The state needs to learn to budget the way so many of us do. If you do not have the money you do not get to spend it. The government sets the worst example of fiscal responsibility of any major entity out there. Too many people follow the government model and end up in debt.

Education has been free to the people of this great Country for hundreds of years and you want to change that on a whim?!?!?! Your moniker suits you quite well though. If anything we need to invest MORE money into our education system so we can stop falling further and further behind other countries (the enemy/competition). You were obviously home schooled though so there you go. Sheesh!

You completely and brilliantly missed the point of the comment. Both the very well-written comment above, and, strangely, your comment, too, make the case for more education. Your comment specifically makes a good case for teaching reading comprehension so we don't fall FARTHER and FARTHER behind.

In any event, on the question of taxes, I live in California where we have a projected 40 billion dollar deficit and the Republicans have successfully stonewalled raising any taxes in a short-sighted attempt to appease their bases who don't seem to think that taxes are necessary, even taxes on the wealthy who can afford to pay. These are times of shared sacrifice and taxes can spread out and mitigate the pain until we get to more prosperous times. Nobody wants to pay more taxes, but if the trade-out is a generation of children without proper education, or falling bridges, or an unprotected environment, or people without health care, then the slight unpleasantness of taxes is the best alternative. It's time to pitch in and fix this thing.

...between "further" and "farther," I don't believe the economy will rebound if taxes are raised. When government starts spending first dollars on infrastructure and first responders, AND reforms education in a way that benefits our society and culture (rather than undermining them) as well as producing productive citizens, I might consider supporting tax increases. Of course, I'd have to take a long, hard look at all the OTHER things government is doing with our money...

This writer was obviously being facetious, stating the exact opposite of what I believe (however, there are many who seem to subscribe to this approach), to underscore the self-destructive path this country has taken on so many fronts.

Isn't there anyone out there who is able to see that if this approach to education is unconscionable, that the same can be said regarding food, clothing, shelter and healthcare? Of what use is a free education to a child if he/she is constantly hungry and undernourished, improperly clothed (particularly so during the recent cold weather in this area), homeless, and suffering from untreated illness/injury? All other industrialized countries in the world "get it" and realize that providing for only one of the five aforementioned needs is like driving a car that has only one wheel.

I am truly shocked that anyone took my initial posting literally.

Less personal spending.If I spend less and drive less the state and city will collect less revenue.
If they raise taxes higher I'll just barter goods like many other people will too.
So far the state is losing and will always lose.
Don't evade taxation instead avoid it with glee.
Let the rich pay the taxes as they have plenty of money to go around.
The state doesn't exist to rule over me.
I exist to rule over the state.

Raise Taxes? Look, Obama changes his tune and is now saying he's not going to raise taxes on rich. In fact Obama says the national debt (which currently stands at $10,601,771,342,207.11) is not a concern and will leave it for the next President to deal with after he spends trillions more rescuing the economy.

According to the figure you provide for the national debt and the online estimate of the U. S. population, as of about five minutes ago (i.e., 305,498,402), that comes to only about $34,703.20 for every man, woman and child in this country. Of course, if you multiply that figure by the number of persons in your own household, the total may be much higher. Or, if you divide the national debt figure by the number of actual wage earners in the country (recently estimated at about 115,000,000), that could come out to only $92,189.32 per head. Break open the piggy bank and check under the seat cushions in your sofa and chairs for loose change, if you still have them.

Of course, for those of you who cringe at the wealthy paying taxes (after all, isn't that just a matter of punishing success?), then you must surely realize that your share (assuming that you aren't one of the "elite") will be considerably larger.

Even if the principal is never paid down, there are interest charges to be paid every year. At this rate, even though we've been able to ensure a life that is relatively free of poverty and destitution for most of our senior citizens, future generations will be unable to do the same for us, given the crushing debt that we've bequeathed to them.

Once a breaking point is reached, assuming that the political will never materializes to avert ourselves from this sure collision course (since this would require that sacrifices be made), the temptation to follow the lead of the Weimar Republic in the early 1920s will likely be to powerful to resist. Hyperinflation made it possible for the Germans to pay off the enormous debts assigned to them by the Treaty of Versailles and resulted in pictures from the time of people taking a wheelbarrow load of currency to pay for a loaf of bread and using paper money to burn in their fireplaces, since it was cheaper than any other option.

And what will be the motivation for the younger generations to not set us out on ice floes (which should become more plentiful with each passing year) when we reach the point that we are no longer productive?

The generation that came to the fore in the 1940s has been labeled "The Greatest Generation." What label do you suppose will be applied in the future to describe our generation?

How do you think that most of the rich got that way? Hard work? Guess again my friend, the vast majority of super rich folk were born into or inherited the money. A large portion of them got rich of of (you guessed it) the working class. I'm no "hater" but they can afford to give back some of their excess. The richest folks in the country (thanks to tax shelters, good accountants and loopholes) pay the lowest per capita (percentage) of taxes.

The top five percent of wage earners pays well over half the taxes, and the "rich" have never paid a higher percentage of taxes than they do under George W. Bush...

For another point of view, please check out the following...

http://www.ctj.org/pdf/taxday2008.pdf

http://www.ctj.org/pdf/cgdiv0508/cgdivwa.pdf

Enjoy!!

Just like a few people in governments management positions, municipal corporations (Port of Tacoma, Tacoma Utilitie(s)), the leaders of education business, the financial business leadership, urban developers, downtown associations, mass transit leaders, many others also that stepped-up to the trough of the 'taxpayer' dollar, and other people might become rich only because our government provides their protection for 'intellectual property rights protection' and 'patent protection', else those persons would also be as poor as the common Citizens.

So, which persons became rich that the 'taxpayers' didn't just-help become rich? I forgot.

