KADNER: I watched the space shuttle soar — government gave us that

I don’t believe news stories that claim federal income tax reform will be a financial windfall for the middle class.

Perhaps I’m too cynical. I tend to distrust politicians. And it seems to me that every time there’s “tax reform” I end up paying more in taxes and the country ends up deeper in debt.

The thing is, I don’t mind paying taxes because I have always needed the stuff the government provides.

I went to public schools.

I drive on publicly-funded streets.

I drink water treated by government filtration systems.

I use toilets connected to government sewer systems, one of the most underrated inventions in the history of mankind.

Listening to my neighbors and friends complain about their taxes over the years, I always felt that I was missing something important. Why did they feel so burdened? Some of them used far more government services than I did.

Some were public employees.

That’s right. Government employees often complain about their taxes being spent on undeserving people too lazy to work for a living. Yet, they become angry when people claim that government workers are lazy and overpaid.

I don’t mind paying taxes.

Many years ago, I traveled down to Florida to visit my parents and we happened to drive by the Kennedy Space Center just as a shuttle was launching.

It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. Hundreds of cars pulled over to the side of the highway. People got out of their vehicles and looked up to the sky as the countdown proceeded over the radio … 3, 2, 1, liftoff.

We were miles away but suddenly, on the horizon, the shuttle appeared, and below it was a ball of fire that seemed brighter than the sun.

That thing cost millions of tax dollars. It was a government program run by government employees, manned by government employees, born of thousands of other government programs throughout history and paid for by all of us.

It was a symbol not only of the greatness of America, but of the vision of its people, an expression of our willingness to go where no man had gone before (just like the Pilgrims who sailed the ocean to settle here and the pioneers who set on horseback to explore the West).

Some people said that was a waste of tax money. I never thought of it that way. I wish we were spending more on the space program today. It seemed really strange to me that so many of my fellow countrymen recently made a big deal about the solar eclipse but seem content to watch the space program fade away.

Don’t get me wrong. I get angry when I hear that my tax money is being wasted. I hate fraud and corruption as much as the next guy.

On the other hand, I think everyone is entitled to quality health care and a quality education. I think the elderly ought to be able to retire without worrying about the future of Social Security.

I’m willing to pay my fair share of taxes for all of that and for lots of other things.

Despite my own feelings, I realize there are a lot of hard-working people who believe they need a tax cut and I’m not going to tell them they are wrong.

But we keep on demanding more from the government and don’t have the money to pay for what we already have. The national debt is something like $19.8 trillion and the debt limit needs to be raised all the time to keep the government running.

It strikes me that maybe a “tax cut” is not the best way to go, especially since the average person always gets stuck with the bill.

Email: philkadner@gmail.com

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