It seems that Tuesday’s voting saw many bond issues across the nation receive approval from those voting on them. This isn’t really a surprise – many people will vote for spending on roads or parks or schools. What I don’t get is that people don’t seem to make the connection between higher spending and higher taxes.
When bonds are approved, the money has to come from somewhere. All the people who complain of higher taxes certainly have a point – but when a majority of voters approve higher spending, where do they think the money will be found? It’s as if some people don’t realize that the two are connected.
I’m sorry, everyone, but here’s a surprise: You vote for more spending, you’ll likely end up footing the bill sooner or later. Though the government can print money, they can’t just create the stuff. Well, they can, at the expense of devaluing all the other money that’s out there, so they’d rather send more tax bills than further weaken the dollar.
That means the money comes from our pockets. It may be the taxes that come out of our check before we even see it. It may be the property taxes we pay the city at the end of the year. If some people have their way, it may even be from the sale of our homes. But don’t be unrealistic. All these government programs have a cost, and it is a cost that we will have to pay.
Update: Thanks to Les for pointing out that the government is trying to raise the debt ceiling again. Nice.