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Politics : Politics of Energy -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Road Walker who wrote (22262)	7/27/2010 7:36:41 PM
From: Jorj X Mckie	5 Recommendations Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 86356

Like I said obtuse, naive or stupid. I could add ungrateful for the sacrifices of those that came before, but I'm trying to be polite That is very magnanimous of you to try to be polite....LOL But then again, you do seem to have a problem with reading comprehension. Your post had nothing to do with my comment. Here is what I said: I believe that anyone who supports big government is a hypocrite if they try to avoid taxes. If all of these programs are so great, their supporters should voluntarily contribute a larger share of their income to help cover the costs. I'll try to help you out a little bit. See, the first sentence isn't criticizing your for liking big government. It is criticizing you for being a hypocrite for trying to avoid taxes for the services that you think are so great. The second sentence basically says the same thing. If you really believe in these programs, then you should pony up a larger share of your income rather than trying to avoid taxes. but instead, in your own words "Even I'm a hypocrite ... I avoid paying taxes when I can." Now to the meat of the post I am responding to. You personally can't defend the country with your own contributions Correct! and this is one of those things that the US Constitution lists as the responsibility of the Federal government. You're doing a good job so far! you can't personally bring water through your faucet, Are you certain of that? Many people do pump their own water. Tell me why exactly this can't be handled by individuals or private enterprise? And generally speaking, correct me if I am wrong, but I pay for my water as I use it rather than through taxes. you can't personally build roads Oh really? you've never heard of toll roads? you can't personally school children Many people home school their children. I send my son to a private school. I don't need the government to provide this. you can't personally maintain libraries or nuke plants I have a pretty nice library. And it has the books that I want to read!. Nuke plant would be a problem. Backyard just ain't big enough. you can't personally enforce the law Why exactly can't we hire private law enforcement agencies to do this for us? I'm surprised you didn't use the US Post Office as an example of something that private enterprise couldn't do. Of course, Fedex and UPS proved that wrong. You want me to pay your dues and you get all the benefit of this great country? And this is the part where you seem to be...well, I guess the right word is "obtuse"....I don't want all of the crap that you liberals want the government to provide. I'm a simple guy with simple needs. The things I want I am more than willing to pay for. Because you feel the need to fund assholes who think that throwing a crucifix in a toilet bowl full of piss is art, doesn't mean that i want to pay for it. Because you want to fund National Propaganda Radio to espouse your beliefs, doesn't mean that I want it or that I want to pay for it. Clearly you are someone who has no faith in your ability to take care of your own needs. I believe that I not only have the ability, but that I have the obligation to provide for my own needs. If you want to give to charity, give your own damn money. I give to the charities that I choose. Personal responsibility is what made this a great country. Not some goddamn entitlement program that the nanny state provided.

To: Road Walker who wrote (22262)	7/30/2010 3:58:36 PM
From: TimF	Respond to of 86356

You personally can't defend the country with your own contributions, you can't personally bring water through your faucet, you can't personally build roads, you can't personally school children, you can't personally maintain libraries or nuke plants, you can't personally enforce the law The first and last are largely true. The rest, well maybe we can't do it personally for the most part, but we don't need government to do all of it. At least some of our roads, all of our schools, all of our water service, libraries, and power plants, could be done without government involvement, and all could definitely be done without federal government involvement. Law enforcement is mostly a state and local issue (not that I'd advocate terminating the FBI, but federal criminal law has already grown too much, let them concentrate on things like terrorism, and kidnapping across state lines, and maybe large organized crime enterprises, and let the states handle most of the rest). Defense is properly mostly a federal responsibility, both in constitutional terms, and as a matter of following sensible policy, but its only a fraction of federal government spending.