You Get What You Need

A quote on this week’s edition of Meet the Press really resonated with me this morning. New York Times reporter David Brooks made the comment that the, “Country wants more government than it can pay for.” Arguably people would say that they don’t WANT more government, but perhaps they NEED more government than they can pay for. Ultimately this all brings me to a dinner conversation a group of my friends were having last night at a restaurant. Someone pointed out, accurately, that while we wait for our meal we do not have to be afraid that the food is safe. We know that everything meets the regulations of the FDA. We also know, thanks to the Health Department the place is clean and is operating in a manner so that none of us leave the restaurant with a foodbourne illness.  We have adequate, clean drinking water, and pretty much as much of it as we want. In addition our children go to school. FOR FREE from the time they are 5 until they are 18. Free. We have a military that protects us. We have law enforcement agencies that keep us safe and judicial systems that give all citizens a fair trial. As citizens we have paved highways and major roadways. In addition we can rest assured that everything is regulated and safe to the greatest ability of the department in charge of regulating it. I can’t really pick one of these areas where I want less government and more private control.

The point is that all of this is used by all of us and somehow it needs to be paid for. I think most Americans want at least SOME of these services. How much or how little would be the debate? The point being that we all pay for all of this through taxes. We get a say when we vote in how our taxes are spent. What Brooks was saying is that the American people want more services for less tax dollars and quite frankly that is impossible.

People may argue that what we are getting isn’t good enough. Schools are subpar, roads are bumpy, people still get food poisoning and some water quality is better than others. All in all, however, I’d have to say that you get what you pay for and for most of us the deal isn’t half bad. Not only that, but we live in a country where we can criticize our government, speak freely within reason, bear arms, and a whole host of numerous inalienable rights.

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