A recent Rasmussen survey found that 59% of voters nationwide are opposed to federal bailout funds for states like California that are encountering “serious financial problems.” Even given the most extreme example of bankruptcy, voters oppose federal subsidies to keep state governments going and they are quite supportive of spending cuts.
I thought this was a pretty positive reflection on voters, but a good friend had a different point of view. I think my friend may be right...
People aren't against taxes, just against being taxed. They fully support making someone else pay for what they desire. (Don't tax you. Don't tax me. Tax that man behind the tree.) This is a mindset that perpetuates our taxation problem. Those on the front side of the tree favor taxing those on the back side of the tree, while those on the back side strongly support taxing those in front. From this scenario we recognize the real problem and get a different set of poll results. You see, when you add both sides of the tree together, you end up with a super majority in favor of taxation!
"A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of governement. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years." Alexis de Tocqueville
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