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To: GraceZ who wrote (12935)	8/22/2003 11:23:16 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

>> This happened while they were still at full employment. It's a perfect example that government spending doesn't expand because of need, it expands because tax revenues available are higher. << exactly. gotta spend that surplus...if they didn't the taxpayers might suddenly wake up and wonder why their gov't is running a surplus while they are cutting and trying to make ends meet...always better for a gov't agency to go hat in hand for more funding...and they get away with it because there is no real oversight to spending.. i'm sure you remember the grace commission report <<gg>> at the time it was determined that fully one third of tax receipts were going to fraud and waste.... taxstatement.cc

To: GraceZ who wrote (12935)	8/22/2003 12:11:39 PM
From: Tradelite	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

<<government spending doesn't expand because of need, it expands because tax revenues available are higher.>> That's certainly the thinking of the local and state tax revoltists where I live. In Virginia, we don't have Prop 13 but we've got many of the same gripes, complaints and budget shortcomings that the Californians have. We just don't have a voter initiative such as Prop 13 to blame when we whine. California ran a budget surplus for a while even after Prop 13. So did Virginia without any type of Prop 13. Now both states are feeling busted, due to a number of factors including the economic downturn. We have constant and very high increases in property assessments here, and the rising taxes to go along with them. We also need but can't afford more and better road systems, more and better school facilities and teacher salaries. The list of what we need but can't afford could go on and on. The governors of our state and our local politicians have always been kept on the hot seat because of these issues, but we don't throw them out until the next election.

To: GraceZ who wrote (12935)	8/26/2003 2:18:08 PM
From: gpowell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

It might take another such revolution to get back to that frame of mind. I have my doubts considering I've had to explain the value of tax cuts to a zillion friends and family members. I can't figure out how they did it (repeat it frequently enough I guess) but somehow the Democratic party has convinced it's members that high taxes are better than low ones for the economy. People don’t think very much. Evidently it’s just not a productive use of most people’s time. It takes time to develop critical skills. It takes time to gather information about issues. It takes time to apply critical thought to relevant information. Consider: it seems most participants in this investment site don’t have the capacity or the time to investigate the investment potential of the companies they post about. Little of the bandwidth here is consumed on the exchange of company specific information. People seem to use price trends convoluted with their own psychological state to make investment decisions, or just rely on their resident thread guru. Whereas all available information is reflected in the price of stock, its price does not necessarily reflect relevant information or rational assessments, partly because novice, lazy, or incompetent investors use price as a proxy for information. In the same vein, people lack the time or the ability to think critically or rationally about most of the issues in their lives. Further, most seem incapable of making or assessing a sound argument. Thus people use rules of thumb, expert opinion, what other people think, and past trends as a proxy for critical thought. Mostly people display adaptive behavior rather than rational behavior.