Morris Dovey wrote:

Before the subthread becomes overly polarized I'd like to suggest that
the real question may be: "Do we intend for government to the the agent
of our generosity?" - and I'd also like to suggest that the available
answers aren't limited to only 'yes' and 'no', but include 'sometimes'
and 'in a limited way'.

Well I would prefer that charity be my decision based on my belief of caring for the those
that are not doing as well or need help verses a government program designed to win votes
for a particular party.

Most of us also wish for a government and 'social contract' that would help us survive if
things outside of our control put us in a position that made it impossible to provide for
our sustinance.

The tension is not using taxation to buy votes and a real concern to eliminate those that
are gaming the system from recieving state or federal funds.

Wes



--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller

Wes wrote:
Morris Dovey wrote:

Before the subthread becomes overly polarized I'd like to suggest
that the real question may be: "Do we intend for government to the
the agent of our generosity?" - and I'd also like to suggest that
the available answers aren't limited to only 'yes' and 'no', but
include 'sometimes' and 'in a limited way'.

Well I would prefer that charity be my decision based on my belief of
caring for the those that are not doing as well or need help verses a
government program designed to win votes for a particular party.

You're probably not going to find much disagreement on the personal
decision part - so now let's consider how that might be handled.

When there's a disaster like Katrina how do we ensure that relief is
fast and effective? At one time I would have knee-jerked: "Red Cross",
but after their withholding of funds after the 9-11 attacks, I'm a
little less confident...

Most of us also wish for a government and 'social contract' that
would help us survive if things outside of our control put us in a
position that made it impossible to provide for our sustinance.

Also difficult to disagree with. All things considered Social Security
seems to have worked fairly well for our mobile society.

The tension is not using taxation to buy votes and a real concern to
eliminate those that are gaming the system from recieving state or
federal funds.

Hearty agreement. Add to that my concerns about squandering of set-aside
funds for other purposes. It doesn't sit well to hear talk of Social
Security being short after FICA payments were used for "earmarks" and
"pork-barrel" projects.


--
Morris Dovey
DeSoto Solar
DeSoto, Iowa USA
http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Morris Dovey wrote:


Most of us also wish for a government and 'social contract' that
would help us survive if things outside of our control put us in a
position that made it impossible to provide for our sustinance.

Also difficult to disagree with. All things considered Social Security
seems to have worked fairly well for our mobile society.


I just wish it was run on sound accounting priciples instead of being a cookie jar the
politicians to raid. http://www.fasb.org/ There are standards and government seems to
love them except when it is a constraint upon government itself.

I was checking out your website tonight but I started getting timeout errors. Guess a lot
of people are home surfing tonight. http://www.iedu.com/DeSoto/

Seems like 30 years ago solar collectors were popular, with the price of heating fuels
continuing to rise they likely are going to be very popular soon.

Wes
--
"Additionally as a security officer, I carry a gun to protect
government officials but my life isn't worth protecting at home
in their eyes." Dick Anthony Heller