Centerfield

Doublespeak on Hard Choices

According to Larry Overlan in today's Boston Globe "Clearly, fewer services for the same number of dollars equals a tax increase."

Overlan tries too hard here. I constructed the link based on the quote above because it's the one the Globe's editors chose to bold and highlight. Overlan makes some good points about governmental dynamics we should ackowledge. But ultimately, his insistence on framing things as he does in order to support his doublespeak claim makes him unconvincing. It's a shame that his too-clever claim means that he'll be dismissed at a glance by many readers. Engagement on this issue is what would be productive, and engagement in a way that's not inflammatory.

Over the past several decades, more and more people have bought in to the hypothesis that government is bloated and inefficient, for good reason. This has led to a 2nd hypothesis that we could cut taxes painlessly. Regardless of whether this 2nd hypothesis is true in theory, in actual practice it has led to many governments choosing between these:

***door #1***** raising taxes to preserve services

*****door #2*** cutting or not raising taxes, and cutting services

For the most part, with notable exceptions, the electorate has supported the latter choice. But many sensible people may well want to make future choices based on the real government we actually get, not the government whose spending we can theoretically trim painlessly.

Here's the thing: Regardless of the level of corruption and inefficiency, we'll get services at a level that correlates with our willingness to pay for them, via taxes, fees, etc. There won't be a free lunch. Pretending or hoping that there will be a free lunch will not make it so. Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are not walking through that door.

Many sensible people are aware of the choices government and the people face. But apparently not enough of them. Nothing is served by suggesting that the two different approaches are one and the same. And doing so makes the suggestor easy to dismiss.

Posted by Brian Keegan at February 28, 2005 08:57 AM