Re: FBI re-evaluation of issue weapons ->Re: Armored cars

[Robert "J." Hansen <rjhansen@xxxxxxxx>]

>       Actually, I do not mind paying taxes, its part of our free society, I

In that case, I'm sure the IRS would appreciate you sending in $1,000
more this year to help offset the cost of Bush's $1.6 trillion tax cut.
It's acceptable to send in more tax dollars than you need to; the
government likes that an awful lot.

Gee.  Don't tell me that you've never paid more taxes than you
-absolutely must-, according to law... hmm.  Maybe you mind paying taxes
a little more than you think you do?  :)

> just disapprove of improper spending of my tax dollars.  If my
> congressperson came to me and said, "Look, we need to increase your
> taxes by $1.00 a month so that we can improve the FBI/CIA/Local
> Police/ATF/etc... "  I would say, sure, go ahead, I have no problem with
> that.

I'd say, "WTF?  No.  Go away.  You're already taking too much of my
paycheck.  Use your frickin' duty weapons already.  And if some agent
can't qualify on the range with it, take away his badge and hire someone
who can."

Federal judges haven't had a pay raise since 1991 (I think), even though
according to Federal law they're supposed to receive a small
cost-of-living raise per year.  Right now, a Federal judge's paycheck
has been reduced by almost a fifth in terms of real dollars.  This may
violate the Constitution, which requires that the pay of Federal judges
not diminish during their term of office (it's never been decided if
that clause applies to raw dollars or inflation-adjusted ones).  So if
Congress comes to me and says, "Can I get $1 from you for the FBI?",
their next question will be "... and another $1 for the Federal
Judiciary?"

Then there's the scandal of military families living below the poverty
level.  There's another "... spare a buck?".  And no matter how much you
give the government, it will always, always find another "spare a buck?"
cause.  If you're not willing to put your foot down and say "/no/, damn
it all, you've got enough of my paycheck already," soon you'll have
nothing left.

This may come off as a Republican screed, but it's meant to be
party-neutral.  It's just as applicable to British or Dutch political
systems as American.  As a rule, Europeans tend to have a much higher
"no, damn it all" level than Americans do, but the basic principle is
still valid.