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The "Compassionate" Politician

October 5, 2006, 10:54 am

Ted Roberts gets at a pet peeve of mine when he says:

Everything that's wrong with government can be summarized by a single
sign that stands eloquently at the entrance to my neighborhood park. A
plot of green with tennis courts and soccer fields for athletes and
playground paraphernalia for junior swingers. I mean the kind that
really like to swing. Cursed with a civic attitude that makes me wary
of gifts from politicians, I note A boastful sign. "This playground
made possible by the city of Huntsville and the Madison County
Commission," it says. Not a blatant lie - just a fuzzy deception. About
as far from the truth as the mayor's office downtown is from this
suburban playground.

I think it's the tone of our "governors" (using the word in a literal
sense) that bothers me. Their proclamations of achievement. They are
ignoring the contribution of me and my fellow taxpayers to this oasis.
They forget that we are a society of the taxpayers, by the taxpayers
and for the taxpayers.

I would go further.  I hate it when politicians are called "caring" or "compassionate" when the sole evidence for this is the fact that they take my money and give it to someone else or build something with it that they can put their name on.

Update: Fixed link

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Category: Government

2 Comments

  1. KipEsquire:

    I've often said that the PBS Slogan -- "A private corporation funded by the American people" -- should be replaced by the far more accurate, "A government-created duplication of services funded by the American taxpayer."

    I'm not holding my breath.

    October 5, 2006, 12:54 pm

  2. Matt:

    It pains me greatly that so many people seem incapable of discerning the difference between charity (which is always, by definition, a voluntary act of will by the giver) and robbery (which is the redistribution of wealth by force or the threat of force). The only difference between a street mugger and a tax agency is that the latter usually doesn't have to actually show you their guns before you hand over the money...and they invariably take more than any mugger could carry.

    October 5, 2006, 11:13 pm