MCViewPoint

Letters to the Editor regular Mr. Talarico took aim at Grover Norquist in today’s Erie Times News. Norquist is described as an angry man with a hostile attitude toward government. That sounds pretty good to me! The real problem with Grover is his nasty Taxpayer Protection Pledge signed by many in Congress. Mr. Talarico also claims Grover is responsible for the debt ceiling brinksmanship. I’ll bet Grover would be proud to hear that. What really caught my eye was the statement that the gross domestic product is suffering because of the lack of tax revenue! Wow! High taxes are what drive the economy. Someone please call Bernanke quick! Obama just announced tax breaks to encourage certain new businesses. He is out of the loop. But then Obama was for low taxes in a recession before he was for high taxes before he was for tax breaks. Get that? The logic as it appears to me is money is taxed from you and me. Then it is diluted through the usual government inefficiencies. As an aside, I remember hearing as a youth that it costs the government twice as much to do anything compared to the private sector. It’s probably worse now. The government then picks some costly, ineffective make-work project that, if it were really worthy, the private sector would already be doing it. Here I mistakenly thought The GDP was driven primarily by us regular folks spending what little money we are permitted to retain on products made and sold by innovative companies that provide jobs. Products that we actually want or need. Not bridges to nowhere nor aircraft carriers that military doesn’t want or need. But the subject author’s monograph has given me a revelation. Our second-in-command, Joe Biden, says we the people like to pay taxes. Tax and Spenders obviously believe in our well-oiled system. Just give the government more money. If you think the world of the warfare-welfare machine, jack up that bottom line on the old 1040. If you want to keep the pockets of the Harrisburg rogues gallery lined. If you want to be sure the PA teachers retirement fund (bought and paid for courtesy of the Tom Ridge machine) stays solvent, add a few scheckels for the Commonwealth. Those of you in Erie, especially those with children, who believe in the system and are concerned about teacher layoffs, just spring for more cash. I hear a lot about how teacher layoffs are so terrible, but I never hear about parents getting together and giving the school some more cash to hire back a few teachers. I must be the first to think of it. Just don’t think about Prep’s per capita cost being half that of the city. So there you go. If you really believe we need more taxes and are not a hypocrite, just do it!