannot rationalize individual tax bills. The test is if, overall, the citizen receives more benefit of being part of society than he could benefit from going it alone. In Ish's case, he is a landlord. The Illinois tax system imposes detailed local taxes on every item of expense. Each one is voted on. I remember voting for a mental health district and trustees to decide whether our county would provide services for the mentally ill. I voted for it. Selfish, I know, but I had three employees who had to be hospitalized, and we really needed mental health care. I really cashed in on the public schools. I lived in a cheap house, and my taxes paid less than 10 per cent of the cost of school. I also paid taxes on a farm. Some for plowing snow off the road. I never visited the farm during snow time. It was only $40 bucks, so what the hell. I pay it now and enjoy the sunshine out here even more. Of course, without Ish's paying the sheriff, someone might walk in an seize his property. I'm sure Ish would put up a good fight, but it might be those crooks in Springfield with a tank. Lot's of luck, Ish. Of course, if he doesn't like to pay taxes (O.W. Holmes Jr: "The price we pay for civilization) he could always move to some nice place like the Cayman Isles. Have to leave his land behind, however.

To: E who wrote (41702)	6/24/1999 12:09:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Respond to of 108807

Yep. It's about money. Not worth fighting over the $4.65 in taxes the hydrophobe pays to support a public pool (and almost every public pool I know charges a use fee, so it's not providing free pool services but reduced cost services). IS worth fighting about $8,000 in taxes to support the schools that give free education to every child.

To: E who wrote (41702)	6/24/1999 12:17:00 PM
From: The Philosopher	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

And if you REALLY want to open up a virulent and vicious debate, get into the issue of whether schools should have to pay extraordinarily high amounts to educate students with a limited ability to learn and to pay back society with a return on their education, and not have enough money to provide advanced classes for their excellent students. That's one area where the private schools have all the benefit; they don't have to accept special needs students, so can avoid all the cost of providing special facilies, extra staff, and extra services, while the public schools are required to accept those students and educate them, however much extra it costs. That issue is really only starting to emerge as the costs are really getting better known, and educational standards decline, causing a search for scapegoats. It's easy for a school to say "this student costs us $23,000 a year, which is why we can't afford an advanced placement calculus class." CAVEAT: I am raising an issue, not taking a position. I look at it from many perspectives, including that of a board member of an organization which provides services to the disabled, and the husband of a teacher who has to try to mainstream highly disruptive and very time consuming special needs students in her elementary classroom while still being expected to give a good education to the 25 other students. I am very conflicted about this myself and really don't know what the right answer is (a rare admission for me to have to make). But I recognize it as in increasingly divisive issue.

To: E who wrote (41702)	6/25/1999 12:31:00 AM
From: Grainne	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 108807

Well, I for one would not want to pay any taxes at all for elevators in public buildings. I have somehow developed a fear of getting stuck in one, and so now I always walk up and down the stairs wherever I am. Of course, I am happy to say that my office building only has four floors, or I wouldn't be very productive! Since I don't find elevators necessary, neither should anyone else (the disabled can just scoot up and down the on their big lazy bottoms). Anyway, buildings are absurdly tall these days, and I'm sure that is not very good for the planet! So there!!!!