Who Will Listen?

Please note that I started taking about taxes and Katrina WAY before anyone else was (see Sept. 11 post). I don't usually pat myself on the back this way (okay, that may not be true) but I feel this so strongly I can't help myself. Lo and behold, there is a politician - albiet one who's no longer in office - that has the courage to tell the truth. Bill Clinton - impeached for lying about a blow job - who da thunk it?

My family would call it my 'doom & gloom' outlook - and I have been know to hyperbolize - but anti-tax fever will ruin this country if we don't get it in check. The failure of Katrina response lies almost entirely in the fact that paying taxes is viewed as government theft, the rich continue to get tax cuts and corporations receive billion in tax breaks while services for those most in need are cut to the bone or eliminated outright. And it trickles down from the top levels of government to every local municipality in this country.

While the leadership vacuum is a close second, it pales in comparison to our collective view of paying taxes. Imagine a country where the amount of taxes you pay measured your patriotism - we could finally get rid of all those annoying ribbon decals on the backs of gaz-guzzling SUVs.

And to hear the politicians talk about paying for Katrina by cutting spending makes me laugh. Their pet projects won't be cut - road construction, levee maintenance, hospital power generators -- those are the projects that won't get funded. Don't take my word for at - just ask the people of New Orleans.