[Speed Gibson,
Monday January 3, 2005 at 3:58pm]
The Declining Cost of Government
A new statistic, the "price of government" or "official price of government" has been appearing frequently the last 2-3 years. It is the percent of taxes out of personal income. Charts as in today's Star Tribune or handouts from my State Senator show this as dropping. Suppose it is. So what? If anything, that's good news.
"No, no, we're underfunding government!" claims the DFL, urging that taxes be raised accordingly. But the truth is that spending continues to rise significantly above the inflation rate, which is the point the DFL wants you to miss.
Your personal income doesn't matter to your grocer or your piano tuner. You don't have to disclose your salary when buying gasoline or a Timberwolves ticket. These products are priced according to their cost, and so should government products and services.
The correct question is "how much does that cost?" not "how much have you got?"
"No, no, we're underfunding government!" claims the DFL, urging that taxes be raised accordingly. But the truth is that spending continues to rise significantly above the inflation rate, which is the point the DFL wants you to miss.
Your personal income doesn't matter to your grocer or your piano tuner. You don't have to disclose your salary when buying gasoline or a Timberwolves ticket. These products are priced according to their cost, and so should government products and services.
The correct question is "how much does that cost?" not "how much have you got?"