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Sometimes you really have to wonder… In a letter found in the Foster’s Daily Democrat entitled, Don’t Cap Taxes; Increase them for the sake of the Children, a Mr. Verdenal H. Johnson writes about how distressed he is that when it comes to taxes, the people always want to say "no." He is apparently opposed to the notion of the tax cap being promoted in the city of Dover, NH, where the entrenched bureacracy has long abused the taxpayers footing the bills. Of course, in his world, there can never be enough dollars to tax away from the hapless folks in the name of the children. He finds himself "embarassed" that some people would dare want to try to keep some of their hard-earned wages…
I am embarrassed for the teachers in our Dover school system for the salaries that tell them they are not honored or respected or appreciated. I am embarrassed that so many of them have to spend out of that money to support their classroom activities. They have to send lists to the stores in August of what they require their students to bring to school: Kleenex, pencils, paper, pencil sharpeners and on and on and on. If there is composition paper, it is always in short supply. Just imagine a student’s using scrap paper to write a rough draft or drafts of an essay and then using the good paper only for the final copy. And what about books?Now, what has this to do with taxes?.We shortchange our children’s education every year by not allowing our municipal government to raise our taxes. We let experienced teachers leave because they cost more. We don’t give those teachers enough books or supplies to run the classrooms. Even our elementary school students go door to door to sell wrapping paper and candy to the people of the city to raise money for class supplies and extracurricular activities. Our Green Wave football team dons uniform shirts to go to each house with $20 discount tickets for fun items. Good grief! That is embarrassing.
Good grief, indeed. Does Mr. Johnson consider the fact that perhaps the monies already spent for the sake of the children are just being spent in the wrong ways? That the bloated system itself is in need of reform– which, if it could occur, would undoubtedly provide everything needed for an appropriate education and then some? No, instead Mr. Johnson advocates what people of his ilk (the useful idiots of the educational-industrial complex) alway do: throw more money at a failed monopoly, all courtesy of the government.
Raise out taxes. We haven’t stopped using gasoline even though it is now consistently close to $3 a gallon. We haven’t stopped eating beef or drinking milk or smoking and our attendance at restaurants rises each and every year. I’ll buy one less chrysanthemum; I will borrow a book from the library instead of buying it; I will cook dinner at home instead of taking the family out; I will buy one fewer DVD; I will share that basket of apples with my neighbors instead of allowing them to spoil and throwing them out; I will buy fewer lottery tickets; I will buy less expensive dog food for Fido who wouldn’t know the difference from Iams; I will buy fewer Christmas presents for grandchildren who are surfeited..We should with great joy raise expenditures on our children’s education without penny pinching or whining. It is not only the smart thing to do; it is the right thing to do.
Egads! I have read the entire piece at least a half a dozen times now. I still cannot discern if this guy’s for real, or if he’s being highly sarcastic. If he’s not joking, this must be the book he plans to check out from the library…
