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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (6277)	12/7/2005 12:59:14 AM
From: Dale Baker	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 542147

I can't resist opening this can of worms - if national sovereignty is vested in the people, not a parliament or a monarch, how can the people not be part of that government? You can argue that the institutions of government have lost their responsiveness or accountability, but I don't see how you can separate the two in our system. Everything the government does is ultimately authorized, funded and carried out by people that the voters chose, and can toss out periodically. We have met the enemy, and he is us. ;<)

To: TimF who wrote (6277)	12/7/2005 10:55:52 AM
From: JohnM	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 542147

and you think it's all illegitimate I'm not sure what you mean by that, or what it being legitimate would mean. Ah, the beginnings of one of those long conversations you have with Karen about the meaning of words. I'd rather not. I used the word "illegitimate" in the context of your use of the word "extortion." You may recall from that post that you thought the taxing powers of government were "extortion." I'm sitting here in my study just a block from the police department, fire department, and an ambulance crew, all provided by local tax payers money (property taxes) that make it possible for my little corner of New Jersey to be as peaceful and protected as it is. The DPW picked up a mixture of cans and bottles over night, picks up old newspapers on alternate Wednesday mornings, the garbage on regular rounds, large waste dumps from the houses when we are all cleaning out, swept up a very large dump of leaves in the street last week from the many trees on our property, cleaned the streets, and only this weekend, scrapped off the snow on the streets. Property taxes paid for that. I certainly don't experience that as "extortion." My youngest daughter attended the local public schools, of which over 60% of the property tax dollars is deposited upon. I'm happy to pay it because they educated my child and also because of the education they provide for all the kids in the boro and, just as important, as long as they do it as well as they currently do, it keeps the property values up. Hardly "extortion." And I haven't talked about the uses of that money to finance a local library and a county wide library system that enriches my retirement no end, that enriches the lives of everyone in the county, and, certainly not least, helps make Bergen County in New Jersey a desirable place to live. Property values stay up. And that's the short list. I could go on. Hardly "extortion."