Another assumption. Which age group are you labeling "Our Generation." What label will be applied to most? DUMB WHINERS! Your second assumption that we ..." (sic) freed the life of seniors from poverty and destition"... doesn't match statistics that show many, many seniors, especially women, living in dire poverty. What planet do you live on?

...transfers to ameliorate that poverty are not considered. Keeps the bureacrats in business and the level of sympathy (and taxes!) high. Poor Bob Cratchett, trying to maintain a family of eighteen on a buck seventy five a month! But don't factor in food stamps, disability compensation, Medicaid, welfare and on and on. Oh, but wait: Bob had to leave in order for the family to continue to receive "benefits." But government "charity" doesn't destroy families...

RE: Not according to Prez-elect Obama

OH NO!! Say it isnt so!! A POLITICIAN "changing his tune" Please no!! SO much faith was put in this guy by SO MANY!

He cant POSSIBLY be changing his tune can he!!

Sitting my Libertarian butt in the corner with a smirk, with an under the surface hysterical laughter outbreak just about to surface!! HAAA!!

when the joke will be on all of us.
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The skin-deep infatuation that the public has for him, with their hopes that he can return us to Camelot, will lead many to support him without any real questioning of his actual deeds. I sincerely hope that the doubters can't point their fingers saying "I told ya so" too many times and he proves to be more than a good speechmaker who looks fetching with his shirt off.

"I sincerely hope that the doubters can't point their fingers saying "I told ya so" too many times and he (Obama) proves to be more than a good speechmaker who looks fetching with his shirt off".
beerBoy, looks like you bought a ticket.

Always opposed McCain without supporting Obama. Didn't vote for either one of them. The major parties got rid of anyone who wasn't going to continue the same old, same old.
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I used to be a Democrat - until I began to understand that there is a difference between rhetoric and action.

When did that happen? Ten seconds ago?

I know I should be more tolerant of the elderly but I tire of having to re-state facts that I have previously stated to you.
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Though my enthusiasm for the Democratic Party has been waning for about a decade the final nails in the coffin has been the inaction of the Congress for the past two - especially Pelosi.
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I will repost Gore Vidal's quote (which I have posted several times over the past two years)
We only have one political party in the U.S., and that is the property party, which essentially is corporate America, which has two right wings, one called Republican and one called Democrat. I can't say I like either of them.

And I hear the conductor yelling, "Next stop, Willoughby".

I prefer my own chest to his as I have hair on it. As to fetching, two words: Veronica Zeminova. Her chest is way better than mine.

Fortunately, desperate times permit enough time to read and re-read Governor Chris Gregoire's 'pork-desperate-spending' suggested just for Citizens' benefit tomorrow PROPOSED 2009-11 AND 2009 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL, Dec. 18, 2008, [Adobe PDF document], available at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget09/bills/Capital.pdf

Be cautions what one-wishes for the tomorrow—for example, as Gerald F. Seib, U.S. Woes Open Door for China, Dec. 23, 2008, WSJ, available at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122999122677028455.html (last visited 24 Dec. 2008) writes. Gerald's opinion is that a new China world economic and world power model might be created; as a result, of United States debt economic model, economic problems we all see today, and our reliance to have our government attempt to spend our way forward towards jobs and economic recovery.

So Gerald's WSJ article is an interesting read and one predictor of our children and their future view of the world as they will see it each day. Because we left it that way for future generations; obviously not by cutting down every tree in every forest, but we destroyed our most important natural resource 'money' by choice and just some bad risk-analysis decisions about 'money' as decided by our 'chiefs' of federal, state, and city governments.

http://www.thenewstribune.com/Tacoma/24hour/front/story/572813.html

I just b!tch, with no plan. I have no real solutions to offer on how to fix this mess and it seems that none of the so called experts do either. The only idea I have is to start trimming our spending. What we do need to spend our taxes on needs to be done with the tax payers well being in mind, not the receipients of the contracts. I know its not a solution but I think it coudn't hurt either.

Don't blame me. I voted for Rossi. Not everyone expects the 'government' to take care of them. That is why some Republicans stand for fiscal conservative methods, not just the religious plank in a platform. The spending HAS to stop. I'm a low-income senior and the list of liberals is living on my tax dollars.

"That is why some Republicans stand for fiscal conservative methods"
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The operative word is "some". Too bad very few of them were in office from 2000-2006.

"Too bad very few of them were in office from 2000-2006."

I would add, 1988 to 2008 and beyond.

right!

not me! But I'd have to agree.

is always being right but rarely correct.

But remember when you were in school, if you weren't right, you were just wrong.

Geez, compared the 110th Congress (The Nancy & Harry Show), that group looks pretty fiscal conservative now.

but not wanting him to build the camps.

In Tacoma, the Municipal Public Utilities are already asking us to pay a bit more for services, but Governor Chris Gregoire's 'pork-spending' future initiatives are for just-what State of Washington Citizens benefit? As described in the Governor's PROPOSED 2009-11 AND 2009 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL, Dec. 18, 2008, [Adobe PDF document], available at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget09/bills/Capital.pdf

So it does make sense we should all recognize what is 'pork-like' future and present spending and what spending will delivery services from the State of Washington that don't add to services complexity and increased costs for diminished value-added services as delivered to all Washington Citizens.

And, I almost forgot: You and I have already made our sacrifice to the Federal Government granting billions of dollars to financial movers-of-money and some other billions loans to the automotive industry; it follows, we owe for this debt now and must pay it back someday.

Governor Chris Gregoire's proposes future spending is describes within the Governor's PROPOSED 2009-11 AND 2009 SUPPLEMENTAL CAPITAL APPROPRIATIONS BILL, Dec. 18, 2008, [Adobe PDF document], available at http://www.ofm.wa.gov/budget09/bills/Capital.pdf